Education Commons^™

Can A Three-Day Training Focusing On The Nature Of Science And Science Practices As They Relate To Mind In The Making Make A Difference In Preschool Teachers' Self-Efficacy Engaging In Science Education?, Colleen Meacham

Dissertations and Theses

As technology and our world understanding develop, we will need citizens who are able to ask and answer questions that have not been thought of yet. Currently, high school and college graduates entering the workforce demonstrate a gap in their ability to develop unique solutions and fill the current technology-driven jobs. To address this gap, science needs to be prioritized early in children's lives. The focus of this research was to analyze a science training program that would help pre-school teachers better understand Mind in the Making life skills, the nature of science, science practices, and improve their self-efficacy integrating …

A Motivational Account Of The Undergraduate Experience In Science: Brief Measures Of Students' Self-System Appraisals, Engagement In Coursework, And Identity As A Scientist, Emily Saxton, Cailin Currie, Ellen A. Skinner, Gwen Shusterman

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As part of long-standing efforts to promote undergraduates’ success in science, researchers have investigated the instructional strategies and motivational factors that promote student learning and persistence in science coursework and majors. This study aimed to create a set of brief measures that educators and researchers can use as tools to examine the undergraduate motivational experience in science classes. To identify key motivational processes, we drew on self-determination theory (SDT), which holds that students have fundamental needs – to feel competent, related, and autonomous – that fuel their intrinsic motivation. When educational experiences meet these needs, students engage more energetically and …

Investigating Statistics Teachers' Knowledge Of Probability In The Context Of Hypothesis Testing, Jason Mark Asis Dolor

Dissertations and Theses

In the last three decades, there has been a significant growth in the number of undergraduate students taking introductory statistics. As a result, there is a need by universities and community colleges to find well-qualified instructors and graduate teaching assistants to teach the growing number of statistics courses. Unfortunately, research has shown that even teachers of introductory statistics struggle with concepts they are employed to teach. The data presented in this research sheds light on the statistical knowledge of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and community college instructors (CCIs) in the realm of probability by analyzing their work on surveys and …

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 …

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 …

Using The Task Analysis Process With Teachers To Uncover Language Demands Within An Eight-Week Ngss Summer Course, Leah Plack

Dissertations and Theses

The state of Oregon has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards as well as the English Language Proficiency standards, both of which affect elementary school teachers. These standards adoptions challenge teachers and professional developers to rethink how they approach science conceptual understanding and language acquisition. The Math Science Partnership K-6 Instructional Specialist Grant made the decision to incorporate a Task Analysis process, which asks the participant to analyze the demands of a content-based task in the domains of content knowledge, analytical skills and language, into six eight-week summer courses focused on the Next Generation Science Standards. A pre and post-assessment …

Stereotype Threat And Effects Of Students' Perception Of Their Math Teacher's Fairness On Their Math Self-Efficacy, Alexis Jocelyn Devigal

Dissertations and Theses

Gender inequalities perpetuated by educational and occupational segregation may be exacerbated in part by socialization processes that occur in the years leading up to when high school students typically begin considering postsecondary options. Students’ feelings of self-efficacy in certain subjects can be an important factor that informs their decisions to pursue coursework and programs. This study used stereotype theory to understand how students' perceptions of their 9th grade math teacher's fairness affected their 11th grade math efficacy and how this relationship was moderated by the gender of the student and their math teacher. Using the High School Longitudinal Study of …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Professional Development Providers' Epistemological And Nature Of Science Beliefs And Their Professional Development Programs, Alfonso Garcia Arriola

Dissertations and Theses

In the last twenty years in US science education, professional development has emphasized the need to change science instruction from a direct instruction model to a more participatory and constructivist learning model. The result of these reform efforts has seen an increase in science education professional development that is focused on providing teaching strategies that promote inquiry learning to learn science content. Given these reform efforts and teacher responses to professional development, research seems to indicate that whether teachers actually change their practice may depend on the teachers' basic epistemological beliefs about the nature of science. The person who builds …

Preparing Historically Underserved Students For Stem Careers: The Role Of An Inquiry-Based High School Science Sequence Beginning With Physics, Jon P. Bridges

Dissertations and Theses

Improving the STEM readiness of students from historically underserved groups is a moral and economic imperative requiring greater attention and effort than has been shown to date. The current literature suggests a high school science sequence beginning with physics and centered on developing conceptual understanding, using inquiry labs and modeling to allow students to explore new ideas, and addressing and correcting student misconceptions can increase student interest in and preparation for STEM careers.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the science college readiness of historically underserved students can be improved by implementing an inquiry-based high school science …

Open Source Learning Materials For Introductory Chemistry Coursework In General, Organic And Biochemistry: Meeting Education Needs From High School To College, Patricia Flatt

Open Educational Resources Symposium

This panel discussion will focus on the development and pilot implementation of an interactive, multimedia online OER resource for the 100-level General, Organic and Biological Chemistry course series. This OER project has been developed by a team of faculty and upper division undergraduate students. The panel will present their team approach to developing these resources and the software utilized to create video tutorials, interactive PDF files, and online quiz materials. Stumbling blocks and program challenges will also be presented.

Statistics: The Text For Student Success, Larry Shrewsbury

Open Educational Resources Symposium

My session is for those looking for an open source textbook for Statistics (MTH 243). As a grant recipient the faculty from both Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College looked at several open source textbooks for our MTH 243 classes. We first looked at the very popular OpenStax Statistics, but the consensus was that it wasn’t as good as the textbook we’ve been using (Michael Sullivan’s Statistics, Informed Decisions using Data, 4th Edition). So we agreed to keep looking at more open source Statistics textbooks. We came across one that doesn’t seem to be very well known, but some …

Converting Calculus Oer Into A Multimedia Text, Alex Jordan, Carly Vollet

Open Educational Resources Symposium

We have used MathBook XML software to convert two popular OERs for calculus into a multimedia format that

integrates online homework support. We'll demonstrate various features of the output, and the methods we use to edit these OERs. As time permits, we'll peek at some other OER projects that are using MathBook XML.

Our goal is to promote these two particular OERs and also the use of MathBook XML, which, in spite of its name, is an excellent tool for writing OER in all subjects. Potential attendees who are not particularly interested in mathematics may still be interested in the …

A Pilot Study On Methods To Introduce Teachers To New Science Standards, Noelle Frances Garcia Niedo

Dissertations and Theses

With the recent adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in Oregon, there is a great need for teachers to be trained to effectively implement the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their teaching. Time and location are the largest constraining factors that affect teacher participation in professional development trainings. To address this constraint, Tryon Creek State Park offered a NGSS professional development training opportunity for teachers that was integrated within a field trip that they took their students on. Before the field trip, teachers were introduced to the NGSS through a set of NGSS pre-field …

Each To Their Own Cure: Faculty Who Teach Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Report Why You Too Should Teach A Cure, Erin E. Shortlidge, Gita Bangera, Sara Brownell

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) meet national recommendations for integrating research experiences into life science curricula. As such, CUREs have grown in popularity and many research studies have focused on student outcomes from CUREs. Institutional change literature highlights that understanding faculty is also key to new pedagogies succeeding. To begin to understand faculty perspectives on CUREs, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 61 faculty who teach CUREs regarding why they teach CUREs, what the outcomes are, and how they would discuss a CURE with a colleague. Using grounded theory, participant responses were coded and categorized as tangible or intangible, related to …

Rolling Circle Mutagenesis Of Gst-Mcherry To Understand Mutation, Gene Expression, And Regulation, Jessica Cole, Amanda Ferguson, Verónica A. Segarra, Susan Walsh

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Undergraduates are often familiar with textbook examples of human mutations that affect coding regions and the subsequent disorders, but they may struggle with understanding the implications of mutations in the regulatory regions of genes. We have designed a laboratory sequence that will allow students to explore the effect random mutagenesis can have on protein function, expression, and ultimately phenotype. Students design and perform a safe and time-efficient random mutagenesis experiment using error-prone rolling circular amplification of a plasmid expressing the inducible fusion protein glutathione S-transferase (GST)-mCherry. Mutagenized and wild-type control plasmid DNA, respectively, are then purified and transformed into bacteria …

Exploring Mathematical Capital: An Essential Construct For Mathematical Success?, Marla Ann Lasswell Baber

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States students have traditionally struggled with mathematics. Many students leave the educational system with limited mathematical literacy that can adversely affect their success as a college student, a consumer and citizen. In turn, lack of mathematical literacy affects their socioeconomic status. Through improving their mathematical literacy, students can be more successful not only in mathematics but, it seems in many aspects of their lives. Many researchers have defined mathematical literacy; yet, we need to understand more about how mathematical literacy develops. This study explores a model that identifies four key components that seem to be associated with …

Connecting Teachers’ Buy-Into Professional Development With Classroom Habits And Practices, Joshua B. Fagan, Kathleen Mary Melhuish, Eva Thanheiser, Brenda Rosencrans, Layla Guyot, Jodi I. Fasteen

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

While professional development (PD) provides an opportunity for teachers to cultivate skills that are consistent with best practices in the field, it is their buy-into the PD that ultimately determines the effectiveness of the PD. We examined how teacher buy-in affected the classroom habits and practice of four elementary teachers who took part in a district wide PD. Using baseline and first-year implementation video recordings, in conjunction with frameworks for discourse analysis, cognitive demand, and tools built specifically to measure PD implementation, we found that varying combinations of teachers' beliefs served as a mitigating factor for PD implementation.

Increasing Student Cognitive Engagement In The Math Classroom Through Sustained Professional Development, Eva Thanheiser, Brenda Rosencrans, Kathleen Mary Melhuish, Joshua B. Fagan, Layla Guyot

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We share the case of one teacher engaged in professional development (PD) designed to improve collective argumentation. We present an analysis of two lessons in her classroom, one before and one after her engagement with the professional development. Findings show that the classrooms differ across both teacher support for collective argumentation (requesting ideas and elaboration vs. requesting/acts and methods), and student contributions Oustifications vs. procedures and facts) .