Education Commons^™

New Approaches To Peer Leader Training, Nadia Kennedy

Publications and Research

This paper describes a Peer Leader training course that has been modified to include innovative components focusing on developing content and pedagogical knowledge, practicing rehearsals, generating action research projects, doing poster presentations, and writing a reflective letter to new Peer Leaders. Through these innovations, four types of reflection–on relevant research and theory, on students’ experiences, on peer practice, and on one’s own practice–have been incorporated into the course. The new course components promise to offer more opportunities for trainees to practice peer leading in a structured and safe environment in which immediate and supportive feedback is available, and group practice …

“Anyone Can Be A Scientist”: Examining The Influence Of Diverse Scientist Representation On High School Students’ Perceptions Of Science And Stem Careers, Sydney Rubey

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This action research study examined how implementation of diverse instruction of scientists within a secondary astronomy course could affect students’ perceptions of scientists and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. The study also looked at how the intervention could influence students’ perceptions of themselves as scientists. The researcher collected data through surveys, focus group interviews, student artifacts, and fieldnotes. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, and qualitative data was analyzed through the constant comparative method. The three major themes which emerged are representation matters, humanization of scientists, and you don’t have to be a scientist to enjoy science. …

Action Research: Hand Signals' Impact On Student Mindset And Performance, Katelyn Niehaus

Honors Projects

Hand signal use as a form of alternate mode of communication in the classroom offers potential for developing a growth mindset in students and, by this, improving student performance. This paper explores the work already done on various response systems. Research shows response systems typically accomplish their intended goal, and may help students to develop a growth mindset. Additionally, development of a growth mindset is associated with improvement in student performance. The action research discussed in this paper shows there may be an increase in growth mindset as a result of hand signal use in the classroom.

Exploring New Teacher Beliefs: Identity, Home-Life, And Culture In The Classroom, Frederick B. Bradley Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A persistent shortage of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students, teachers, and professionals is seen by many as a threat to the nation’s global economic standing. Deficits in these areas are often attributed to a lack of quality K-12 STEM education, which is due in large part to a high rate of teacher turnover. Moreover, such teacher attrition has been shown to occur far more often in high-need schools and districts; thus serving to further marginalize disadvantaged members of society.

This study occurs within the context of The Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at our research-intensive university in the southeastern …

Explicitly Teaching Scientific Argumentation: Using Action Research To Study High School Science Readiness And Detracking, Ami Lefevre

Dissertations

Access to advanced-level science courses can be difficult for those students who start in a tracked system. Tracking is an educational practice where students are assigned to different classes based on ability level. African American and Hispanic students are most at risk since most minority students are found in the lower level track (Burris, 2014; Mehan, 2015; Oakes, 2005). This investigation used an action research approach to determine how explicitly taught elements of scientific argumentation would impact student mastery of argument skills and influence instructional practices by a professional learning community. A mixed method study was used to collect qualitative …

Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Science Teachers Through Action Research: A Case Study From Pakistan, Nelofer Halai, Manzoor Ali Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The aim of this study is to analyze the action research undertaken by Khan as a teacher researcher in a private school as part of the degree requirement of his M.Ed. program in Teacher Education at the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development. The purpose of this analysis undertaken by the first author and supervisor of the study in collaboration with Khan was to understand the development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of the teacher researcher through action research in a science classroom in the context of Pakistan. Khan taught the concepts of heat and temperature using an inquiry …