Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

How Does A Next Generation Science Standard Aligned, Inquiry Based, Science Unit Impact Student Achievement Of Science Practices And Student Science Efficacy In An Elementary Classroom?, Kayla Lee Whittington

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the impact of an inquiry based Next Generation Science Standard aligned science unit on elementary students' understanding and application of the eight Science and Engineering Practices and their relation in building student problem solving skills. The study involved 44 second grade students and three participating classroom teachers. The treatment consisted of a school district developed Second Grade Earth Science unit: What is happening to our playground? that was taught at the beginning of the school year. Quantitative results from a Likert type scale pre and post survey and from student content knowledge assessments showed growth in student …

Incorporating Wikipedia In The Classroom To Improve Science Learning And Communication, Becky J. Carmichael, Metha M. Klock

Faculty Publications, Environmental Studies

Wikipedia, the digital encyclopedia, has approximately 15 billion page views a month and is a platform where editors worldwide collaborate to improve content on topics, including the questions above. Wikipedia supports science communication in several ways. It helps readers comprehend information and contributors clarify the meaning and implications of scientific knowledge. The anatomy of Wikipedia is symmetric, allowing for ease in contribution and discussion. Wikipedia-based assignments range from making small edits, such as copyediting a series of science-related topics, adding citations, or inserting internal links to existing Wikipedia pages, to more substantial contributions. Challenges faced by students necessitate 'just-in-time" instruction …

Stem Stories, September 2017, #3, Ginger L'Heureux

STEM Stories

Program Spotlight - Ramps and Pathways program

Stem Stories, September 2017, #2, Ginger L'Heureux

STEM Stories

Student Profile - Alexis Steinlage

Stem Stories, September 2017, #1, Ginger L'Heureux

STEM Stories

Program Spotlight - Integrating Crosscutting Concepts in Iowa Science Classrooms (ICCISC) project

Enhancing And Evaluating Scientific Argumentation In The Inquiry-Oriented College Chemistry Classroom, Annabel D'Souza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The research presented in chapters 2, 3, and 4 in this dissertation uses a sociocultural and sociohistorical lens, particularly around power, authority of knowledge and identity formation, to investigate the complexity of engaging in, supporting, and evaluating high-quality argumentation within a college biochemistry inquiry-oriented classroom.

Argumentation skills are essential to college and career (National Research Council, 2010) and for a democratic citizenry. It is central to science teaching and learning (Osborne et al., 2004a) and can deepen content knowledge (Jiménez-Aleixandre et al., 2000; Jiménez-Aleixandre & Pereiro-Munhoz, 2002). When students have opportunities to make claims and support it with evidence and …

Enhancing The Teaching And Learning Of Biometeorology In Higher Education, David R. Perkins Iv, Jennifer Vanos, Christopher Fuhrmann, Michael Allen, David Knight, Cameron C. Lee, Angela Lees, Andrew Leung, Rebekah Lucas, Hamed Mehdipor

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Information about the annual meeting organized by the organizations the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) and the Students and New Professionals (SNP) held in Norfolk, Virginia from July 28 to August 1, 2016 is presented. The event was organized to improve the teaching methods of teachers and learning of students on high education biometeorology and the presentations, practical sessions and group discussions participated by attendees.

Motivations To Seek Science Videos On Youtube: Free-Choice Learning In A Connected Society, Sonny Rosenthal

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Do individuals use video sharing sites in their free time to learn about science, and if so, why? This study takes a preliminary look at individual differences that motivate online science video seeking. Among 273 Singapore Internet users who participated in an online survey, most reported using YouTube during the previous week, and one-third reported using it to watch science videos. Hierarchical regression analysis explained 55% of the variance in their intention to seek science videos during the subsequent week. Significant predictors of interest were seeking-related subjective norm, enjoyment of science, and informational use of YouTube. Although these results do …

A Direct Tex-To-Braille Transcribing Method, Andreas Papasalouros, Antonis Tsolomitis

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The TeX/LaTeX typesetting system is the most wide-spread system for creating documents in Mathematics and Science. However, no reliable tool exists to this day for automatically transcribing documents from the above formats into Braille/Nemeth code. Thus, visually impaired students of related fields do not have access to the bulk of study material available in LaTeX format. We have developed a tool, named latex2nemeth, for directly transcribing LaTeX documents to Nemeth Braille, thus facilitating the access of blind students to Science. In order to support the extensive set of Mathematics symbols covered by TeX, we propose some new symbols based on …

Where Do Students Get Their Money From?, Rebecca Vukovic

Teacher infographics

The OECD programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015 examined 15 year old students’ financial literacy skills. This infographic compares the main sources of income for students from Australia, with the average from participating OECD countries.

Anticipating Change: An Exploratory Analysis Of Teachers’ Conceptions Of Engineering In An Era Of Science Education Reform, Tesha Sengupta-Irving, Janet Mercado

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

While integrating engineering into science education is not new in the United States, technology and engineering have not been well emphasized in the preparation and professional development of science teachers. Recent science education reforms integrate science and engineering throughout K–12 education, making it imperative to explore the conceptions teachers hold of engineering as a discipline, and as an approach to teaching. This analysis draws on focus group interviews with practicing secondary teachers (n = 12) conducted during a professional development seminar. The goals of the seminar were to present engineering as a heterogeneity of practices and inquiries organized to …

The Transition From Act To Sat As The Illinois College Entrance Exam And The Potential Implications On Student Scores In Mathematics, William Rose

All Capstone Projects

For years schools have worked to create mathematics curricula that aim to both build students’ understanding of the course content and prepare them for questions styled like those on their college entrance exam. In previous years, the exam mandated by the state of Illinois was the ACT (American College Testing); however, starting with the 2016-2017 school year the policy has now changed to administer the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test). This transition poses many potential implications on the performance of students. In order to help identify these implications, both exams were studied at great depth. The following paper will focus on …

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 …

The Effectiness Of Using Graphic Organizers In Development Of Achievement, Reduction Of Cognitive Load Associated With Solving Algorithm Problems In Analytical Chemistry And Favored Learning Styles Among Female Secondary School Students In Saudi Arabia, Sahar M.Y. Ezzeldin

International Journal for Research in Education

The present study aimed to examine the impact of using graphic organizers in development of achievement, reduction of cognitive load associated with solving algorithm problems in analytical chemistry and favored learning styles among secondary school students in Saudi Arabia.It has been applied on the female students at secondary first grade ,which divided into two groups, experimental group ( 23 students) and a control group ( 22 students).To verify the impact of the graphic organizers, the study applied achievement test in analytical chemistry, the measure of NASA T-LX to measure cognitive load, problem-solving test in analytical chemistry, and Kolb and McCarthy …

Analyzing The Online Environment: How Are More Effective Teachers Spending Their Time?, Scott Davis Barrentine

Dissertations and Theses

Teaching at an online school is so different from classroom teaching that traditional training includes few of the skills necessary to be a successful online teacher. New teachers to an online environment face a steep learning curve in how they'll use the instructional technology, prioritize their time, and establish relationships with their students. The literature has advice for these teachers about effective online practices, but there has been little research to establish which strategies are most effective in motivating students. This pre-experimental study, conducted at an online 6th-12th grade hybrid school, investigated the practices used more often by the most …

Student Knowledge Of Environmental Factors In The Dominican Republic, Nicole Sandretto

The Exposition

No abstract provided.

Financial Literacy, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

An international assessment of 15-year-old students' financial literacy includes data on their experiences, attitudes and behaviours, as well as their academic performance. Here are some of the findings from Australia.

Shape Shifting: The Impact Of Student And Teacher Choice On Differentiation In A Detracked, Standards-Based High School Geometry Classroom, Kristin M. Weller

Journal of Practitioner Research

To gain insight into how using differentiated instruction and standards-based assessment supported my students’ learning in a detracked, honors geometry classroom, I employed the methodology of practitioner research to examine and reflect on the development and implementation of a standards-based differentiated unit based on the Pythagorean Theorem. Data collected and analyzed included field notes during classroom activities, student artifacts from classroom assessments and activities, verbatim transcripts from audiotaped student interviews, and practitioner researcher journal entries chronicling significant events and actions taken during the development and implementation of the unit. As I reviewed, analyzed, and reflected upon the data, my findings …

Using Pre-Assessments To Make Decisions About Differentiation In A Detracked High School Biology Classroom, Michelina Macdonald

Journal of Practitioner Research

This article describes how one teacher used practitioner research to study the role that pre-assessment played when making decisions about student grouping and differentiated instruction within a detracked, honors biology classroom. Much detail is provided in this article describing the study design around a unit on protein synthesis and the steps taken in data analyses to contextualize this study within a practitioner research methodology. The teacher discusses her findings using a claim, evidence, and reasoning framework common in scientific inquiry to illustrate the effectiveness of using pre-assessment to group students for tiered instruction.

Designing An Authentic Behavioral Research Experience In The Classroom Using Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta Splendens, Gianne Souza, Ronald M. Coleman

STAR Program Research Presentations

Recently there have been major shifts in biology education towards emphasizing the teaching of the scientific process to more closely reflect actual scientific practices. Authentic research experiences require the development of many higher order cognitive skills. Creating an authentic research experience that appropriately scaffolds the development of these complex skills while engaging individual student motivation remains challenging in classroom settings. Some common challenges include limited time available for working with large numbers of students, cramped working areas, and limited funding and materials resources. Using the Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, we have created an economically viable authentic animal behavioral …