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Full-Text Articles in Education

Sixth Graders Investigate Models And Designs Through Teacher-Directed And Student-Centered Inquiry Lessons: Effects On Performance And Attitudes, Benjamin D. Olsen, Audrey C. Rule Apr 2017

Sixth Graders Investigate Models And Designs Through Teacher-Directed And Student-Centered Inquiry Lessons: Effects On Performance And Attitudes, Benjamin D. Olsen, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

Science inquiry has been found to be effective with students from diverse backgrounds and varied academic abilities. This study compared student learning, enjoyment, motivation, perceived understanding, and creativity during a science unit on Models and Designs for 38 sixth grade students (20 male, 18 female; 1 Black, 1 Hispanic and 36 White). The unit began with a very teacher-centered approach, then became increasingly student-centered, employing more inquiry with each lesson set to determine the effects of student-centered instruction on performance and attitudes. Pretest-posttest data with specific questions tied to each lesson set were collected, as well as repeated measures attitude …


Exploring The Relationship Between Immediacy Behaviors And Student Motivation In Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy As A Cause Of Motivation, Andrea N. Barahona Guerrero Jan 2017

Exploring The Relationship Between Immediacy Behaviors And Student Motivation In Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy As A Cause Of Motivation, Andrea N. Barahona Guerrero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instructor immediacy is an essential characteristic of effective instructors. Although instructional communication has done extensive research on the impact of immediacy behaviors on students, there is little available research observing immediacy behaviors as predictors of motivation on engineering students. As a result, this study examined the impact of engineering instructors’ use of immediacy behaviors on engineering students’ motivation. The results indicated that verbal immediacy predicted engineering student motivation. The thematic analysis revealed that when students perceived their instructors as helpful, students’ motivation to learn and ask more questions increased. The thematic analysis also observed that when instructors seemed unapproachable, students …