Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Animated Database Courseware: Using Animations To Extend Conceptual Understanding Of Database Concepts, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes

Faculty and Research Publications

Teaching abstract concepts can be best supported with supplemental instructional materials such as software animations. Visualization and animations have been shown to increase student motivation and help students develop deeper understandings. Through an NSF funded CCLI grant, a set of animations to support the teaching of database concepts is being developed and made freely available. Current modules available cover areas such as database design, interactive SQL, stored procedures and triggers, transactions and database security. In this paper, we provide an overview of the Animated Database Courseware (ADbC) as well as provide examples of how this software might be utilized in …

Computing For The Masses: Extending The Computer Science Curriculum With Information Technology Literacy, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray

Faculty and Research Publications

Enrollments in computer science programs continue to drop as demand for workers skilled in computing increases. Information technology scholars face the ironic challenge of attracting more students into computing disciplines in the age of ubiquitous computing. This paper chronicles a decision by a department of computer science and information systems to offer an information technology literacy course as a service to its institution. Educational and curricular justifications for the course progressed in parallel with recognition of the course's strategic value to the department in the face of sharp declines in the number of students majoring in CS or IS. Following …

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending November 30, 2008, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Fourteen people are near completion of the Fall Cohort workshop sessions toward partial achievement of the Nevada State Certification in Environmental and Interpretation Certification Program.
• Participation in the Michoacán Cultural Festival (500 people in attendance).
• Participation in the Day of the Dead: Life in Death Festival (over 11,000 in attendance).
• Development planning is near completion for the mobile exhibit program to support and deliver SNAP messages.
• Forever Earth was scheduled for 32 days and benefited 1077 individuals.
• Sixteen Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted for …

Weaving The Curriculum Tapestry: Modifying Upper Level Courses To Facilitate Integration Across The Geology Program, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac

Faculty Scholarship – Geology

Having observed students' frequent struggles to acquire mastery of content and skills in upper-level geology courses, we noted students fail to weave together the diverse strands that produce a well-educated geoscientist. After observing students’ struggles to keep up with new content and skills, we determined a course of action that includes application of best pedagogy based on educational research. We incorporate a technique of spiraling basic content and skills across the geology curriculum: content and skills introduced in the entry-level geology course are intentionally reviewed and referenced in each upper-level course.

Facilitating Integration Across The Geology Program: Applying "Weaving The Curriculum" To Petrology And Structural Geology Courses, Charles W. Carrigan, Priscilla Field Skalac

Faculty Scholarship – Geology

Students often encounter difficulty with advanced material in upper-level geology courses. We identified several trends that arise at the beginning of upper-level courses including difficulty in connecting introductory course material to deeper content, integrating skills and knowledge from supporting courses, and integrating material between upper-level courses. Redesigning upper-level courses, we intentionally incorporate relevant material from introductory geoscience courses into upper-level courses, such that students are re-exposed to fundamental concepts they need to master as more advanced concepts are taught.

Using Spreadsheets To Discover Meaning For Parameters In Nonlinear Models, Kris H. Green

Mathematical and Computing Sciences Faculty/Staff Publications

Using spreadsheets one can develop an exploratory environment where mathematics students can develop their own understanding of the relationship between the parameters of commonly encountered families of functions (linear, logarithmic, exponential and power) and a natural interpretation of “rate of change” for those functions. The key to this understanding involves expanding the concept of rate of change to include percent changes. Through the use of the spreadsheet model, students can explore and easily determine which type of change is most natural for a given family of functions. This, in turn, provides a mechanism for interpreting the parameters of the function …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V04n3, Autumn 2008, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--A Message from your President

--Comments from the IAS Leadership

--2008-2009 IAS Section Chairs

--One Donation To Help Two Great Causes

--Iowa Junior Academy of Science Celebrating 75 Years of Service

--You are invited to Wiki with IJAS

--Dr. Jay Labov to Speak at IAS Annual Meeting

--Recognizing Great Science

--2008 Iowa Academy of Science Speakers Series Visitor Center, Saylorville Reservoir

--Recognizing Great Science Teaching

An Exploratory Overview Of Teaching Computer Game Development, Mario Guimaraes, Meg C. Murray

Faculty and Research Publications

The computer game industry has exploded reaching sales of several billion dollars a year and, consequently, a majority of college students are familiar with the gaming environment. In fact, videogame development has been cited as one way to motivate students to explore the world of Computer Science. However, most videogames are extremely complex computer programs created by a team of developers including programmers and graphic artists and represent thousands of hours of work. Fortunately there are software tools available that provide a way for simple computer games to be created fairly easily using a building block approach. This paper discusses …

Gsi: Geo Scene Investigation! On-Site Programming (Grade 7), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

GSI: Geo Scene Investigation! introduces students to the differences between observations and interpretations and to some of the fundamental principles of geology. Students identify specific geologic processes and landforms in the landscape surrounding them at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA) by solving mysteries with a set of geology-related clues.

Parts Of The Whole: Teachers And The Work They Do, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

This introductory column argues the need to study our system of education with the same care we would give any complex system, pointing out some ways in which the educational system functions differently from other managed systems, and concluding that a careful study of the forces shaping education will lead to insight into what makes educational change successful.

Review Of Quantitative Reasoning: Tools For Today's Informed Citizen By A. Sevilla And K. Somers, Aaron G. Montgomery

Numeracy

Alicia Sevilla and Kay Somers, Quantitative Reasoning: Tools for Today’s Informed Citizen. (Emeryville CA: Key College Publishing, 2007). 626 pp. Softcover with Student CD. $79.95 (USA) ISBN 1-931914-90-1. http://www.keycollege.com/catalog/titles/quantitative_reasoning.html

From charts and graphs (Topic 1) to decision making (Topic 21), Quantitative Reasoning offers a good selection of topics that students in a general education mathematics course and other individuals in our society should understand. Organizing the 21 chapters (topics) under the headings of numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, and statistical reasoning, Sevilla and Somers focus their chapters on examples and devote the last 224 pages to 21 Excel activities. Parallel graphic-calculator …

Word Problems: Reflections On Embedding Quantitative Literacy In A Calculus Course, Gizem Karaali

Numeracy

Even though Quantitative Literacy (QL) programs are currently being developed and implemented in several colleges and universities, most schools still depend on traditional mathematics courses to reach their quantitative literacy goals. This note is a case study of how a traditional mathematics course sequence intended for students majoring in social and life sciences may be modified and adapted to at least partially fulfill the need in the absence of a stand-alone QL program. In particular, we focus on a freshman-level mathematics course sequence that serves various client departments. This sequence covers the traditional content of a first-year calculus sequence along …

False Positives And Referral Bias: Content For A Quantitative Literacy Course, Stuart Boersma, Teri Willard

Numeracy

An extended study of accuracy in medical screening is presented as a useful application to increase students’ quantitative reasoning skills. Two detailed examples are presented. The first explores the frequency of obtaining false positive results from a medical screening tool while the second examines the issue of referral bias and its effect on the apparent sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool. Results from student assessments indicate that the activity increases one’s ability to define terms such as “false positive” and “false negative” and increases one’s ability to read and compute with information obtained from a two-way table. Teacher assessment …

Using Local Data To Advance Quantitative Literacy, Stephen Sweet, Susanne Morgan, Danette Ifert Johnson

Numeracy

In this article we consider the application of local data as a means of advancing quantitative literacy. We illustrate the use of three different sources of local data: institutional data, Census data, and the National College Health Assessment survey. Our learning modules are applied in courses in sociology and communication, but the strategy of using local data can be integrated beyond these disciplinary boundaries. We demonstrate how these data can be used to stimulate student interests in class discussion, advance analytic skills, as well as develop capacities in written and verbal communication. We conclude by considering concerns that may influence …

Quantitative Literacy Across The Curriculum: A Case Study, Benjamin Steele, Semra Kiliç-Bahi

Numeracy

We describe a quantitative literacy (QL) program at Colby-Sawyer College, a small, residential, liberal arts college in New Hampshire. This program has grown rapidly from a traditional math curriculum to a college-wide understanding of quantitative literacy and voluntary participation by many faculty members in all departments. More than 80% of the faculty agreed that it would be useful for students to be able to use quantitative skills in their courses, but only 24 % thought students were capable of doing very well in mathematics. Twenty-three faculty members attended a summer workshop, funded by NSF, DUE # 0633133, in which they …

Quantitative Literacy On The Web Of Science, 1: The Bibliography And Its Role In The History Of This Journal, H L. Vacher, Todd Chavez

Numeracy

Prior to deciding to propose in 2006 that the National Numeracy Network (NNN) publish a new journal for quantitative literacy with their support, the University of South Florida Libraries investigated the publication environment of the field on the Web of Science®. Reproducing part of that study in this paper, we present findings from topic searches (March 2008) for “numeracy,” “quantitative literacy,” and “statistical literacy.” These updated results include a combined bibliography of 338 peer-reviewed articles amongst 210 different journals, by 748 authors from 321 institutions in 25 countries, in a total of 87 subjects (34% of the subject classes in …

Abstracts For Numeracy, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

No abstract provided.

Alien Invaders! Pre-Visit Lesson: Introduced And Invasive Species (Grade 6), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

In the “Alien Invaders!” program, students use the Forever Earth vessel to investigate how quagga mussels might affect Lake Mead. Students collect water quality data such as clarity, pH, and temperature to determine whether current habitat conditions would allow quagga mussels to survive and thrive. Students learn about the consequences the quagga mussels could have on the lake and its living and non-living resources. Using the knowledge they’ve gained, students create their own management plans to prevent the spread of quagga mussels to other waterways.

This activity involves students in the concepts of introduced and invasive species

Gsi: Geo Scene Investigation! On-Site Programming, Support Materials (Grade 7), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

What happened geologically to produce the landscape we see today? What was the stage like that ultimately produced the Colorado River? What are the processes that are still at work today?

To begin exploring and discovering the answers to these questions, we can look at what’s happened in the past and also examine the clues that are evident on today’s landscape. Lake Mead’s geologic past can be organized like acts in a play. These geologic “acts” represent the area’s significant geologic events. The acts are not equal in terms of time (millions of years), nor is all geologic time accounted …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V04n2, Summer 2008, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--REAP-CEP Funds Iowa Project WET

--Invitation to the 2008 Iowa Science Teachers’ Section Fall Conference

--Kaitlynn Hood Awarded ESTA for Elementary Science Education

--Scrapbook 2007-2008

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending May 31, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Progress was made on three projects to meet Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP)
  strategic messaging needs: an anti-litter exhibit, a volunteer restoration program with educational
  components, and activity stations to tell the story of Lee Meadows restoration efforts.
• 175 people attended the Our Places Tell Stories conference March 4-6, 2008.
• The Nevada State Environmental Education and Interpretation Certification Program will be launched beginning June 17, 2008.
• Forever Earth was scheduled on 51 days involving 1985 individuals.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World conducted seven events for 152 participants.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2008, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

It's All About The Teachers: Bank Street's Math For Teachers As Professional Development, Robin Hummel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This work describes a professional development initiative that was based on the graduate course, Mathematics for Teachers in Diverse and Inclusive Educational Settings (K-6), taught by Linda Metnetsky at Bank Street College of Education. The author wrote and implemented this professional development initiative for teachers in her former district: a large, middle class, suburban school district outside of Philadelphia. It consisted of six full day sessions, held from October through April during the 2004-05 school year. Eleven teachers from third, fourth, and fifth grades participated, and the impact of this professional development on two participants is the focus of this …

Benefits Of Leed Designs In Arkansas K-12 Schools, Philip Thrift

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper provides and evaluation of an existing LEED certified sustainable green building for energy-efficiency, environmental impact, economic value, and occupant health. The new Bethel Middle School located in Bryant, Arkansas was the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified public school building in the state. Based on actual building specifications and validated with the first year's utility bills, a simulation model was used to evaluate various design aspects of the school building. The building's baseline energy usage was compared with numerous energy and environmental scenarios. Results include both environmental and economic assessments. Overall, the study found that …

Tractor Inventory, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

No abstract provided.

Digital Media Agco Challenger, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

Images and videos of the 2008 Agco Challenger Tractor Testing.

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V04n1, Spring 2008, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--NWR Audio Series Update

--Special Workshop at IAS Annual Meeting

--Teacher Seminar at IAS Annual Meeting

--Bringing Environmental Education and Practical Applications into Preservice Educator Programs

--2008 Iowa Academy of Science Speakers Series Visitor Center, Saylorville Reservoir

--Candidates for President-Elect

--Candidates for Board of Directors

--Election 2008 Ballot

--Iowa Science Teachers’ Section Election Candidates

--Candidate for ISTS Secretary

--Iowa Academy of Science Grant Awards for 2007

--2007 Donations & Grants

A Closer Look At The Crease Length Problem, Sean F. Ellermeyer

Faculty and Research Publications

An optimization problem that appears as an exercise in most modern calculus textbooks is the crease length problem. Here, Ellermeyer provides a solution of the general crease length problem in which all possible foldings of a corner to the opposite edge are taken into account. One of his findings will be that the minimum crease length is never produced by a Case 2 fold and hence that the general crease length problem always yields a different minimum than the constrained problem that is treated in the textbooks. He discovers a criterion that determines which foldings must be performed in order …

Collaborative Research: Research On The Learning And Teaching Of Thermal Physics, John R. Thompson

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Groups at Iowa State University and the University of Maine will collaborate in a coordinated program of research and research-based curriculum development in thermal physics, targeting both introductory general physics courses and advanced-level undergraduate courses. The research component involves one-on-one student interviews, written pre- and post-test questions, and multiple-choice surveys. This research is then applied to the development of curricular materials intended to improve student understanding in a manner consistent with active-learning methods previously shown be effective in physics instruction. The curriculum will in turn be evaluated for its effectiveness at addressing the student difficulties previously identified through research.

This …

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Programming: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending February 29, 2008, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Progress was made on three projects to meet Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) strategic messaging needs: an anti-litter exhibit, a volunteer restoration program with educational components, and activity stations to tell the story of Lee Meadows restoration efforts.
• Interpretive planning is underway for Mountain’s Edge Explorer’s Interpretive Trail.
• A Spanish class tailored to meet the communication needs of environmental educators and interpreters was held January 2008.
• Our Places Tell Stories conference, featuring sixty presenters, panelists, moderators, and facilitators, will be held March 4-6, 2008.
• The Nevada …