Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Conflict And Choice Of Study At University Level: Evidence From Pakistan, Abbas Ali Gillani, Xiaocheng Hu

Peace and Conflict Studies

Conflict, and violence related events have been found to have significant effects on the cognitive thinking and mental well-being of individuals. Although there is ample evidence suggesting negative association of conflict with schooling outcomes, there is non-existent research on how violence can impact degree choices made by students at the university level. By using university level admissions data between 2014 and 2016 from Pakistan, this paper examines the differential in preference for degree choices of students who live in conflict-affected areas compared to students who live in conflict-free areas. The results show that students exposed to violence were less likely …

The Effects Of Isolated Affordances On Preschool Counting Improvement When Using A Digital Coloring App, Katherine Papazian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Counting is an important preschool math skill that is necessary for building a strong foundation in mathematics. Previous research has demonstrated that guided counting activities can improve counting ability in preschoolers and that drawing on paper while learning can deepen processing, but research has not included digital drawing as a potential means of deepening processing while children count. This study developed a novel touch-screen app, which used a guided coloring activity to encourage effective counting skills and serve as a home numeracy tool that could be employed by all parents, including those with math anxiety. To evaluate the benefits of …

The Effect Of Typewriting Vs. Handwriting Lecture Notes On Learning: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Timothy Schaun Lau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effect of note-taking modality during lecture, that is, taking notes by hand using pen and paper vs. taking notes using a keyboard and computer, on learning among secondary and postsecondary students. I begin with a review of the literature and theoretical introduction to the theories and terms used. From a theoretical standpoint, there are strong reasons to believe that taking notes by hand might offer recall benefits relative to taking notes using a computer and keyboard. At the same time, I point out that one problem, which I …

The Cognitive & Educational Implications Of Color Use In Drawing To Learn, Juliana F.M. Cantarutti

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Drawing to Learn (D2L) is a learning aid that encourages STEM students to interact with abstract concepts in STEM by sketching. D2L is not an intuitive skill, and researchers strive to provide students with guidelines on how to master this method. One potential way to enhance the D2L method for students is by incorporation of visual cues, specifically color. While many students choose to incorporate color into their models without explicit instruction to do so, we have found no research on: a) why students use color in sketching, b) its effects on D2L. This study used interviews, surveys, and course …

“I Can Math, Too!”: Reducing Math Anxiety In Stem-Related Courses Using A Combined Mindfulness And Growth Mindset Approach (Magma) In The Classroom, Tashana S. Samuel, Sebastien Buttet, Jared Warner

Publications and Research

Math anxiety has become an alarming social justice concern, as it results in negative academic consequences, contributes to disinterest and lack of persistence in STEM programs for underrepresented students, and limits their opportunities in STEM careers. According to research, this fear of math occurs long before students begin working on math problems. When high-math anxious students encounter math situations, anticipation anxiety consumes working memory capacity, inhibits learning, and causes them to severely underperform on mathematical tasks. However, very few studies have been conducted to embed psychological interventions in the classroom in an effort to mitigate both anticipation and execution anxiety. …

Exploring Adolescents’ Critical Thinking Aptitudes When Reading About Science In The News, Marianne Bissonnette, Pierre Chastenay, Chantal Francoeur

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This research studies the critical thinking skills of six teenagers in their final years of high school. It looks at the way those students use a set of cognitive skills in order to analyze scientific and pseudoscientific information available in online news articles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six students chosen according to their results in a questionnaire about interest in science topics. Results show a large gap between participants’ use of critical thinking skills. Most of these skills were mainly used for text comprehension, evoking general knowledge, numeracy, arguments assessment and production, and life skills (open-mindedness and metacognition). The …

How Going With The Flow Could Aid Factor Learning In Mathematics, Aaron M. Beuoy

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of elaborative processing and knowledge maps for learning the steps to factor polynomials with various numbers of terms when math anxiety was accounted for. The study took place in a college classroom during an eight day period when students were learning to factor polynomials. On Day 2, students studied the factoring steps using a list of steps or a flowchart and then engaged in free- and cued-recall tests. Day 3 was similar except that students did not complete a free recall test. Another set of cued recall tests were administered on Day 5, and …

Numeracy And Social Justice: A Wide, Deep, And Longstanding Intersection, Kira Hamman, Victor Piercey, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

We discuss the connection between the numeracy and social justice movements both in historical context and in its modern incarnation. The intersection between numeracy and social justice encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and quantitative topics, but within that variety there are important commonalities. We examine the importance of sound quantitative measures for understanding social issues and the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration in this work. Particular reference is made to the papers in the first part of the Numeracy special collection on social justice, which appear in this issue.

Learning A New Physics Concept By Exploring Analogous Problems : An Instructional Intervention, Joanna Perry Weaver

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study tested the hypothesis that exploratory learning, with and without analogous problems, would improve students’ ability to make connections between conceptually-related topics. In this randomized experiment, undergraduates in introductory physics (N = 171) studied a new topic under three different instructional conditions. Order and type of instruction varied: Two experimental groups explored the concept before hearing a lecture; a control group followed the typical sequence of hearing a lecture before working with the concept. Within the experimental condition, students in the analogy-first group simultaneously explored analogous problems; students in the explore-first group explored only the new problem with a …

Differences In Spatial Visualization Ability And Vividness Of Spatial Imagery Between People With And Without Aphantasia, Anita Crowder

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics education researchers have examined the relationship between visualization and mathematics for decades (e.g., Arcavi, 2003; Bishop, 1991; Duval, 1999; Fennema & Tartre, 1985; Presmeg, 1986). Studies have linked spatial visualization ability, such as measured in mental rotation tasks, directly to mathematics self-efficacy (Pajares & Kranzler, 1995; Weckbacher & Okamoto, 2014), which in turn influences mathematics achievement (Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 1997). With the important role that spatial visualization plays in learning mathematics, the recent identification of congenital aphantasia (Zeman, Dewar, & Della Sala, 2015), which is the lack of mental imagery ability, has raised new questions for mathematics education …

Learning To Think Slower: Review Of Thinking, Fast And Slow By Daniel Kahneman (2011), Samuel L. Tunstall, Patrick N. Beymer

Numeracy

Daniel Kahneman. Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux) 499 pp. ISBN 978-0374275631.

As an expansive review of Kahneman and others' work over the past half-century in understanding human decision-making, Thinking, Fast and Slow provides Numeracy readers much to consider for both pedagogy and research. In this review, we outline Kahneman's core argument—that humans use both rash (emotional) System 1 thinking and slow (logical) System 2 thinking—then discuss how such systems might be addressed in a quantitative literacy classroom.

Connecting Numbers With Emotion: Review Of Numbers And Nerves: Information, Emotion, And Meaning In A World Of Data By Scott Slovic And Paul Slovic (2015), Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

Scott Slovic and Paul Slovic (Eds.). Numbers and Nerves: Information, Emotion, and Meaning in a World of Data (Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 2015). 272 pp. ISBN 978-0-87071-776-5.

It is common to view quantitative literacy as reasoning with respect to numbers. In Numbers and Nerves, the contributors to the volume make clear that we should attend not only to how students consciously reason with numbers, but also how our innate biases influence our actions when faced with numbers. Beginning with the concepts of psychic numbing, and then psuedoinefficacy, the contributors to the volume examine how our behaviors when …

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 …

What Does Motivated Mean? Re-Presenting Learning, Technology, And Motivation In Middle Schools Via New Ethnographic Writing, Justin Olmanson

Middle Grades Review

This article offers a critique of the way middle schoolers are often positioned as generalizable objects that can be acted upon to produce measurable increases in motivation and learning. The critique invites a reconsideration and cultural analysis of some of the dominant discourses and perceptions of technology, young adolescence, and the study of motivation. The use of New Ethnographic Writing—a method that performs a cultural critique via extended scenes connects to the roles and status of motivation, technology, and educational research methods deployed within public schools. Coupled with weak theory, this approach offers a way to understand young adolescents as …

Successful Female Students In Undergraduate Computer Science And Computer Engineering: Motivation, Self-Regulation, And Qualitative Characteristics, Melissa Patterson Hazley

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) fields typically have not been successful at recruiting or retaining women students. Research indicates several reasons for this shortage but mainly from three perspectives: social issues, exposure/prior knowledge and curriculum issues in K-12 settings. This mixed-methods research addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the motivation and self-regulation behaviors of successful female students who are studying computer science and computer engineering. The findings in phase one of this study indicated that learning and performance approach goals predicted adaptive strategic self-regulation behaviors including strategy use, knowledge building and engagement. Learning avoidance goals predicted …

Motivation For Mathematics: The Development And Initial Validation Of An Abbreviated Instrument, Kenneth Lee Butler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study outlines the development and initial validation of an abbreviated instrument intended to measure motivation for mathematics of university students in developmental algebra courses. I look across many of the predominant theories on motivation with the aim of representing several of these theories as latent constructs in a single instrument that is short enough to be administered in a reasonable amount of time, but inclusive enough that it could incorporate subscales representing multiple distinct latent factors. This study answers a call by researchers expressing a need to investigate relationships between disparate theories on motivation and is a response to …

Reasoning About Race And Pedagogy In Two Preservice Science Teachers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis, Douglas B. Larkin, Tanya Maloney, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Douglas B. Larkin

Medulla: A 2d Sidescrolling Platformer Game That Teaches Basic Brain Structure And Function, Joey R. Fanfarelli, Stephanie Vie

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article explores the design and instructional effectiveness of Medulla, an educational game meant to teach brain structure and function to undergraduate psychology students. Developed in the retro-style platformer genre, Medulla uses two-dimensional gameplay with pixel-based graphics to engage students in learning content related to the brain, information which is often pre-requisite to more rigorous psychological study. A pretest posttest design was used in an experiment assessing Medulla’s ability to teach psychology content. Results indicated content knowledge was significantly higher on the posttest than the pretest, with a large effect size. Medulla appears to be an effective learning tool. These …

The Advanced Placement Program's Impact On Academic Achievement, Russell T. Warne, Braydon Anderson

Russell T Warne

Developing & Describing The Use & Learning Of Conceptual Models For Integer Addition And Subtraction Of Grade 5 Students, Nicole Marie Wessman-Enzinger

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports the results of a teaching experiment, which explored student thinking about integer addition and subtraction. Through the lens of commognitive theory (Sfard, 2008), interpreting negative integers as secondary intuitions (Fischbein, 1987), and employing teaching experiment methodology (Steffe & Thompson, 2000), this study was a first step in developing more robust descriptions of students' conceptual models for integer addition and subtraction. I investigated: (a) the conceptual models that students exhibited, (b) the various ways that students utilized conceptual models while learning about the addition and subtraction of integers, and (c), the ways that students' conceptions evolved over the …

Move, Interact, And Connect Personally Barter Theatre’S Project Real Gets Implicit In Order To Learn, Megan E. Atkinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Body movement, hands-on activity, embodiment, social interaction, emotions, and self-reflection allow teaching artists of Barter’s Theatre’s Project REAL to conduct a lesson with an implicit learning experience as the focus. Barter Theatre’s Project REAL exists as a theatre for education program that collaborates with regular classroom teachers on delivering the curriculum through specific theatre exercises in order to connect the material personally to the students’ lives. Theatre tools provide a human experience that enhances learning for the student by use of kinesthetic movement, social learning, emotions and interpersonal skills. To understand the effects of Barter Theatre’s Project REAL, the director …

Comparison Of Linear Functions In Middle Grades Textbooks From Singapore And The United States, Linda D. Fowler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many U.S. students do not perform well on mathematics assessments with respect to algebra topics such as linear functions, a building-block for other functions. Poor achievement of U.S. middle school students in this topic is a problem.

U.S. eighth graders have had average mathematics scores on international comparison tests such as Third International Mathematics Science Study, later known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS)-1995, -99, -03, while Singapore students have had highest average scores. U.S. eighth grade average mathematics scores improved on TIMMS-2007 and held steady onTIMMS-2011. Results from national assessments, PISA 2009 and 2012 and National Assessment …

The Development And Tryout Of A Program Designed To Increase Students' Multiplication Fact Fluency, Linton D. Williams

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Fluency skills are fundamental to the ability to complete relatively more complex problems using less mental energy. Most math curriculums do not stress the importance of automaticity of math facts. Variations in teaching styles and teaching modality seem to negate the true purpose for cementing and rapidly retrieving math facts. This study put to the test a program that was designed to increase students’ ability to retrieve multiplication facts fluently. The program exercised cognitive structures and enabled students to retrieve multiplication facts quickly. The results of a matched-pairs t-test indicated that after the students completed the course of the program, …

The Phenomenon Of Abstract Cognition Among Scholastic Chess Participants: A Case Study, Brent C. Laws

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore the phenomenon of abstract cognition among a purposive sample of 5 secondary scholastic chess club participants. The case study enabled the researcher to explore the faculties of abstract cognition among students of contrasting skills and abilities in playing chess. The study also allowed for the consideration of potential visual-spatial, logical, academic, social competency and life benefits of chess play. Through analysis of interviews, chess simulations, blindfold chess play, and narration of chess lines and sequences, the investigator was able to extract meaning and code schemata into a holistic understanding of the phenomenon of …

Integrating Cognitive Science With Innovative Teaching In Stem Disciplines, Mark A. Mcdaniel, Regina F. Frey, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Henry L. Roediger Iii

Books and Monographs

This volume collects the ideas and insights discussed at a novel conference, the Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines Conference, which was held September 27-28, 2012 at Washington University in St. Louis. With funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the conference was hosted by Washington University’s Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE), a center established in 2011. Available for download as a PDF. Titles of individual chapters can be found at http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/circle_book/.

Developing Spatial Reasoning Skills In General Chemistry Students, Deborah L. Carlisle

Doctoral Dissertations

The study of organic chemistry requires the understanding and use of spatial relationships, which can be challenging for many students. Prior research has shown that there is a need to develop students’ spatial reasoning skills. To that end, this study implemented guided activities designed to strengthen students’ spatial skills, with the aim of preparing students for organic chemistry and other future STEM courses. Students, taking the second semester of a two-semester general chemistry course, engaged in these activities. This study followed a quasi experimental design, in which the experimental (n = 209) and the control group (n = 212) were …

Looking At The Multiple Meanings Of Numeracy, Quantitative Literacy, And Quantitative Reasoning, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

The subject of this journal goes by a variety of names: numeracy, quantitative literacy, and quantitative reasoning. Some authors use the terms interchangeably. Others see distinctions between them. Study of psycholinguistic and ontological concepts laid out in the literature of WordNet and familiarity with the papers in this journal suggests a vocabulary matrix consisting of four rows (word senses) and three columns (word forms, namely numeracy, QL, and QR). The four word senses correspond to four sets of synonyms: {numeracy}, {numeracy, QL}, {QL, QR}, and {numeracy, QL, QR}. Each of the word forms is polysemous: “numeracy” points to the first, …

Investigating Children's Intuitive And Analytical Thinking About Path Length As A Developmental Phenomenon, Cheryl Lynn Eames

Theses and Dissertations

Children's conceptions of length measurement has been the focus of research that has built on the work of Piaget and his colleagues to produce developmental accounts for the acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge. Prior research focused on children's developing conceptions of length measurement for straight or rectilinear paths; however, little is known about how these conceptions grow beyond the elementary grades. The present study increased the scope of this research beyond elementary grades to include middle and secondary level students, exploring the development of students' intuitive and analytical thinking for determining the length of a curved path across a …

Personality And Science Training As Predictors Of Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs, Holly Saint

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Various factors have been researched over the past decade related to teaching efficacy under NCLB. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) guided this correlational study with 13 Alabama and 10 Tennessee public school districts to examine 114 K-4 teachers' personality measured by the Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality factors; science pre-service training and school-district professional development training measured by an unpublished Science Training Survey; and science teaching efficacy beliefs measured by the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI). The BFI's personality factors and science training were examined in combination using a hierarchical linear regression in an eight-step model while controlling for …

It Works Both Ways: Transfer Difficulties Between Manipulatives And Written Subtraction Solutions, Linda Hand

Linda Liu Hand

Three experiments compared performance and transfer among children aged 83-94 months after written or manipulatives instruction on two-digit subtraction. In Experiment 1a, children learned with manipulatives or with traditional written numerals. All children then completed a written posttest. Experiment 1b investigated whether salient or perceptually attractive manipulatives affected transfer. Experiment 2 investigated whether instruction with writing would transfer to a manipulatives-based posttest. Children demonstrated performance gains when the posttest format was identical to the instructed format, but failed to demonstrate transfer from the instructed format to an incongruent posttest. The results indicate that the problem in transferring from manipulatives instruction …