Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Contextualization Of Socioscientific Issues In An Age Of Accountability, Karrie A. Wikman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overarching aim of this research was to ultimately support global resiliency through science education, preparing citizens to laudably negotiate the contentious socio-cultural science- and technology-based issues of modern times. Correspondingly, this mixed methods study aimed to move a large, diverse school district toward school environments conducive to contextualized socioscientific issues (SSI)-based learning. Of interest to teachers, administrators, and policymakers, the research investigated the effects of subsuming standards-based objectives within the SSI instructional framework on science achievement. Analysis of variance of multilevel assessment and classroom observation protocol data revealed that students experiencing the SSI intervention showed statistically significant gains in …

Comparing Time Allocation For Teaching Science As Inquiry In Two Educator Preparation Science Methods Courses, Lori A. Dira

Faculty Journal Articles

How much time an institution allocates to content can indicate its overall importance and intended value to the educator preparation program. For decades there have been calls to integrate more authentic science inquiry experiences into not only undergraduate elementary science courses, but into all elementary educator preparation courses. Many elementary educators do not receive training on effective methods for teaching science, they will not feel comfortable and will likely have low self-efficacy. This study investigated the amount of time allocated to teaching science as inquiry and the knowledge participants had prior to and after taking an elementary teaching science methods …

The Evolution Of Science Education In High School And Undergraduate Institutions, Sanda Lalicic

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This literature review paper discusses the history, evolution, and current learning trends related to teaching biology in a 9-12 classroom, along with the history and evolution and suggestions for improvement and implementation. Science education has changed rapidly over the past few decades, and with modern technology and research available, the curriculum is ever-changing. With the medical and STEM fields growing at high rates, the focus on student comprehension and retention of science education is at an all-time high. This has caused a shift from a traditional classroom to a more modern, natural learning environment in schools. This paper reviews three …

Investigating The Relationship Between Empowerment And Secondary Science Teachers’ Technology Integration Knowledge, Jane Elizabeth Walsh

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Empowered teachers believe they can improve their work conditions and positively impact student outcomes. Likewise, teachers with technology integration knowledge can effectively use technology to enhance lessons and improve student learning. This quantitative correlational study investigated teachers’ empowerment, teachers’ technology integration knowledge, and associations between empowerment and technology integration knowledge. Two hundred fourteen randomly selected high school science teachers from across the United States responded to a survey intended to measure empowerment and technology integration knowledge. The teachers' average responses indicate that teachers generally agree with statements surrounding empowerment (M = 3.93, SD = 0.54) and technology integration knowledge …

“Anyone Can Be A Scientist”: Examining The Influence Of Diverse Scientist Representation On High School Students’ Perceptions Of Science And Stem Careers, Sydney Rubey

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This action research study examined how implementation of diverse instruction of scientists within a secondary astronomy course could affect students’ perceptions of scientists and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. The study also looked at how the intervention could influence students’ perceptions of themselves as scientists. The researcher collected data through surveys, focus group interviews, student artifacts, and fieldnotes. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, and qualitative data was analyzed through the constant comparative method. The three major themes which emerged are representation matters, humanization of scientists, and you don’t have to be a scientist to enjoy science. …

The Role Of The Next Generation Science Standards In Teachers' Curricular Choices In The Life Science Classroom, Amy Tankersley

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2013 a group of experts used A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) to draft the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which aims to increase science literacy through integrating the concepts and practices of science into comprehensive standards for science (NGSS Lead States, 2013). As students learn to explore the content and practices of scientists, ideally, they should increase their ability to think and reason in ways that will benefit their ability to participate in society. Because of the complex nature of systematic education reform, teachers need to put significant time into implementing NGSS to fulfill the goals …

American Indian Culture And Secondary Science Curricula: Examining The Confluence Of Native Epistemologies And U.S. Public Education Science Standards, Molly Anne Wolk

Theses and Dissertations

Innate to the traditional science curricula taught under the auspices of United States public education are a Neoliberal axiology and Eurocentric epistemology (Howard & Kern, 2019) that do not meet the cultural needs of American Indian students (Cobern & Loving, 2001). It is inequitable that American Indian students do not see themselves and their cultures reflected in traditional public school science texts and curricula. At the confluence of often-undifferentiated science curricula and American Indian culture and language, there is a need for a responsiveness that benefits American Indian students. This present study illuminates the research question, “What is revealed about …

Understanding And Addressing Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Misconceptions In Science Education, Nicole Juliana Thomas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Prior research has demonstrated that both children and adults alike hold misconceptions about various scientific phenomena (Snyder & Sullivan, 1995; Driver et al., 1985). These misconceptions range from a variety of different fields, including astronomy and space science, environmental biology, and geology, among others (Miller & Brewer, 2010; Wandersee et al., 1994; Ritger & Cummins, 1991). Research suggests that the vast majority of misconceptions are formed early in a students’ educational career, and these misconceptions could be held throughout adulthood unless they are sufficiently addressed (Coley & Tanner, 2012; Posner et al., 1982; Nehm & Reilly, 2007; Sadler et al., …

Problem Centered Teaching By Tomorrow, Cassandra Armstrong

Publications & Research

Problem Centered Instruction is a great way to engage students, integrate content, and inspire learning. However, true problem centered instruction requires a major shift in both teaching and learning, requiring the one thing teachers don't have: time. In today's session, we will look at some simple strategies that teachers can put to immediate use within the classroom to help start the shift towards a student-led, problem centered learning environment.

The Impact Of The Write-Converse-Write Strategy On Eighth Grade Science Students’ Science Understanding And Claim-Evidence-Reasoning As Evidenced By Their Writing, Jessica Lynn Keller

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods case study explored whether the write-converse-write (WCW) strategy impacted students’ science conceptual understanding, as evidenced by their writing, along with the teacher and student perceptions regarding the strategy. The study was conducted in a small school district in northern California with three eighth-grade teachers and their students (n=138). Students were given several articles to read followed by a writing prompt. After reading the articles students responded to the prompt; the following day they discussed their writing sample with a partner. After receiving feedback from their partner, the students completed a second writing sample followed by taking the student …

Co-Teaching Practices Of General And Special Educators In Secondary Science Classrooms, Samantha Jolene Ringl

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The purpose of this study was to establish current levels of co-teaching implementation and to explore teachers’ perceptions of co-teaching and co-teacher relationships. This study also examined whether there is a relationship between teachers’ perception of their co-teaching relationship and their perception of co-teaching implementation in their classrooms. Analysis revealed that teachers generally have positive perceptions of their co-teaching partners and relationships, and these perceptions did not significantly differ between science teachers and special educators. However, this study found that teachers are not regularly planning lessons together, sharing the workload in the classroom, or choosing co-teaching models together. This study …

Advancing Functional Scientific Literacy To Socioscientific Literacy As A Cross Disciplinary Educational Goal: A Philosophical Analysis, Kory Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Educational experiences built upon the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) framework provide opportunities for teachers and students to reflectively and reflexively address ill-defined complex scientific issues that affect human beings around the planet. Through the practice of Socioscientific Reasoning (SSR), while grappling with SSI, students have the potential to develop a SSI functional perspective of scientific literacy (SL); functional scientific literacy (FSL). Due to the multidimensional complexity of many human issues in and out of the science classroom, students are required to develop various skills, dispositions, and problem-solving strategies that expand from and connect with a SSI functional perspective of SL. The …

Differences Between Indonesia And Singapore Based On Pisa 2015: Five-Factor Students' Perception In Science Education, Janu Arlinwibowo, Hanif Cahyo Adi Kistoro, Heri Retnawati, Gulzhaina Kuralbayevna Kassymova, Bagdaulet Kenzhalyevich Kenzhaliyev

Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan IPA

As a neighbouring country whose location is very close, there is a unique fact where the results of the PISA study show very different results between Indonesia and Singapore. Students' perceptions of learning have an important role to detect the quality of learning. Thus, this study aims to determine the factors of student perception of natural science learning and the differences between the two countries based on these factors. The sample in this study were 5870 Indonesian students and 5272 Singaporean students who took the 2015 PISA survey. The research data were the results of the PISA survey (codes ST098, …

Building Capacity For Academically Productive Talk: The Development Of Teacher Leaders In Science Professional Development, Renee Affolter

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite decades of research on the type of classroom dialogue that supports collaborative student sensemaking and professional development efforts to support such dialogue, opportunities for students to incrementally deepen their understanding of science ideas through engagement in science practices and to engage in complex reasoning and argumentation through classroom talk is limited in most K-12 science classrooms (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Lemke, 1990; Michaels, Shouse, & Schweingruber, 2008; Mortimer & Scott, 2003; C. O’Connor, Michaels, & Chapin, 2015; Reinsvold & Cochran, 2011; Scott, Mortimer, & Aguiar, 2006; Weiss, Pasley, Smith., Banilower, and Heck, 2003; Wilson, Schweingruber, & Nielsen, 2015). …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

A Case Study Of A Stem Specialist Co-Teaching Model, Kristen Lynn Witt

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This research is focused on elementary science teaching and learning with support of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specialist because science tends to be nearly absent from self-contained classrooms in the primary grades. Research has established STEM education needs to increase, however, a key question for researchers remains who should teach science and how we can improve teacher efficacy for science education. The purpose of this study is to discover the impacts of a STEM specialist’s role on an elementary school’s daily science instruction. “Impact” refers to teachers, administrators, and student’s value in science education, teacher’s confidence in …

Affordances And Constraints: Pre-Service Science Educators Co-Teaching In Support Of Ells, Steven Drouin, Katya Aguilar, Virginia Lehmkuhl-Dakhwe

Faculty Publications

Co-teaching has increasingly been utilized as an alternative model for the student teaching experience in pre-service education. Recent literature highlights potential for co-teachers to develop by engaging in cycles of inquiry in learning communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a science student teacher who engaged in cycles of inquiry around supporting English language learners (ELLs) in a co-teaching student teaching placement. This qualitative case study involved a science mentor teacher and a science student teacher engaged in a yearlong co-teaching placement. Data sources included surveys, interviews, and written and oral lesson plans and reflections. …

Exploring New Teacher Beliefs: Identity, Home-Life, And Culture In The Classroom, Frederick B. Bradley Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A persistent shortage of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students, teachers, and professionals is seen by many as a threat to the nation’s global economic standing. Deficits in these areas are often attributed to a lack of quality K-12 STEM education, which is due in large part to a high rate of teacher turnover. Moreover, such teacher attrition has been shown to occur far more often in high-need schools and districts; thus serving to further marginalize disadvantaged members of society.

This study occurs within the context of The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at our research-intensive university in the southeastern …

Advancing Science Through Diversity Begins With Cultural Immersion In Science Education, Darshana T. Shah

Marshall Journal of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Quit Doing The Lesson And Start Doing Physics, Katelyn Mccarthy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Getting students to shift from doing the lesson to doing science (physics) is not only the goal of science teachers across the state, but it is the goal of the most recent standards released by the state of Michigan. To aid students in shifting from thinking like students to thinking like scientists, this study sought to explore how increased feedback, provided by the teacher on students’ work, as well as feedback provided by the students on their weekly learning, could shift students’ perceptions of science. Students’ perceptions of physics were measured using an adapted Colorado learning attitudes about science survey …

Supporting Intermediate Teachers' Implementation Of The Ngss Through A Collaboration Based On Mutuality, Elisha Nichole Swanson

Theses and Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are based on a wealth of research on science education and student learning and written by a range of experts from relevant fields. This study is significant and timely, given the recent release of these standards which are designed to build a scientifically literate and productive society. The potential impact on K-12 students rests on the shoulders of educational professionals in the schools. The elementary level presents a unique set of challenges for quality science instruction, implicating a need for classroom support to address limiting factors. The scope of the study is narrow; a …

Teaching | Learning Is Emotional: Interpretive And Impressionistic Approaches To Exploring Emotions In Science And Science Teacher Education, Katelin Corbett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a compilation of studies, on emotions in teaching and learning. My experiences as a teacher and student of physics have informed my perspective. These experiences as well as my role as a science teacher educator have contributed to my transformations. My work is interpretative and impressionistic. I attempt to address what is happening and why it is happening through my own interpretation, participant reflections, heuristic responses and dialogue with participants. My research community has also informed this work, as well as the preservice and inservice teachers that have participated in each of the studies. I consider this …

Engaging Hispanic Science Learners Within California’S Central Valley: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Perceptions Of High School Teachers Relative To Advanced Placement Science Courses, David Menshew

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the engagement of Hispanic Advanced Placement science learners in California’s Central Valley as perceived by high school teachers.

Methodology: The mixed method study surveyed 20 Advanced Placement science teachers from the region of interest. Likert surveys were used to determine: 1) their perceptions of the engagement of Hispanic students by the AP Program, and 2) barriers presented by the AP Program. Quantitative results indicated teacher support for the AP Program and few barriers as currently administered. A focus group of 12 teachers recruited from the 20 surveyed provided qualitative …

Anatomy Of Stem Teaching In North American Universities, Paul J. Wendel, Joan M. Esson, Kathryn M. Plank, Anna M. Young

Education Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

A large body of evidence demonstrates that strategies that promote student interactions and cognitively engage students with content lead to gains in learning and attitudinal outcomes for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Many educational and governmental bodies have called for and supported adoption of these student centered strategies throughout the undergraduate STEM curriculum.

Mississippians In Physics: Perspectives And Practice In A Search For Physics Excellence, Paul D. Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-method study represents a broad evaluation of the physics views of Mississippi physics students and physicists, along with an analysis of graduate school data, in a search for answers which might improve physics education in Mississippi. Descriptive statistics were calculated using data from eight graduate degree programs (from Fall 2003 through Full Summer 2012) at the University of Mississippi. This was done to find the percent of graduate degrees in each degree program which were awarded to in-state residents. It was found that of the eight University of Mississippi graduate degree programs in the study, two programs awarded a …

Eighth-Grade Students With Low Academic Performance In Middle School Science, Tennille Heath Fowler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem of low achievement and failure of 8th-grade students to attain state proficiency level in science in a local school district was addressed in this case study. Data from 2012-2016 revealed that 93% of 8th-grade students in 2 suburban middle schools in the targeted state failed to meet science proficiency standards on the science Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests and the state's Milestone Assessments. The purpose of conducting this qualitative case study was to develop an understanding of teachers' perceptions regarding high failure rate of 8th-grade students to meet state mandated standards in science. Piaget's constructs of developmental and operational learning …

The Importance Of Planning: Science Education From Many Points Of View, Kirsten Morgan Edwards

Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis project was to bridge the divide between public lands, such as parks, and the education system; national parks and monuments are great resources for education. In addition to promoting outside of the classroom education, this project explores different teaching methods and how changing pedagogical practice can help more students learn in the long term. In order to explore different methods of teaching, I created three different lesson plans that could be used, for example, in places like Congaree National Park, to bring education outside of the traditional school environment. These lesson plans are supplemental materials …

Examining The Relationships Between Gender Role Congruity, Identity, And The Choice To Persist For Women In Undergraduate Physics Majors, Bronwen Bares Pelaez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent gender disparity limits the available contributors to advancing some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. While higher education can be an influential time-point for ensuring adequate participation, many physics programs across the U.S. have few women in classroom or lab settings. Prior research indicates that these women face considerable barriers. For university students, faculty, and administration to appropriately address these issues, it is important to understand the experiences of women as they navigate male-dominated STEM fields.

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explored undergraduate female physics majors’ experiences with their male-dominated academic and research spaces in the U.S. …

Beyond The City Lights: A Multiple-Case Study Of Successful, Experienced Secondary Science Teachers In Rural Schools, Beverly R. Devore-Wedding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recruitment and retention concerns for teachers, particularly in rural school districts and in science, fill the daily news and research literature. The shortage of STEM workers is also another concern as well. Then why do nationally recognized secondary science teachers remain in rural schools with lower salaries, increased responsibilities beyond teaching content, and multi-preparations, stay in those schools? How do they overcome challenges in their schools?

This multiple case study focuses on Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) awardees who have taught secondary science in rural school districts 10 years or more. Eight rural PAEMST high …

Regulation Of Learning: From The Perspective Of Male Students In Pakistan, Zainudin Abu Bakar, Rafaquat Ali

The Qualitative Report

Studies have shown that the students’ regulation of learning is associated to their learning outcomes, cognitive processing strategies and understanding of the content. In Pakistan, it was suggested that science students at secondary school possesses inadequate learning behaviours which diminished regulation of learning behaviours. This study was conducted with the intention to explore the issue of regulation of learning among secondary school science students in Pakistan. Twenty-four male students were selected purposefully to participate in the study. The data was collected through focus group interviews to understand their view of self-regulation of learning behaviour. The Applied Thematic Analysis was executed …