Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

A Tetrahedral Version Of The Mach Model For Explaining Biological Mechanisms, Caleb M. Trujillo, Trevor R. Anderson, Nancy J. Pelaez

PIBERG Instructional Innovation Materials

This document is intended for both instructors and students. Modified from the original MACH model this version, once cut and folded, creates a tetrahedral model that can conveniently be used as a teaching and learning tool to inform and guide students on how to write expert quality explanations of biological mechanisms. Each vertex of the tetrahedron represents a component of the model namely, Methods, Analogy, Context, and How. For a coherent and complete explanation about molecular mechanisms, it is important to integrate information pertaining to all four components of the model. The tetrahedral MACH model has been tested in both …

Ag In Motion, Kerri Bermudez, Annelise Jensch, Michaela Stone

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to gauge the interest levels of Ag in Motion for the Central Coast. Positive feedback would allow the project to continue on after this project is finished. Ag in Motion is an important asset to middle school aged children because they have the opportunity to learn about agriculture and it’s value. This is especially important considering California is number one producer of agricultural commodities in the United States.

The Central Coast is defined as these three counties: Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County. An online survey was developed and sent …

Ethics Is Not Rocket Science: How To Have Ethical Discussions In Your Science Class, Kelly C. Smith

Publications

The Rutland Institute for Ethics at Clemson University seeks to encourage discussion on campus, in businesses, and in the community about how ethical decision-making can be the basis of both personal and professional success. In the last 15 years, our fellows have, among other things, served as Co-PI’s on a wide range of grants, produced Responsible Conduct of Research training for science and engineering graduate students and faculty, managed the ethics curriculum at a medical school, and produced video lectures on ethical thinking for undergraduate Biology majors. The crown jewel of our efforts to-date is our Ethics Across the Curriculum …

Stem Stories, December 2014, #1, Stefani Keller

STEM Stories

Student Profile - Britney Bockstahler

The National Science Foundation's Coupling, Energetics And Dynamics Of Atmospheric Regions (Cedar) Student Community, Leda Sox, Timothy Duly, Barbara Emery

Physics Student Research

The National Science Foundation sponsors Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) Workshops, which have been held every summer, for the past 27 years. CEDAR Workshops are on the order of a week long and at various locations that are close to university campuses where CEDAR type scientific research is done. Although there is no formal student group within the CEDAR community, the workshops are very student-focused. Roughly half the Workshop participants are students. There are two Student Representatives on the CEDAR Science Steering Committee (CSSC), the group of scientists who organize the CEDAR Workshops. Each Student Representative is …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 26, No. 6, December 2014

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Congratulations - Grants - Publications - Meeting an Off-Campus Students - Faculty News - Blasts from the Past - Calendar of Events

Engineering Design Challenge, Lindsay B. Wheeler, Brooke A. Whitworth, Amanda L. Gonczi

Publications

No abstract provided.

Online Versus Face-To-Face Biology: A Comparison Of Student Transactional Distance, Approach To Learning, And Knowledge Outcomes, Mary Erin Riggins

Dissertations

Community colleges are among many other institutions increasing course offerings online, but there is still some concern about the quality of online learning. Educator concerns, a lack of empirical evidence on biology courses offered online, and the need for an equal opportunity for education support the need for clarification of the quality of distance education in biology, especially in the community college setting. Student attitudes, approaches to learning, and performance should all be studied in order to formulate a better evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of online courses (Svirko & Mellanby, 2008).

The purpose of this study was to …

A Study Of The Teaching Beliefs Of The Modern Post Secondary Science Instructor And Implications They May Hold For The Future Of Science Education, Michael Charles Howard

Dissertations

It was the purpose of this study to examine the teaching beliefs of community college science instructors and discover whether their teaching beliefs were student oriented or instructor oriented. In addition, this study sought to examine demographic factors and find their relation, if any, to these teaching beliefs, as well as explore topics that may be useful in the future to helping community colleges science instructors’ curricula and beliefs come together and work in unison. To do this, the study built on the foundation laid by Sampson et al., in their creation of the Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and …

Teaching Beyond The Assessment, Daniel R. Ilaria

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This paper discusses how students can learn mathematics assessed on standardized testing in a way that promotes deeper thinking about the mathematics. While potential assessments aligned to the Common Core Content Standards drive the focus of the curriculum, technology can provide a way for delving into conceptual understanding. Using two standardized test questions, this paper provides examples of how technology can promote deeper thinking about mathematical concepts than what is supposed to be assessed in the questions.

Finding Success In Elementary Science Across Socioeconomic Boundaries, Jill K. Hettinger

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Elementary science education provides a platform for intellectual development, building a foundation of scientific literacy and a first entry point into interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. A significant body of research on elementary science education clearly defines what high-quality science education should look like at the elementary level. However, there is little understood about how to implement high-quality science instruction effectively within a school system. Prior research indicates that this problem is further compounded in low socioeconomic elementary schools by a lack of resources, time, and high teacher mobility. I used descriptive research to identify the …

Place-Based Education: An Impetus For Teacher Efficacy, Tamara Chase Coleman

Dissertations

This research investigated professional development in place-based (PB) methodology on the efficacy of science teachers. While teachers are expected to use best practices they do not always implement them due to a lack of efficacy in implementation. A professional development program (PD) was designed to increase confidence among teachers planning to incorporate PB methods. Place-based education (PBE) is recognized as a best-practice among professional educators. PBE includes the selection, design and engagement with science using the geographic place as the content. The literature reports that student learning and teacher efficacy will improve when teachers are prepared effectively in PB practices. …

Understanding Student Mathematical Ways Of Knowing: Relationships Among Mathematical Anxiety, Attitude Toward Learning Math, Gender, Ethnicity, And Separate And Connected Ways Of Knowing, Andrea L. Burnes

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

A quantitative, correlational, survey design with anecdotal qualitative data was used to investigate the relationships among mathematical anxiety, attitude toward learning math, gender, ethnicity, and separate and connected ways of knowing within the context of the mathematics classroom. Participants were 88 student volunteers enrolled in undergraduate mathematics classes at an open admissions technical college in the southeastern United States. Survey data consisted of demographic self-report items, Likert scale items, semantic differential scale items, and one qualitative free-response question. Quantitative data were analyzed by use of either a Spearman Rho, Pearson product moment correlation or an independent samples t-test of significance. …

The Word Problem Factor: Assessing The Ability Of Utah High School Career And Technical Education Students To Do The Math Involved In Formulating And Calculating Energy Cost Factors, Kristen Bentley

Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done showing the difficulty people have with word problems. This has been shown to be true for many types of word problems and for different demographics. Questions have remained unanswered regarding the reasons for this difficulty. It has been unclear if the word problems were hard because the people had forgotten or had not yet learned how to do the math calculations involved or for some other reason. This study deals with high school students who are currently in a high school level math class. They were given an assessment involving word problems and number-only problems. …

Math, Class, And Katrina Aftermath: The Impact Of Experiences Teaching Mathematics To Low-Income Middle School Students On Middle-Income Teachers’ Pedagogical Strategies, Susan J. Ikenberry

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite a century of educational reforms, no matter how achievement is measured, learning and opportunity gaps can still be predicted by race and socioeconomic status. Teachers and schools are blamed for functioning to reproduce social inequality. This study investigated teacher agency and transformative potentials. It considered how teachers modified their pedagogical practices when teaching low-income and high-poverty students. In order to capture teacher beliefs and logic, a qualitative approach was used involving in-depth interviews of a small number of participants.

The research used the context of the dislocation of students from high-poverty Orleans Parish schools in the year following Hurricane …

Misalignments: Challenges In Cultivating Science Faculty With Education Specialties In Your Department, Seth D. Bush, Nancy Pelaez, James A. Rudd Ii, Michael T. Stevens, Kimberly D. Tanner, Kathy S. Williams

PIBERG Publications

Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES) are increasingly being hired across the United States. However, little is known about the motivations for SFES hiring or the potential or actual impact of SFES. In the context of a recent national survey of US SFES, we investigated SFES perceptions about these issues. Strikingly, perceptions about reasons for hiring SFES were poorly aligned with perceptions about potential and actual contributions reported by SFES themselves, and the advice they extended to beginning SFES was varied. While preparation of future teachers and departmental teaching needs were common reasons offered for SFES hiring, the potential and …

Chasing Polys: Interdisciplinary Affinity And Its Connection To Physics Identity, Tyler Scott

All Dissertations

This research is based on two motivations that merge by means of the frameworks of interdisciplinary affinity and physics identity. First, a goal of education is to develop interdisciplinary abilities in students' thinking and work. But an often ignored factor is students interests and beliefs about being interdisciplinary. Thus, this work develops and uses a framework called interdisciplinary affinity. It encompasses students interests in making connections across disciplines and their beliefs about their abilities to make those connections. The second motivation of this research is to better understand how to engage more students with physics. Physics identity describes how a …

The Phenomenon Of Abstract Cognition Among Scholastic Chess Participants: A Case Study, Brent C. Laws

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore the phenomenon of abstract cognition among a purposive sample of 5 secondary scholastic chess club participants. The case study enabled the researcher to explore the faculties of abstract cognition among students of contrasting skills and abilities in playing chess. The study also allowed for the consideration of potential visual-spatial, logical, academic, social competency and life benefits of chess play. Through analysis of interviews, chess simulations, blindfold chess play, and narration of chess lines and sequences, the investigator was able to extract meaning and code schemata into a holistic understanding of the phenomenon of …

Language Use In Mathematics Textbooks Written In English And Spanish, Kailie Ann Bertoch

Theses and Dissertations

Research has suggested that although mathematics is a universal language, the notation, algorithms, and language in which it is taught varies from country to country. The literature has addressed the challenges associated with understanding the language of mathematics in English. Variable is a topic of mathematics where the literature has documented students' difficulty understanding the language of mathematics. Part of that difficulty is attributed to the fact that mathematics and English each have their own register and at times the differences in these registers conflict. This study examined the introduction and use of variable in the middle school textbooks of …

Translating And Adapting The Postt For Formative Assessment Of Indonesian Preservice Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Orientations, Listiani

Masters Theses

Indonesia has experienced problems in teacher quality, especially science teachers. Regarding this problem, a teacher-training program, in which preservice teachers are directed to use the most appropriate science teaching methods, is important to prepare qualified teachers. Having formative assessments for assessing Indonesian preservice science teachers’ teaching orientations is important. Therefore, the Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test (POSTT) was translated and adapted into Bahasa as a formative assessment for preservice science teachers. There were eight steps to translate and validate the POSTT into Bahasa (Indonesian language). The translation and validation processes involved eight experts in the target language and eight science …