Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Perceived Barriers And Solutions: Engineering Design Implementation, Ken L. Turner

Dissertations

Engineering Design, part of the practices dimension of the Next Generation Science Standards, NGSS, is widely recognized as the most challenging piece for teachers to implement. It involves practices that teachers are unfamiliar with, have not taught before, have not been taught, and have not experienced as a student. This manuscript documents a mixed-methods survey of over 200 K-12 teachers on their perceptions of both the greatest barriers to implementation of Engineering Design, and those items that will be of most value as a solution to those barriers. A systems approach to understanding Engineering Design was utilized; with data collection …

Student Perceptions Of Biology Teachers' Interpersonal Teaching Behaviors And Student Achievement, Victor N. Madike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inadequate student-teacher interactions in undergraduate courses have been linked to poor student performance. Researchers have noted that students' perceptions of student-teacher relationships may be an important factor related to student performance. The administration of a Mid-Atlantic community college prioritized increasing undergraduate biology student performance. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between students' biology achievement and their perceptions of interpersonal teaching behaviors and student-teacher interactions in introductory biology courses. Leary's theory on interpersonal communication and the systems communication theory of Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson served as the theoretical foundation. The Wubbel's Likert-scale questionnaire on student-teacher interactions …

Engaging College Students In Online Remedial Mathematics Courses With Video Instruction, Elizabeth Henley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many students entering college in the United States need assistance in at least one academic area, causing remedial courses to be commonplace in higher education. This study evaluated the impact of video instruction in learning the content found in an online remedial math course. The instructional videos were created using the guidelines of Universal Design and cognitive load theory. A quantitative, quasi-experimental method was used to evaluate a dataset made available by a regionally accredited private New England college's online division. The online division offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certifications, and the students are located all over the …

A Case Study Investigating Secondary Science Teachers' Perceptions Of Science Literacy Instruction, Phyllis Ann Blackmon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study addressed the lack of inclusion of discipline literacy pedagogy in secondary classrooms in a rural school district in eastern North Carolina. Discipline literacy practices are recommended in the Common Core Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. The district had implemented content area reading strategies across content areas, yet no significant progress in secondary students' reading abilities had been demonstrated in statewide or national assessments. The conceptual framework that drove this study was disciplinary literacy, founded by the literacy research of Shanahan, Shanahan, and Zygouris-Coe. Within a qualitative case study method, this investigation of 8 secondary …

Restructuring High School Science Curriculum: A Program Evaluation, Cathy Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One rural Midwestern high school discovered a discrepancy among school, state, and national science skill attainment, verified by ACT scores. If students do not acquire vital science skills, they may not perform proficiently on science tests, thus impacting future college options. Inquiry based instruction and constructivism provided the basis for the theoretical framework. This study questioned associations between ACT scores, inquiry science technique usage, and ACT standard usage (Phase 1), and teachers' views on science instruction (Phase 2). This sequential explanatory mixed methods program evaluation included 469 ACT scores, surveys sent to 9 science teachers, and 8 interviews. Phase 1 …

Experiences Teaching Stoichiometry To Students In Grades 10 And 11, Cynthia Denise Bridges

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many students have problems learning stoichiometry, a complex mathematical chemistry concept used to determine how much product will be produced or formed from a given quantity of reactants. The problem addressed in this study was teachers' lack of understanding of how to teach stoichiometry in a Midwestern urban school district. The conceptual framework of the study was based upon constructivist theory. A qualitative narrative approach was used to obtain the perceptions of 5 high school chemistry instructors related to their experiences, successful or unsuccessful, in teaching stoichiometry to students in Grades 10 and 11. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, …

Effects Of Embedded Study-Skills Instruction On High School Students' Attitudes Toward Mathematics, Alberta Diahann Banks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The target school used embedded study skills in Algebra I classes to improve attitudes toward mathematics. The purpose of this sequential, explanatory mixed-methods study was to examine the effect of embedded study-skills instruction on students' attitudes toward mathematics. Metacognitive theory was used for this study's framework. Participants were 28 Grade 9 and 10 students who repeated Algebra I. Quantitative data from the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory assessed students' pre- and post-instruction attitudes toward mathematics in 4 domains. Data were analyzed using 4 independent samples t tests for students who did and did not receive embedded instruction. Qualitative data were collected …

The Influences Of Mathematics Self-Efficacy, Identity, Interest, And Parental Involvement On Stem Achievement In Algebra For Female High School Students, Nicol R. Howard

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictability of STEM achievement in Algebra for female high school students utilizing mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics interest, mathematics identity, and parental involvement. This study employed data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09/12) which consisted of 3,938 female eleventh-grade participants randomly selected from 944 public and private high schools during the fall 2009 academic year. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression indicated that mathematics identity was the strongest predictor of STEM achievement for female high school students, regardless of race. In spite of this significant relationship, STEM achievement outcomes …

Improving Math Performance In Adult Female Community College Students: An Evaluation Of Project Independence, Robin Tim Frodsham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project Independence (PI) is a community college immersion program dedicated to assisting women returning to college. The focus of this study and associated summative evaluation was to understand how the PI program addresses anxiety and other learning deficiencies associated with math. Knowle's andragogical models portray adults as motivated and self-directed, and the American college campus fosters a culture of independence. This culture is foreign to many minority, first-generation, and working class adults who learn through interdependence. This qualitative instrumental case study and evaluation is the first to examine the efficacy of PI. The guiding questions of this study concern early …

Impact Of Inclusion Teachers' Mathematics Anxiety And Mathematics Self-Efficacy On The Mathematics Achievement Of Learning Disabled Students, Vladimir Sylne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Learning disabled (LD) students are put in inclusion classrooms in order to experience the mainstream environment and to receive the same level of education as their regular education counterparts. Unfortunately, LD students do not always get the mathematics education that they deserve because inclusion mathematics teachers are not required to be highly qualified in mathematics. The focus of this study was on the relationship between mathematics anxiety and self-efficacy of inclusion teachers and the academic achievement of the LD students they serve. The theoretical framework of this study involved the concepts of student achievement, teacher efficacy, mathematics anxiety, and best …

Challenges In Assessing College Students' Conception Of Duality: The Case Of Infinity, Grace Olutayo Babarinsa-Ochiedike

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Interpreting students' views of infinity posits a challenge for researchers due to the dynamic nature of the conception. There is diversity and variation among students' process-object perceptions. The fluctuations between studentsâ?? views however reveal an undeveloped duality conception. This study examined college students' conception of duality in understanding and representing infinity with the intent to design strategies that could guide researchers in categorizing students' views of infinity into different levels.

Data for the study were collected from N=238 college students enrolled in Calculus sequence courses (Pre-Calculus, Calculus I through Calculus III) at one of the southwestern universities in the U.S. …

Students' Understanding Of Quadratic Functions: Learning From Students' Voices, Jennifer Suzanne Stokes Parent

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The objective of this multiple case study was to examine how three pairs of high school students from a northern Vermont high school approached quadratic functions through traditional and multiple representation tasks. Four research questions were examined: 1) How do students think about the quadratic function as they work on a series of tasks? 2) What mathematical strategies do students employ when they work on a series of tasks related to the quadratic function? 3) How does the type of task, traditional versus multiple representation, impact students' understanding of the quadratic function? 4) What kinds of knowledge (procedural or conceptual) …

The Effects Of A Varied Method Of Instruction On Student Achievement, Transfer, Situational Interest, And Course Retention Rates In Community College Developmental Mathematics, Kevin L. Mccandless

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of a varied method of instruction on student achievement, knowledge transfer, situational interest, and course retention rates, relative to a non-varied method of instruction, in community college developmental mathematics. The varied method of instruction consisted of active learning teaching practices with foundations in social constructivism, whereas the non-varied method of instruction was founded in Cognitive Load Theory and consisted primarily of explicit instruction and individual practice.

An initial sample of 139 students who enrolled in six sections of Beginning Algebra at an urban community college in Northern California participated …