Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 25, No. 5, November 2013

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Publications - Faculty News - Grants - Meet an Off-Campus Student - Student News - This 'n That - Calendar of Events - BUGFEST Success

Ists, November 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

ISTS Newsletter

In this issue:

--News

--Opportunities

Physics Portfolios: A Picture Of Student Understanding, Brooke A. Whitworth, Randy L. Bell

Publications

Traditionally, teachers assess students' physics understanding through lab activities, responses to open-ended word problems, and tests. But there's another way to measure student understanding, one in which students apply their learning to the world around them. This article shows how to implement student portfolios, which allow students to set goals they can monitor throughout the year and actively participate in assessment. When students build portfolios, they can evaluate and reflect on their own work, promoting engagement with the course and content (Danielson and Abrutyn 1997), and teachers can better assess students' goal movement and see growth in students' conceptual understanding. …

Gesture As A Window To Justification And Proof, Caro C. Williams-Pierce

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship

The role of the body, particularly gesture, in supporting mathematical reasoning is an emerging area of research in mathematics education. In the present study, we examine undergraduate students providing a justification for a task about a system of alternating gears, which involves concepts of number relating to even/odd patterns. Some participants were directed to perform gestures relevant to alternation and parity before attempting their justification, while others were not. Although these directed actions did not seem to influence the gestures participants used to solve the problem, we found an important relationship between gesture and mathematical reasoning. In particular, certain types …

Enseñanza De Las Ciencias Y Contextos Culturales: Un Testimonio De Vida, William W. Cobern, Adela Molina-Andrade, Gonzalo Peñaloza-J.

Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project

William W. Cobern es PhD en Educación en Ciencias, de la Universidad de Colorado Boulder. En la actualidad es profesor en la Western Michigan University. Su trabajo ha girado en torno a la relación entre cultura tradicional y enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias. Por varios años trabajó en Nigeria y desarrolló propuestas de formación de profesores y de programas educativos dirigidos a grupos nómadas. A partir de su experiencia propuso su concepto de “visión del mundo”, que es tanto un marco teórico como metodológico para entender y abordar el vínculo entre ciencia y cultura. Su trabajo ha motivado investigaciones en diferentes …

Correspondence And Covariation: Quantities Changing Together, Caro C. Williams-Pierce

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship

Exponential functions are important topic in school algebra and in higher mathematics, but research on students’ thinking suggests that understanding exponential growth remains an instructional challenge. This paper reports the results of a small-scale teaching experiment with students who explored exponential functions in the context of two continuously covarying quantities, height and time. We present two major conceptual paths that occurred in the development of an understanding of exponential growth, the covariation view and the correspondence view, and discuss the influence of each perspective on the growth of students’ understanding.

Educating Highly‐Qualified Science Teachers, Elizabeth Lewis, Aaron A. Musson, Jia Lu

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Understanding what makes a highly‐qualified science teacher requires careful research on teacher education programs. Existing research pertaining to secondary science preservice teachers (PSTs) is limited in the areas of: (a) mastery of subject matter knowledge; (b) evolving teaching selfefficacy, and (c) inquiry‐based enacted curricular practices. We studied each issue over the course of an intensive, 14‐month, graduate teacher certification program for practicing scientists and recent science graduates. First, we asked if there was a relationship between amount of content area undergraduate coursework and performance (GPA in core content courses) and found an expected, yet preliminary, connection between higher undergraduate GPA …

Performance Assessments, Caro C. Williams-Pierce

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Game Design As Authentic Science: Creating Low-Tech Games That Do Science, Jason Paul Siko, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Many students love everything about video games, so teaching them to use technology to design their own games around content is an assignment that can offer built-in engagement. The problem, however, is that teachers often don’t have the time or expertise to teach computer programming, let alone content and process skills. On top of that, installing game design software can create friction between the teaching staff and technology department.

That’s where Microsoft PowerPoint comes in. Did you know you can help your students create—from scratch or from a template—a video game using PowerPoint?

Engineering-Based Problem Solving In The Middle School: Design And Construction With Simple Machines, Lyn D. English, Peter Hudson, Les Dawes

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

Incorporating engineering concepts into middle school curriculum is seen as an effective way to improve students’ problem-solving skills. A selection of findings is reported from a STEM-based unit in which students in the second year (grade 8) of a three-year longitudinal study explored engineering concepts and principles pertaining to the functioning of simple machines. The culminating activity, the focus of this paper, required the students to design, construct, test, and evaluate a trebuchet catapult. We consider findings from one of the schools, a co-educational college, where we traced the design process developments of four student groups from two classes. The …

Determining The Effects Of Pre-College Stem Contexts On Stem Major Choices In 4-Year Postsecondary Institutions Using Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling, Ahlam Lee

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

Many STEM studies have focused on traditional learning contexts, such as math- and science-related learning factors, as pre-college learning predictors for STEM major choices in colleges. Few studies have considered a progressive learning activity embedded within STEM contexts. This study chose computer-based learning activities in K-12 math classrooms, as a major pre-college learning predictor for STEM major choices. Using a nationally represented sample drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002/06, the purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to investigate the influence of computer-based learning activities in math classrooms on STEM major choices in 4-year postsecondary institutions and (b) …

Using Open Datasets And Simulations In Laboratories, Jim Crumley

Physics Faculty Publications

While advances in instrumentation physics have made many areas more accessible to undergraduate physics laboratories, other areas are still beyond reach. Open data sets and simulations can open up some other frontiers of physics, such as Space Physics and Astronomy. In this talk, I will give an overview of some resources for open data and simulations, and then describe my experiences using these tools in both introductory and advanced labs in our curriculum.

Outreach To Science Faculty And Students Through Research Exhibitions, Tina Chan, Chris Hebblethwaite

Upstate New York Science Librarians Conference

Presentation describes bringing a display of student scholarship to Penfield Library at SUNY Oswego. Two science librarians approached faculty members regarding potential participation and then organized a showcase of science research inside the library. Having research posters displayed in a visible, central, and active location allows the broader campus community to view the latest research from students and faculty. Reaching out to science faculty reminds them that librarians can help with their library needs, and that the library is a place to highlight their and their students’ research.

Exploring The Role Of Social Reasoning And Self-Efficacy In The Mathematics Problem-Solving Performance Of Lower- And Higher-Income Children, Allison G. Butler

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Research documents an income-based achievement gap in mathematics, yet children from lower-income backgrounds do not lag behind their more advantaged peers in high-level social reasoning tasks. The purpose here was to investigate whether modifying mathematics word problems to make them more socially based would impact the mathematics performance and/or mathematics self-efficacy of lower- versus higher-income children. Research questions regarding (1) the relative difficulty of symbolic equations versus word problems, (2) the impact of socially modifying word problems on children’s accuracy and self-efficacy, and (3) the relation between children’s mathematics performance and mathematics self-efficacy were explored. Participants were 164 5th graders. …

The Nuts And Bolts Of Running A Graduate Student-Led Science Outreach Program, Matthew Mccune, Deepika Menon, Kevin Tarwater, Christopher Owens

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract submitted for the PSF13 meeting of the American Physical Society, October 12, 2013 about the nuts and bolts of running a graduate student-led science outreach program.

Barriers To Developing Physics Faculty Knowledge For Teaching: Identifying Gaps Through Critical Review Of The Literature, Deepika Menon

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract submitted for the PSF13 Meeting of the American Physical Society, October 11, 2013 on barriers to developing physics faculty knowledge for teaching, identifying gaps through a critical review of the literature.

An Examination Of How Women And Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Minorities Experience Barriers In Biomedical Research And Medical Programs, Devasmita Chakraverty

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Women in medicine and biomedical research often face challenges to their retention, promotion, and advancement to leadership positions (McPhillips et al., 2007); they take longer to advance their careers, tend to serve at less research‐intensive institutions and have shorter tenures compared to their male colleagues (White, McDade, Yamagata, & Morahan, 2012). Additionally, Blacks and Hispanics are the two largest minority groups that are vastly underrepresented in medicine and biomedical research in the United States (AAMC, 2012; NSF, 2011). The purpose of this study is to examine specific barriers reported by students and post‐degree professionals in the field through the following …

The Uah Ariss Program, Promoting Stemby Practicing Amateur Radio With Astronauts, Mark Becnel

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Beliefs And Instructional Practices Of Four Community College Remedial Mathematics Instructors, Robin Marie Wucherer

Theses and Dissertations

BELIEFS AND INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES OF FOUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE REMEDIAL MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTORS

Robin M. Wucherer

285 Pages August 2011

In an extension of research linking teachers' beliefs about mathematics and their instructional practices at the Prek-12 level, the present study examined and documented both the beliefs and instructional practices of four community college instructors who teach remedial mathematics. Data was collected through survey, observations, interviews, and classroom artifacts. The results of the survey, the Modified Standards Based Belief Instrument (MSBI), showed one-third of 39 community college mathematics instructors had beliefs about mathematics and the teaching and learning of mathematics that …

Unalienated Recognition At The Core Of Meaningful Exchange Between School And Community. A Response To "Unalienated Recognition As A Feature Of Democratic Schooling", Robin R. Sears

Democracy & Education

I apply the concept of unalienated recognition as a form of democratic exchange, introduced by Rheingold (2012), to a different educational setting. Through a case study of the School for Field Studies international environmental programs, that are, like Rheingold’s study school, field based and community centered, I explore the hypothesis that today’s undergraduate students’ desire to serve and to solve can be usefully harnessed in formal coursework and research to address real problems at their foundation. I link the cases by building on Rheingold’s use of the concept of boundary objects as an organizing principle behind the success in motivating …