Education Commons^™

Science Olympiad Students' Nature Of Science Understandings, Cindy Johnson Philpot

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Recent reform efforts in science education focus on scientific literacy for all citizens. In order to be scientifically literate, an individual must have informed understandings of nature of science (NOS), scientific inquiry, and science content matter. This study specifically focused on Science Olympiad students’ understanding of NOS as one piece of scientific literacy. Research consistently shows that science students do not have informed understandings of NOS (Abd-El-Khalick, 2002; Bell, Blair, Crawford, and Lederman, 2002; Kilcrease and Lucy, 2002; Schwartz, Lederman, and Thompson, 2001). However, McGhee-Brown, Martin, Monsaas and Stombler (2003) found that Science Olympiad students had in-depth understandings of science …

An Investigation Of Conceptual Knowledge: Urban African American Middle School Students' Use Of Fraction Representations And Fraction Computations In Performance-Based Tasks, Sandra Ann Canterbury

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

A relatively large number of 8th-grade public middle school students in the United States, particularly in urban communities, are not performing at acceptable levels in mathematics. One concept that poses significant difficulty for these students and negatively affects their overall mathematics achievement is fractions. Many researchers have attributed these difficulties primarily to traditional fraction instruction that emphasizes procedural rather than conceptual knowledge. Therefore this study was designed to investigate how students use their computational and conceptual knowledge and fraction representations to solve fraction-related performance-based mathematical tasks. Social constructivism was used as the theoretical framework in examining conceptual knowledge related to …

Teaching And Learning: Novie Teachers' Descriptions Of Their Confidence To Teach Science Content, Barbara Ann Ford

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The problem being studied in this research is the relationship between a specific series of integrated science courses in a science teacher preparation program and the actual needs of the science teacher during the first years of teaching practice. Teachers often report that there is a disconnect between the coursework they have taken in college as pre-service teachers and the reality of their classroom practice during their first years of teaching. The intent of this study was to record the descriptions of three teachers who were members of a cohort and took a series of integrated science courses (NSCI series) …

A Deliberate Reconstruction And Reconfiguring Of Women In History: One Teacher's Attempt At Transforming A U.S. History Curriculum, Cynthia Marie Schafer

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

For decades, researchers have noted that the representation of women within the social studies curriculum and historical narratives has seriously neglected meaningful contributions made by women (Crocco, 1997; Lerner, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1993, 2004; Minnich, 1990; Noddings, 2001; Sincero & Woyshner, 2003). When women have received acknowledgement within traditional history, or the “great men” of history approach (Goldberg, Brattin, & Engel, 1993), it has mostly occurred in relationship to how men define women which leads to an unknowing acceptance of a dominant patriarchal tradition of knowledge and understanding (Minnich, 1990). Using a liberal feminist perspective, this interpretive inquiry examined the …

Comparison Of Three Methods Of Placement And Advisement Into Freshmen Mathematics Courses And The Effect On Eventual Degree Completion, John Walter Cotter

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Statement of the Problem The national six-year graduation rate is less than 60 percent. This alarming yet consistent feature of higher education has led researchers like Bean (1980), Tinto (1975, 1993), Astin (1993), Adelman (1999), Braxton (2000) and DesJardins (2002) to create a body of research which attempts to explain the causes of student attrition and suggest possible interventions. Learning Communities and Freshman Experience courses are two efforts to improve retention which are derived from this research. The purpose of this study was to test portions of Tinto’s longitudinal model of institutional departure that relates academic fit to persistence and …

Preservice Science Teachers' Experiences With Repeated, Guided Inquiry, Amy B. Slack

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice science teachers’ experiences with repeated scientific inquiry (SI) activities. The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) stress students should understand and possess the abilities to do SI. For students to meet these standards, science teachers must understand and be able to perform SI; however, previous research demonstrated that many teachers have naïve understandings in this area. Teacher preparation programs provide an opportunity to facilitate the development of inquiry understandings and abilities. In this study, preservice science teachers had experiences with two inquiry activities that were repeated three times each. …

Exploring The Epistemological Views Of Advanced Student Writers During The Research Paper Process, Judith Kay Romanchuk

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The strong hold of the research paper on the English curriculum over the past fifty years has created instructional and learning challenges that call for innovative solutions. Although concerned educators have developed creative variations to spark student interest and promote critical thinking, research has revealed little change in curriculum design or student performance on the research paper, even with advanced ability students (Ford, 1995; Moulton & Holmes, 2003). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how students’ perceptions of the knowledge task presented by a literary analysis research paper related to research and composing strategies for five twelfth-grade …

A Mathematics Acceleration Experience For Mathematically Promising Students, Dorothy Jeanette Whitlow-Malin

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

To address the pervasive concerns of educators about the social and emotional effects of mathematics acceleration on students and the paucity of findings on those issues, 6 students who had participated in 6 years of accelerated mathematics courses were purposefully identified and interviewed in this longitudinal study. Through a qualitative research design, using phenomenological methods, and accompanying descriptive statistics, the author elicited the students’ descriptions of their learning experiences. Major findings in this study were that all students described great benefits from the experience, negative effects were minor, and key factors contributing to success were work ethic, motivation, parents and …

African American Eighth-Grade Female Students' Perceptions And Experiences As Learners Of Science Literacy, Sharan Renee' Crim

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (2000) reports an achievement gap between male and female students and majority and minority students in science literacy. Rutherford and Ahlgren (2000) describe a scientifically literate person as one who is aware that science, mathematics, and technology are interdependent human enterprises with strengths and limitations; understands key concepts and principles of science; is familiar with the natural world and recognizes both its diversity and unity; and uses scientific knowledge and scientific ways of thinking for individual and social purposes. The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to investigate African American eighth grade …

Beliefs About Technology Integration Support Factors Held By School Leadership And School Faculty: A Mixed Methods Study, Katherine Williams

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Teachers’ beliefs have been identified as a barrier to classroom technology integration. School leadership support that reduces or removes integration barriers can assist teachers in the move from traditional teaching beliefs and practices towards successful classroom technology integration. This mixed methods study investigated beliefs of school leaders and teacher participants concerning support factors that affect technology integration from a mid-sized suburban public school system in the southeastern United States. The quantitative phase of this study included 556 school leaders and teachers. The quantitative survey Beliefs about Teaching with Technology (BATT) measured the school leaders and teachers’ beliefs concerning support factors …

High School Language Arts Teachers' Experiences With Integrating Technology After Participating In A State-Mandated Technology Professional Development Course, Stacy Rae Byous

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Georgia has invested millions of dollars for technology and teacher technology training in order to prepare students for a technological society (Brackett, Henry, & Weathersby, 1999; Hinton, 2003). While technology affects all teachers, language arts teachers are also challenged to teach multiple literacies (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004). This study investigated the extent that professional development programs impact the language arts teachers’ classroom practice (Bebell, Russell, & O’Dwyer, 2004; Young & Bush, 2004). This case study research explored three high school language arts teachers’ experiences with integrating technology after having participated in a state-mandated professional development course on technology. …

High School Students' Attitudes And Beliefs Regarding Statistics In A Service-Learning-Based Statistics Course, Jennifer Leong

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Despite agreement among researchers about the powerful influence of attitudes and beliefs on the development of students’ mathematical knowledge base (Leder, Pehkonen, & Törner, 2002), relatively little is known about these constructs in statistics education. This study investigated the relationship between mathematics-and statistics-related attitudes and beliefs of 11 high school students in an introductory statistics course designed around a 13-week long service-learning project. Service-learning is a pedagogical approach that situates academic learning in the context of community service. The study utilized qualitative, teacher-researcher (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) methodology from an interpretivist perspective. The three primary modes of data collection were …

Six Middle School Language Arts Teachers' Beliefs About Grammar And Their Teaching Of Grammar While Participating In A Professional Learning Community, Ellah Sue Mcclure

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Historically, English language arts educators have strongly disagreed about the role of grammar instruction in students’ literacy development (Weaver, 1996; Mulroy, 2003), and despite the importance of teachers’ beliefs and the continuing controversy over grammar instruction, few studies have explored teachers’ beliefs about the role of grammar instruction in English language arts education. The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive research was to investigate six middle school English language arts teachers’ beliefs and practices related to grammar and the teaching of grammar. Social constructivism (Fosnot & Perry, 2005) and phenomenology (Schutz, 1967; Seidman, 1998) served as theoretical frameworks for the study. …

Case Studies Of The Literacy Interactions Of Preschool Deaf Children With Their Parents In The Home, Laura West Wise

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

In the field of deaf education, a long-standing and still unanswered question is why are the reading levels and academic achievement levels of deaf and hard of hearing children inferior to their hearing peers. Teachers and parents continue to look for reasons to explain the gap and strategies they can use to narrow this gap between the reading achievement of children who are deaf and children who hear. For all children, literacy learning begins at birth. During the early years, children listen to and learn from the language their parents speak to them. The children are affected by the family …

Integration Of Instructional Technology By University Lecturers In Secondary School Teacher Education Programs In Zimbabwe: An Exploratory Study, Rodwell Chitiyo

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

In the context of continuous innovations in information and communication technology (ICT) and its impact on higher education, this descriptive study explores the state of instructional technology (IT) integration by university lecturers in pre-service secondary school teacher education programs in Zimbabwe. Specifically, the study examines how the lecturers conceptualize IT integration, how they integrate IT into their instruction, the support given by their institutions, and the constraints they face. The qualitative methodology used is basic or generic in nature (Merriam, 1998). Twenty-one lecturers in the colleges of education at 3 universities participated. The 3 data collection methods used are questionnaires, …

Adult Reflections On A High School Choral Music Program: Perceptions Of Meaning And Lifelong Influence, Melissa Tyson Arasi

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lifelong meaning and influence of participation in a high school choral music program. This study described and analyzed the reflections of adults who participated in one high school choral program selected by the researcher as meeting high standards of practice in choral music. The eight participants, who were involved in the choral program for at least three years and pursued careers in fields other than music, were selected via criterion sampling and interviewed regarding their experiences in chorus and how those experiences may have influenced their lives. Semi-structured interviews were the …

An Investigation Of Students' Media Preferences In Learning Mathematical Concepts, Ming Hang Yun Her

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Besides the traditional face-to-face learning medium, online media are now available for students in various learning environments. The delivery of coursework through online media is on the increase in colleges and universities. However, research on the use of online learning media in beginning collegiate level foundational mathematics courses for non-mathematics and non-science majors is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate, within a foundational mathematics course, connections between media used for instruction in hybrid and online enhanced face-to-face learning environments and students’ media preferences. The online Web Course Tools (WebCT) Vista template used in this study was …

A Comparison Of Learning Subjective And Traditional Probability In Middle Grades, Jeanne D. Rast

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The emphasis given to probability and statistics in the K-12 mathematics curriculum has brought attention to the various approaches to probability and statistics concepts, as well as how to teach these concepts. Teachers from fourth, fifth, and sixth grades from a small suburban Catholic school engaged their students (n=87) in a study to compare learning traditional probability concepts to learning traditional and subjective probability concepts. The control group (n=44) received instruction in traditional probability, while the experimental group (n=43) received instruction in traditional and subjective probability. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance and a Bayesian t-test were used to analyze pretest …

Storyteller, Story-Teacher: A Portrait Of Three Teachers? Use Of Story In Elementary Classes, James Michael Shirley

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the use of storytelling as a teaching strategy in the classrooms of three experienced elementary school teachers. Storytelling is defined in this study as the use of a narrative, spoken or written, in prose or in verse, true or fictitious, related so as to inform, entertain, or instruct the listener or reader. This research answers questions concerning; (a) what constitutes storytelling in these teachers’ classrooms, (b) teachers’ purposes for using storytelling, and (c) factors that have encouraged these teachers to employ storytelling in their teaching practices. Framed within constructivist theory, the …

Exploring Faculty Perceptions Of A Case Library As An Online Teaching Resource, Yuxin Ma

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Professors need alternative programs to support their online teaching. This dissertation reports an initial study in a long-term research agenda for developing a faculty online teaching solution.

The primary purpose of the study is to explore faculty perceptions of a case library to help decision makers and researchers determine whether they would pursue the use of such a tool to support faculty online teaching. The secondary purpose of the study is to generate design knowledge to inform future development of and research on this or similar case libraries.

The methodology of this study includes three components: development research, rapid prototyping, …

Analyzing Cognitive Presence In Online Courses Using An Artificial Neural Network, Thomas Edward Mcklin

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

This work outlines the theoretical underpinnings, method, results, and implications for constructing a discussion list analysis tool that categorizes online, educational discussion list messages into levels of cognitive effort. Purpose The purpose of such a tool is to provide evaluative feedback to instructors who facilitate online learning, to researchers studying computer-supported collaborative learning, and to administrators interested in correlating objective measures of students’ cognitive effort with other measures of student success. This work connects computer–supported collaborative learning, content analysis, and artificial intelligence. Method Broadly, the method employed is a content analysis in which the data from the analysis is modeled …