Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Group Size On Student Learning, Student Contributions, \Mental Effort, And Group Outcomes For Middle-Aged Adults Working In An Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Environment, Gary Lee Roemmich

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Group work has become increasingly important within adult education as educators strive to present students with problems and processes that they encounter in their professional lives. In many work environments, individuals are expected to function as a part of a team to solve complex problems. Consequently, there has been a shift towards teaching students how to solve problems as part of a group rather than individually. An important question becomes "What size group maximizes students learning?" This study compared student learning, student participation levels, and mental effort for middle-aged, professional students in large (six students) and small groups (three students) …

Preferred Instructional Design Strategies For Preparation Of Pre-Service Teachers Of Integrated Stem Education, Amanda Shackleford Roberts

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the preferred instructional design strategies for the preparation of pre-service teachers who will deliver integrated STEM lessons. The research objectives were threefold and included identifying a preferred definition of integrated STEM education, developing its purpose statement, and creating a list of instructional design strategies that could be used for designing, planning, delivering, and assessing integrated STEM instruction.

The Delphi method was selected as the optimum approach for data collection, since STEM education is still a growing phenomenon lacking consensus in its interpretations of meaning and practice. Gaining group consensus from expert teacher …