Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Using Minecraft To Integrate Common Core Activities Across Elementary School Curriculum, William A J Couling

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Minecraft, an open world sandbox game rich with educational possibility, has been a growing sensation among elementary age children across the US. Though there has been some experimentation in a number of schools across the United States, there has been no mass movement to embracing Minecraft as a virtual learning environment. With advances in the fields of Virtual Learning Environments and the new wave of educational thinking known as the “Maker Movement,” the modern educational field has an opportunity for radical new ways of teaching. Using an elementary school as a model in the Monterey Bay area, I surveyed a …

Leveling The Playing Field: Teacher Perception Of Integrated Stem, Engineering, And Engineering Practices, Bridgette Fincher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions and approaches of 14 third-through-fifth grade Arkansan elementary teachers towards integrative engineering and engineering practices during 80 hours of integrated STEM professional development training in the summer and fall of 2014. This training was known as Project Flight. The purpose of the professional development was to learn integrated STEM content related to aviation and to write grade level curriculum units using Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design curriculum framework. The current study builds upon on the original research.

Using a mixed method exploratory, embedded QUAL[quan] case study design and a …

Maker Education: The Steam Playground, Amanda Opperman

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

Educators who are committed to teaching STEAM in their classes and programs will be inspired and encouraged by the capabilities for multidisciplinary instruction and project based learning offered by an emerging pedagogy known as Maker Education. While making was previously thought of as STEM-focused, it can easily be integrated across all subjects. Maker Ed's Resource Library has a section on Projects and Learning Approaches, which includes many cross-curricular project ideas that expand this model of education from STEM to STEAM and beyond.

An Examination Of Accessible Hands-On Science Learning Experiences, Self-Confidence In One’S Capacity To Function In The Sciences, And Motivation And Interest In Scientific Studies And Careers., Mick D. Isaacson, Cary Supalo, Michelle Michaels, Alan Roth

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study examined the potential relationship of accessible hands-on science learning experiences to the development of positive beliefs concerning one’s capacity to function in the sciences and motivation to consider science as a college major and career. Findings from Likert survey items given before and after engaging in accessible hands-on science laboratories show that students who were blind or had low vision (BLV) were more likely to agree with the following items after engaging in accessible science experiences: 1) I plan on enrolling as a science major in college; 2) My educational experiences, so far, have given me the …

Eastern Kentucky University's Program Of Distinction: Highlighting Research Within The Colege Of Justice And Safety, Naomi M. Sigler, Kayla Tunajek

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Posters at the Capitol 2016-2017 Abstract

University: Eastern Kentucky University – College of Justice & Safety

Program: Fire, Arson, and Explosion Investigation

Student Presenters: Kayla Tunajek and Naomi Sigler

Faculty Mentor: Paul Grant

Title: Eastern Kentucky University’s Program of Distinction: Highlighting Research within the College of Justice and Safety

Keywords: Program of Distinction; Eastern Kentucky University; fire programs; research projects; student opportunities.

ABSTRACT

This project is intended to represent the Program of Distinction at EKU. The fire program at Eastern provides students several unique majors and encourages students to do research within their respective fields. This research is then presented …

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

TIMSS 2015

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

Setting A Standard For Chemistry Education In The Next Generation: A Retrosynthetic Analysis, Gregory T. Rushton, Andrew Dewar, Herman E. Ray, Brett A. Criswell, Lisa Shah

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Faculty Publications

A diverse and highly qualified chemistry teaching workforce is critical for preparing equally diverse, qualified STEM professionals. Here, we analyze National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data to provide a demographic comparison of the U.S. secondary chemistry teaching population in high-needs and non-high-needs public schools as well as private schools during the 2011–2012 academic year. Our analysis reveals that the chemistry teaching workforce is predominantly white and significantly lacks in-field degrees or certification across school types, though high-needs and private schools are most affected by this lack of teacher qualification. Given these results, we attempt …

Quantitative Reasoning - Mathematical Modeling In The Sciences, Robert L. Mayes Dr.

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Faculty Employment Status And Student Characteristics As Predictors Of Student Success In Modularized Developmental Mathematics, Leonda Williams Keniston

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Approximately two-thirds of incoming community college students are considered academically unprepared for college-level work and lack adequate literacy and mathematical skills needed to learn at the postsecondary level. To address these realities, individual community colleges and state-wide systems have responded by redesigning developmental curricula and course structures into modularized programs that accelerate student progression through developmental sequences. Simultaneously, community colleges are hiring more adjunct faculty to meet the ever-growing demand to educate students in these programs.

Data were collected for a study of the Virginia Community College System 2012 developmental math redesign to primarily examine the effects of adjunct faculty …

Fostering Understanding Of Early Numeracy Development, Kate Reid, Nicola Andrews

Monitoring Learning

In 2012, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) began the Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study: Transitions from Preschool to School (LLANS:TPS). The study is part of a program of longitudinal literacy and numeracy research at ACER that started with a seven-year longitudinal study of children’s developing literacy and numeracy throughout primary school, which began in 1999 with a cohort of 1000 children from 100 schools around Australia (Meiers et al., 2006). The original Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) developed new instruments for assessing children’s literacy and numeracy understanding in the first three years of primary school and described …

Peer Tutoring Of Junior Nursing Students: Student Experiences And Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy And Benefit, Mary Clarke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the experiences of peer tutoring in junior-level nursing students, as well as the perceptions of increased self-efficacy and overall benefit to student learning. The proposed study included 10 nursing students enrolled in the residential Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at a large private university in the Southeast United States. The theoretical framework guiding this study included both developmental constructivism (Piaget, 1953) and social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1994), as they work in a reciprocal relationship within a conceptual framework. Knowledge is constructed, and as students learn concepts from experiences, they …

Traditional Vs. Project-Based Learning: The Effects On Student Performance And Motivation In Honors Level Mathematics Courses, Sunletha Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since the charge by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) to move away from the traditional learning (TL) method of instruction to more learner-controlled techniques, project-based learning (PBL) has been on the rise. This quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design study compared the academic achievement of 122 eleventh and twelfth grade students who were instructed using PBL techniques, with a control group of their counterparts who were instructed using TL techniques, in honors level mathematics courses. Pretest and Posttest data collected from both groups of students were statistically analyzed using independent t-tests, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), respectively, since …

Using Teacher Perceptions To Predict Fifth Grade Science And Mathematics Scores In North Carolina, Jason Federico

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions and to what extent the perceptions impacted 5th grade students’ achievement in the areas of mathematics and science in North Carolina. The 2014 student achievement data in the areas of 5th grade End-of-Grade (EOG) scores in mathematics and science were obtained from one randomly selected school in each of the 115 school districts in North Carolina. The perceptions of teachers’ working conditions were extracted from the 2014 teacher working conditions survey results from each of the same randomly selected 115 schools. This correlation study used a …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Assessment Practices In Mathematics: Comparing Rural And Urban Secondary Schools In England, Michael Jarrett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This causal-comparative study compared the mean scores on the measures to determine if there were differences in perceived frequency of usage and perceived skill in usage of classroom assessment practices between mathematics teachers in urban secondary schools and mathematics teachers in rural secondary schools in England. The study comprised 109 participants selected by a random sampling method. The sample consisted of 53 mathematics teachers from urban secondary schools and 56 mathematics teachers from rural secondary schools drawn from a population of secondary school mathematics teachers in England. The Assessment Practices Inventory (API) was used to collect data from the participants …

2015 Learning Assessment Of Secondary Institutions (Lasi), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Assessment and Reporting

The Learning Assessment of Secondary Institutions (LASI) is a sample based assessment which gathers data on Grade 6 and Grade 8 students' learning outcomes in Reading of Bangla, and English and mathematics and also on the contextual factors that may influence student learning. It is designed as a long-term monitoring program which will measure improvement in learning between grades and within grades over time. This report presents the findings from the Bangladesh Learning Assessment of Secondary Schools, 2015 (LASI 2015). The report provides an introduction to the LASI 2015 assessment which includes information about the methodology and the instruments used …

The Explorations Program: Benefits Of Single-Session, Research- Focused Classes For Students And Postdoctoral Instructors, Jeremy L. Hsu, Anna M. Wrona, Sarah E. Brownell, Waheeda Khalfan

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We present an update to Explorations, a program at Stanford University that allows undergraduates in an introductory biology course to explore specialized topics in the biological sciences while providing graduate students and postdoctoral scholars the unique opportunity to develop and teach single-session, research-focused classes. We provide an assessment of eight iterations of the program, using program attendance, student and instructor evaluations, senior exit surveys, course grades, and completion of undergraduate honors theses to assess the impact of our program on students and instructors. Students rated their experiences highly, and most reported that the program had a positive impact on their …

Should Students Assessed As Needing Remedial Mathematics Take College-Level Quantitative Courses Instead? A Randomized Controlled Trial, Alexandra W. Logue, Mari Watanabe-Rose, Daniel Douglas

Publications and Research

This data set is for Should Students Assessed as Needing Remedial Mathematics Take College-Level Quantitative Courses Instead? A Randomized Controlled Trial (Logue, Watanabe-Rose, & Douglas, 2016).

Critical Thinking Skills And Academic Maturity: Emerging Results From A Five-Year Quality Enhancement Plan (Qep) Study, Ian N. Toppin, Shadreck Chitsonga

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The QEP that was implemented in this study focused on enhancing students’ critical thinking skills. A pretest/ posttest approach was used to assess students’ critical thinking progress in freshman level core English and Math courses. An intervention was performed involving intensive instruction and assignments relating to a set of reasoning strategies such as: analytical, analogical, inductive, deductive, and comparative reasoning, among others. When students performed well on assignments by applying the reasoning strategies, it was assumed that critical thinking occurred. However, pre/ posttest results in these classes were often disappointing, and seemed at times to suggest that freshmen are not …

Translating Stem Education Research Into Practice, Christine Rosicka

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This translational research project from the Centre for Education Policy and Practice sought evidence-based practical applications, programs or interventions that can be implemented in the primary classroom to address STEM learning. A literature search for STEM education interventions in primary years was undertaken in order to identify integrated STEM programs that have had a proven impact on student outcomes. This paper outlines the scope and methodology of the review. It then considers the findings in terms of four key themes and translates them into short messages for teachers. The recent literature on STEM education was found to centre around four …

Evaluating An Assessment Instrument For The Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan, Susan Mae Duncan

Dissertations and Theses

This mixed methods study evaluated the validity, and reliability of an instrument designed to assess a middle school student's proficiency in systems thinking as described in the 2010 Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan. In Stage 1, a forum of middle school students, formal, and non-formal educators used the Delphi technique to reach consensus regarding which skills were important to include in a scoring guide for systems thinking. In Stage 2, the scoring guide was field tested by formal and non-formal educators using a sample of students' work. The two groups' scores were compared using Cohen's kappa to make inferences regarding inter-rater …

Energy3d: Guiding Engineering Design With Science Simulations, Chandan Dasgupta, Alejandra J. Magana, Lisa Kirkham

Purdue P-12 Networking Summit & Poster Session

The Purdue P-12 Networking Summit gives Purdue faculty and staff engaged with P-12 schools a forum to interact with each other, share ideas, and develop collaborations that make programs more effective. Faculty and staff are invited to attend.

Indiana Science Initiative Increases Istep+ Passing Rates, Paul Ainslie

Purdue P-12 Networking Summit & Poster Session

No abstract provided.

Gaiseing Into The New Guidelines, Robert Carver, Megan Mocko, Jeffrey Witmer, Beverly Wood

Publications

The first GAISE College Report came out in 2005. Over the past ten years our discipline has changed in many ways, including but not limited to what type of data is easily available, the technology that we use, as well as how we teach students. In this presentation we will briefly start with how the new GAISE 2016 guidelines and goals have changed, including the two new emphases of statistical thinking: giving students experience with multivariable thinking and with the investigative process. So how do you start to implement these new ideas? In this presentation, we will demonstrate an activity …

Beyond Behavior, Craig C. Laupheimer

Scholarship and Engagement in Education

Teaching to engage students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can inspire the whole classroom and make teaching and learning engaging and exciting. Although teachers and students alike face a challenging educational landscape, much can be done to empower students with special needs. Teaching with the whole classroom in mind with an emphasis on hands on, explorative and inspirational learning experiences to accommodate for these students strengthens and causes student engagement and agency. This article highlights the challenges and potential breakthroughs possible for classroom instruction specifically where the ADHD student is concerned and looks towards teaching mindfulness and empowerment as …

Academic Intervention: Acceleration And Remediation, Barbara Franklin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Eighth grade math students must pass a standards based test to be promoted to the next grade. Students who were at risk of failing the state’s annual test faced impending retention. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to see if an intensive nine-week (55 min per day) remedial Math Connection (MC) class for 67 suburban, eighth grade students identified as at risk of failing, could significantly increase the scores; concurrently, at this Title I school, they were compared with 122 eighth grade students who were not identified as at risk of failing. The dependent variable was measured using the …

Exploring Elementary Students’ Agricultural And Scientific Knowledge Using Evidence Centered Design, Molly R. Brandt

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The public is more disconnected from agriculture than ever. Americans are two to four generations removed from the farm, and a majority of Americans, even in rural agricultural states have no direct link to agriculture. As a result, the public lacks the knowledge and appreciation of the food, fuel, and fiber it demands. The National Center for Agricultural Literacy (NCAL) uses National Agricultural Learning Objectives (NALOs) to measure student’s agricultural knowledge. The purpose of this project is to develop assessments aligned with the NALOs and to use results from the assessments to further understand students’ agricultural literacy. This study focuses …

Evaluating College Biology Laboratory Accommodations For Students With Blindness And Visual Impairments, Barbara Rae Heard

All Theses And Dissertations

Studies show that active participation in science laboratory activities promotes student learning. However, students with blindness and visual impairments (BVI) often confront obstacles to active participation in the required activities of the college biology laboratory. Legislation requires institutions of higher education to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, yet the institutions must also maintain the academic integrity of their courses and programs. While college biology instructors provide specific accommodations, such as tactile models and audible devices, to enable active participation by students with BVI, they do so without research-supported guidelines for best practices. This mixed methods study sought to evaluate …

The Effects Of Using Selected Metacognitive Strategies On Act Mathematics Sub-Test Scores, Jeffrey Lemay

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quasi-experimental post-test only control group designed quantitative study examined whether or not members of an experimental group of participants who utilized two metacognitive strategy training regimens experienced a significant increase in their ACT mathematics sub-test scores compared to a group of students who did not utilize either of the study’s metacognitive strategy training regimens. Using a post-test only control group design required 2 groups of participants: 1) the experimental group, and 2) the control group. Participants began the study’s treatment on October 26, 2015, and the study ended on December 12, 2015, when all participants of the study took …

Comparing The Effects Of Elementary Music And Visual Arts Lessons On Standardized Mathematics Test Scores, Molly King

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to compare the effect elementary music and visual arts lessons had on third through sixth grade standardized mathematics test scores. Inferential statistics were used to compare the differences between test scores of students who took in-school, elementary, music instruction during the same semester state standardized mathematics tests were administered and those who took in-school, elementary visual arts instruction during the same semester standardized mathematics tests were administered. The students attended seven elementary schools in the same North Alabama school district. The research questions were: (a) Does participation in elementary school music lessons …

Guiding Sixth Grade Language Development In Mathematical Content Acquisition Through Student Centered Siop Instruction, Leah Callister

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Mathematics is considered a universal language for students. However, now common core standards require students to explain their conceptual understanding through words, numbers, and verbal explanations. Student proficiency in the universal language is impeded when they do not speak the primary language. It is difficult for the teacher to teach both the academic language and mathematical concepts, when the vocabulary is not accessible to all students. Conversely it is difficult for students to follow the pacing of the class while having to translate and gain a conceptual understanding of the subject. The purpose of this study is to increase student …