Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Nebraska Summary: S1178 Fendt 933, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Welcome To Normalton: Leveraging Effective E-Learning Principles For Adult Learners, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This design case details the critical design decisions used in the development of an e-learning module library for North Carolina local government officials focused on land use regulations. These modules cover topics from an introduction to land use regulations, to evidentiary hearing conduct guidelines, defining vested rights, and explaining how to adopt and amend an ordinance. This project was in response to the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) members’ increased requests for training in this subject area. This organization requested the assistance of the two faculty members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government …

Analysis Of Blended And Multi-Modal Instruction And Its Effects On Spatial Visualization Ability, Diana Bairaktarova, Daron Williams, Petros Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

For the last decade, remedial spatial visualization training has been offered to first-year engineering students in traditional classroom settings where students attend class and interact face-to-face with an instructor and peers. An alternative to the traditional pedagogical approach is a multi-modal blended learning format that combines in-class instruction with videos that can be viewed at the student’s convenience. The new setting affords students the opportunity to repeatedly revisit the basic instruction at the time and place of their choosing. This case study investigated student outcomes in a blended multi-modal Introduction to Spatial Visualization course that integrated video lectures; free-hand sketching …

Combining Different Motivation And Cognitive Supports In Undergraduate Biology In Different Contexts: Lessons Learned, Avi Kaplan, Jennifer G. Cromley, Tony Perez, Ting Dai, Kyle R. Mara, Michael Balsai

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Researchers acknowledge that students’ learning and achievement requires both effective cognition and the motivation to apply it. In addition, both cognition and motivation are multidimensional, each involving different processes that may be less or more salient in different contexts. However, most basic research and intervention studies focus on either cognition OR motivation, and commonly only target a single process. We designed an intervention to investigate the role of different combinations of cognitive and motivational supports in first-year undergraduate introductory biology courses. We sought an online delivery approach with minimal burden on the instructor that can accompany any such course. Building …

The Top 500 Mathematics Pins: Analysis Of Elementary Mathematics Activities On Pinterest, A G. Sawyer, Lara Dick, E J. Shapiro, T A. Wismer

Faculty Journal Articles

A 2017 study found that 87% of elementary teachers reported consulting Pinterest when planning mathematical lessons (Hertel & Wessman-Enzinger, 2017). When searching for resources on Pinterest, preservice teachers identified looking at the number of pins to determine their quality (Sawyer & Meyers, 2018). This leaves teacher educators wondering, what is the quality of materials that preservice and inservice teachers are finding on Pinterest? We conducted a document analysis on the top 500 elementary mathematics pins found on Pinterest to determine what kinds of elementary mathematics materials are available, what mathematics topics are represented, the level of cognitive demand of the …

Anchoring Number Talks, K. Biro, Lara Dick

Faculty Journal Articles

Number Talks (Parrish, 2010) have become a popular strategy for many teachers interested in establishing a culture of classroom discourse for developing number sense in their mathematics classrooms. Number Talks are traditionally a five- to fifteen-minute classroom discussion that follows a problem that children are asked to solve mentally. According to Berger (2017), when students are engaged in Number Talks, teachers “facilitate discourse among students about their thinking, help students build connections among strategies, and present students with opportunities to put their knowledge into practice as they solve problems” (p. 6). While it is known that Number Talks are a …

Revoicing In Undergraduate Physics Education: A Case Study, Elizabeth Noël Olson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

When an instructor repeats or "revoices" the words or ideas that a student has just said, what is the instructor's goal? What results can this tactic bring? In order to lay the groundwork for a broader investigation of these questions, video recordings were viewed of one-on-one interviews of students populating a discussion-based modern physics-like course taken by non-physics science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at a medium-sized public university. This work focuses on a one particular interview which reveals several functions of this revoicing technique. For the interview in question, revoicing instances were identified and put into three inflection …

From Mistakes, We Learn: Variations In Teacher Dis/Position Toward Errors In Mathematics Classrooms, Mariana Alvidrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mistakes are commonly perceived by students and teachers as an evidence of a lack of knowledge and ability (Brown, & Quinn, 2006). Recently, U.S. and Mexico mathematics education reforms has been calling to promote a positive status of errors in mathematics teaching and learning.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine secondary mathematics teachers' dis/positions toward mistakes in two contexts: their own mistakes and their students' mistakes. The study employs the frame of teacher dispositional functions (Beyers, 2011) which includes cognitive, affective, and conative characteristics. The frame provides a better understanding of teachers' dis/positions toward errors based on …

Instilling An Entrepreneurial Mindset In A New Generation Of First-Year Engineering Students Through A Graphics Course Project, Lulu Sun, Leroy Long Iii

Publications

Each year, an increasing number of engineering start-up companies emerge in the U.S. and around the world. Innovation and entrepreneurship have never been so pronounced, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. How can we train engineering students to be more entrepreneurially-minded so they are well-equipped to become global innovators? Engineering educators can use entrepreneurially-minded learning activities to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset, which is a set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. At a mid-sized Southeastern private institution, we used an open-ended team project and an end-of-semester poster competition within a freshman-level engineering graphics course to encourage …

Exposing Students To Stem Careers Through Hands-On Activities With Drones And Robots, Vukica M. Jovanović, George Mcleod, Thomas E. Alberts, Cynthia Tomovic, Otilia Popescu, Tysha Batts, Ms. Mary Louise Sandy

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Autonomous robots have been used in a variety of ways from collecting specimen in hazardous environments to space exploration. These robots can be found in various manufacturing systems as Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to transport parts and assemblies throughout the manufacturing system. They have also been used as a vehicle to convey design thinking and other STEM-related concepts in mechanical engineering/mechanical engineering technology, electrical engineering/electrical engineering technology, computer science, and computer engineering. Various outreach events have included robotics based activities that engage students in building and programming autonomous robots for the purpose of achieving a specific task. These events are …

Sustainability In Higher Education: Perceptions Of Social Responsibility Among University Students, Younghan Jung, Kayoung Park, Junyong Ahn

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Many construction-related training and education programs in the United States have now embraced the concept of sustainability, offering sustainable construction courses that highlight sustainable design and construction practices. These courses have mainly focused on green building strategies for the design and construction of built environments and indoor environmental quality necessary for students’ knowledge enhancement and career development. This study examined the effect of sustainability course on students’ knowledge as well as their perceptions of social responsibility and sustainable behaviors. Data were collected by conducting a survey from construction related programs in U.S. universities. Students were categorized based on their experience …

The Near-Peer Mathematical Mentoring Cycle: Studying The Impact Of Outreach On High School Students’ Attitudes Toward Mathematics, Aaron T. Wilson, Sergey Grigorian

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

College students may be seen as near-peers to high school students and high school students are often able to see themselves in the college students who are but one step ahead. This nearness in maturity and educational level may place college students in a particularly powerful position when it comes to reaching out to high school students to promote higher education in math and science. In this study college students gave dynamic mathematics outreach presentations, MathShows, to minority and low-income high school students in a mid-sized public school district on the U.S. border with Mexico. The study investigated the impacts …

Modeling For Ecological Engineering, Lauren Simpson, Brooke A. Whitworth

Publications

In this classroom, high-school biology students learned how pine beetle outbreaks in North America have become some of the worst in a decade. To make sense of this phenomenon, students created iterative models with in-depth explanations over the course of the unit. These models were formative in developing students’ conceptual understanding of ecology and applying their knowledge to a real-world context. The models showed students the detrimental effects of the outbreaks and helped them wonder about efforts to manage them and preserve the forests. This allowed the teacher to connect their learning to an ecological engineering task. This task pushed …

Virtual Experiments And Simulations In The Science Classroom, Nicole Merchant

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The main goal of this paper is to analyze the use of virtual experiments and simulations within the science classroom. This analysis will be completed by first reviewing the learning theories in education. Then I will specifically analyze virtual experiments and how they are used in the science classroom. At the time of this study I had the privilege of completing my student teaching experience in a high school science classroom. This gave me the ability to have direct contact with students in order to observe their interest and engagement with simulations as well as their learning throughout the semester. …

Recognizing Engineering Students’ Funds Of Knowledge: Creating And Validating Survey Measures, Dina Verdín, Jessica M. Smith, Juan Lucena

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research base paper examines students who are the first in their families to attend college. Our research seeks to understand the role students’ funds of knowledge makes in first-generation college students’ undergraduate experience. Funds of knowledge are the set of formal/informal knowledge and skills that students learn through family, friends, and communities outside of academic institutions. This paper reports funds of knowledge themes relevant to first-generation college students in engineering and the process of gathering validity evidence to support the funds of knowledge themes.

Using ethnographic and interview data, six themes emerged: connecting experiences, community networks, tinkering knowledge, perspective …

Eager: Broadening Participation Of First-Generation College Student, Jessica M. Smith, Dina Verdín, Juan C. Lucena

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

No abstract provided.

Daily Metacognitive Questioning Sheets: Implementing Metacognitive Strategies In The Secondary Classroom, Shawna Sue Hill-Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the possible impact that incorporating daily metacognitive questioning in a mathematics classroom could have on student achievement. The study integrated metacognition into the classroom through the daily use of metacognitive questioning sheets that were answered by students who participated in the research study. The study also explored patterns that emerged from the students’ individual responses on the metacognitive sheets using qualitative coding and analyses. Two classes of heterogeneously grouped high school dual-credit college algebra students were taught the same curriculum by the same teacher and given the same summative assessments during the study. One class received the …

An Evaluation Of A Redesigned Developmental Mathematics Course At A Hawaii Community College, Bebi Zamina Khan Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Developmental mathematics is a problem for many college students due to high failure rate. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned course, Math 24. The evaluation examined success, retention, and persistence outcomes of the redesigned course compared to the previous developmental math course. The course's academic and environmental strengths and weaknesses were assessed from the students' and instructors' perspectives. The study utilized the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of Tinto's retention model, Astin's I-E-O model, and Wlodkowski's culturally responsive teaching. A mixed methods program evaluation was employed for the case study using an ex post …

Empowering Teacher Leadership To Address Math Anxiety In Today’S Schools, Joseph M. Furner, Christine Higgins

Transformations

Math anxiety is an uneasiness or worry when dealing with doing mathematics, ranging from slight nervousness, nausea, to complete panic. It prevents students from learning math and makes them more likely to give up. Math anxiety is common in many math classrooms today. Teachers can work together and take a real leadership role in addressing this problem to build math confidence. Solutions range from undergoing therapy to changing teaching styles to being more inclusive of students with math anxiety. This paper looks at ways teachers as leaders can work together to address math anxiety in their schools. School leaders can …

An Uncommon Textbook: Review Of Common Sense Mathematics By Ethan Bolker And Maura Mast, Bernard Madison

Numeracy

Ethan D. Bolker and Maura B. Mast. 2016. Common Sense Mathematics.(Washington DC.: Mathematics Association of America) ISBN-13: 978-1-93951-210-9.

Common Sense Mathematics is an integrative quantitative reasoning (QR) textbook that is built around scores of exercises derived from authentic circumstances from public media and other public sources. The exercises elicit responses from students requiring extensive communication and analyses and distinguish the book from ones typically encountered in a mathematics or science course. Responses to exercises often require one-half page or more of writing and can occupy considerable class time in discussion. The book has material for a one- or two-semester …