Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Textbooks, Teachers, And Middle School Mathematics Student Achievement, Susan R. Monaghan

Dissertations (1934 -)

The purpose of this study was to extend the research on textbook effectiveness to a situated investigation of a single large urban school district in which middle schools were given a choice in selecting from three textbooks for mathematics instruction: a reform textbook, a commercially produced textbook developed in response to mathematics standards, and a traditional textbook. Its genesis is rooted in the efforts in the mathematics education community to investigate the interaction of teachers and mathematics curriculum materials, but in light of the shift to an accountability policy climate in public education. In particular, this study sought to determine …

Insects As Educational Tools: An Online Course Teaching The Use Of Insects As Instructional Tools, Douglas A. Golick, Tiffany M. Heng-Moss

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Publication of the 1996 National Science Education Standards (NSES) initiated a push to transform science education by engaging K-12 students in active learning through inquiry-based teaching (National Research Council, 1996). Students need opportunities to construct knowledge by asking questions, developing hypotheses, collecting and analyzing data, and interpreting and communicating results. Inquiry teaching has been shown to improve students’ attitudes toward science, enhance their performance, and promote scientific literacy (Haury, 1993; Lindberg, 1990: Mattheis and Nakayama, 1988; Rakow, 1986).

Providing both pre- and in-service teachers with courses and professional development programs that promote inquiry teaching are vital to teacher education (National …

Increasing Evidence Based Reasoning In An 8th Grade Classroom Through Explicit Instruction, Erol Chandler

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the effectiveness of an instructional strategy that uses students' prior understanding of informal evidence based reasoning (EBR) to build an understanding of scientific EBR. A pre and post instructional strategy survey revealed that students' understanding of EBR increased over the length of the study. Data collected from pre and post instructional discussions also showed increases in the amount of EBR students used.

Creating Interdisciplinary Collaborations To Support And Understand Mathematics Teaching And Learning, Ruth Heaton, Wendy M. Smith, Traci Kutaka

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Teaching mathematics is a complex endeavor and requires a deep understanding of content and pedagogy. Helping teachers learn what they need to know requires the expertise of disciplinary area faculty as well as those with pedagogical expertise. Similarly, understanding the learning of teachers or their students requires complex analyses of messy data by teams of researchers representing differing but complementary perspectives. Cases describing the nature and process of interdisciplinary teaching and research collaborations in mathematics education will be presented and analyzed for lessons learned.

The Effects Of An Undergraduate Algebra Course On Prospective Middle School Teachers' Understanding Of Functions, Especially Quadratic Functions, Jonathan Taniola Duarte

Theses and Dissertations

Although current reform movements have stressed the importance of developing prospective middle school mathematics teachers' subject matter knowledge and understandings, there is a dearth of research studies with regard to prospective middle school teachers' confidence and knowledge with respect to quadratic functions. This study was intended to fill this void. It generated information on prospective teachers' knowledge of quadratic functions as well as of their confidence to answer questions involving quadratic equations and multiple representations of functions.

The study employed a multiple-perspectives design, with data being collected from different vantage points - documents, pre- and post-teaching tests, artifacts, interviews, classroom …

Transformations In Matter And Energy: Student Learning And Inquiry To Inform Teaching, Jenny Dauer

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Learning progressions are descriptions of increasing levels of sophistication of student reasoning about a topic based on empirical evidence. Our learning progression framework about student explanations of carbon-transforming processes (e.g. photosynthesis, cellular respiration) describes how student’s interconnected and mutually supporting ideas and practices are deeply embedded in discourse at all levels of achievement. My research is in two areas: 1) applying the learning progression framework for student explanations of carbon-transforming processes to describe the most productive pathways for student learning, 2) extending the research to student reasoning during inquiry activities about carbon-transforming processes. One finding is that students who consistently …

Uno Stem Strategic Plan, Uno Stem Leadership Team

Student Learning

The following document is a strategic plan for STEMeducation at UNO as of September 5, 2013. Thedocument represents nearly six months of strategicplanning discussions, meetings, and conversationsbetween those of us on the writing team and many ofyou, our colleagues and friends that share our passionfor excellence in STEM education at UNO. It is alsothe result of a review of our local STEM statistics, theprofessional literature on STEM learning, and a sampleof what other universities are doing to enhance STEMlearning on their campuses. The document is intended tobe a very dynamic one that will be revisited yearly as wecontinue to move …

Ists, September 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

ISTS Newsletter

In this issue:

--Notes and News

--Opportunities

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 25, No. 4, September 2013

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Grants - Congratulations - Publications - Faculty News - Student News - This 'n That

Can The Differentiated Math Classroom Be A Reality?, Carl Jeff Morris

Mathematics Graduate Theses

Imagine a math classroom that looked more like a Google workplace where collaboration, teamwork, and innovation are the centerpieces. Instead of just students sitting in rows passively learning about the nature of mathematics, picture a classroom of students in small circle discussing mathematics. This could range from groups working together on a problem solving strategy for a newly learned concept, students helping students using technology as an aid, another small group receiving intervention from the teacher, or individual students making or viewing instructional math videos. All of this according to research focused on classroom differentiation; specifically in middle school and …

The Fitzroy Valley Numeracy Project: Assessment Of Early Changes In Teachers’ Self-Reported Pedagogic Content Knowledge And Classroom Practice, Lorraine Jacob, Andrew Mcconney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Fitzroy Valley Numeracy Project (FVNP) was designed to improve numeracy outcomes for Indigenous students by developing a systematic, co-ordinated approach to teaching primary school mathematics. In this study, using early project data, we examine FVNP teachers’ self‑reported pedagogic content knowledge and classroom practice from initial and follow up questionnaires, as well as interviews from case study teachers. After the first FVNP year, teachers reported being better able to plan focused mathematics lessons and to monitor student learning. On the other hand, teachers also felt less able to make mathematics explicit to students and their confidence in providing engaging activities …

Light And Enlightenment, Jan-E-Alam Khaki

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Thinking Aloud In The Science Classroom: Can A Literacy Strategy Increase Student Learning In Science?, Lindsey Joan Mockel

Dissertations and Theses

This research study investigated the effect of using the think aloud protocol while reading informational text on students' ability to learn from text in a secondary science classroom. The participants in this study were high school students (n=47) in three classes of a mixed-grade Integrated Biology, Chemistry, and Physics course. The study tracked student achievement during a four-week curriculum unit on the theory of evolution and evidence for biological evolution. All students received instruction on using the think aloud protocol, and all students practiced the think aloud protocol when reading short articles related to scientific evidence for evolution. The researcher …

A Longitudinal Study Investigating The Effects Of The Pbl Approach In Secondary Mathematics Education, Yooyeun Hwang

Faculty Presentations

This longitudinal study investigated the effect of Project Based Learning (PBL) on secondary-mathematics students in order to determine both academic-skill development and motivational factors associated with learning. Results showed that secondary students not only benefited from PBL in learning mathematics content, but exhibited improved self-efficacy and self-regulation in learning mathematics.

Center For Stem Inquiry: Stem Scholars Program, Carrie Dummer, Vicki-Lynn Holmes, Susan Ipri Brown, Catherine Mader

Faculty Presentations

This project engages science or math education majors in education research projects via coursework and intensive field placements. A May term STEM methods course includes pedagogical and curriculum instruction. The Hope STEM scholars then implement inquiry-based, action research as co-leaders of two STEM Academies - summer inquiry experiences for high school students.

Lighting The Fire: How Peer-Mentoring Helps Adult Learners Increase Their Interest In Stem Careers: A Case Study At The Community College Level, Patricia Marie Deturk

Dissertations and Theses

In the U.S., about 7,000 high school students drop out each school day, representing a loss of talent and ability. Concurrently, there are a decreasing number of enrolled students taking science-related courses at the high school and college levels. Adults, who return to obtain their General Educational Development (GED) certification, are an untapped resource that could be steered toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. In this case study, 15 GED students were shown a STEM video, and then peer mentored by 8 CLA (Clinical Laboratory Assistant) students, in a student-centered laboratory experience. Individual interviews of the GED students …

Learning And Fearing Mathematics : Insights From Psychology And Neuroscience, Sarah Buckley, Kate Reid

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Concurrent Session Block 2

Exploring The Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Of Japanese Teachers, Ratu Jared R. T. Bukarau

Theses and Dissertations

In the past two decades there has been an increased effort to understand the depth to which mathematics teachers must know their subject to teach it effectively. Researchers have termed this type of knowledge mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). Even though recent studies have focused on MKT, the current literature on the subject indicates that this area remains underdeveloped. In an attempt to further refine our conception of MKT this study looked at MKT in Japan. In this thesis I explored and categorized the MKT of three experienced Japanese cooperating teachers (CTs) by looking at the content of their conversations …

Mechanical Design Of Pird (Principal Investigator Rack Drawer) For Sofia, Hari Prasad Shetty Mr., Murali Krishna Kandlagunta Mrs., John Miles Mr., Zaheer Ali Mr.

STAR Program Research Presentations

SOFIA, the world’s largest airborne observatory with 2.5-meter diameter infrared telescope is equipped with 7 instruments: EXES, FIFI-LS, FLITECAM, FORCAST, GREAT, HAWC, and HIPO. Flying at altitudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet, SOFIA avoids 99% of the atmospheric water vapor, records and analyzes the infrared radiation from the cosmos. SOFIA is able to observe the occultation of stars by solar system objects. By determining the size, compositions, and atmospheric structures of these objects, SOFIA can help answer the questions on creation and evolution of the universe, formation of the stars and planets, and nature of black hole at the center …

If It Isn’T Tested, It Doesn’T Work: Automated Verification Of Sofia Data Handling Software, Garrett Holthaus, Brett Stroozas, Zaheer Ali

STAR Program Research Presentations

This project involves writing code to automate the verification testing of the Data Handling Working Group (DHWG) software tools for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The DHWG tools extract engineering data from SOFIA missions. Engineering data includes a variety of information on the operations and status of SOFIA systems during a flight, including computer network traffic, user commands, and images acquired from cameras mounted on the telescope assembly. It is important to review engineering data because this data can lead to the discovery of any problems or inefficiencies in SOFIA hardware and software. Analysis of engineering data can …