Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Teaching Science Through Inquiry Based Field Experiences Using Orientation And Mobility, Danene K. Fast, Tiffany A. Wild

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Instruction in science can be difficult for students with visual impairments due to the use of visual instruction that is often used for conceptual understanding. Pedagogical approaches to teaching science continue to evolve, with inquiry-based science instruction as a primary instructional method used in current classrooms.

In teaching students with visual impairments, inquiry is a strategy that has been traditionally been used in orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction, in an effort to teach students with vision loss to explore and make conclusions about their environments through the use of all senses.

The purpose of this review is to outline how …

Inquiry-Based Learning: Effects On Student Engagement, Kimberly Wheatley

Honors Projects

Inquiry-based learning is an approach to science instruction that has been around for over 40 years and has many positive aspects, including: critical thinking, student achievement, positive attitudes towards science, and student engagement. Inquiry-based learning has four different levels and is an instructional method that provides a problem or question which allows students to complete an investigation. This action research project will explore how inquiry-based learning affects student engagement and how student’s feel about inquiry. Students were taught with two days of traditional instruction, two days inquiry-based instruction, and then given a pre-survey and post-survey, and observed using an engagement …

Descriptions Of Differentiated Instruction In Mathematics In A Title 1 School District, Sheril Bulley-Simpson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an urban Title 1 school district, the average number of Grade 3-5 students who scored proficient or advanced on the state standardized assessment was 37.3% below Grade 3-5 students countywide and 19.4% below Grade 3-5 students statewide. Low mathematics scores may indicate a gap in practice that affects student achievement. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine teachers' descriptions of instructional strategies implemented to mediate instruction for students who struggle in mathematics. This study was based on the conceptual framework of Tomlinson's differentiated instruction (DI), a means of accommodating the varied ways that students learn. The …

Girls Only Science: Motivating Adolescent Females To Pursue Stem Careers, Madeline Cuckow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last five years, much attention has been drawn to the large deficit of females in STEM careers and fields. Most attribute this failure to colleges not turning out enough female STEM majors. Contrary to this belief, research suggests a young woman's aptitude for STEM related fields begins much earlier, and declines without intervention.

This project details the research of why there is a gender gap in STEM, what is being done educationally, my unique case study to test the research conducted, and the implications of that research.

Launch-Explore-Summarize In High School Calculus, Nate Mattis

Honors Theses

Current research on high school calculus instruction indicates that students often possess a procedural knowledge of differentiation and integration as opposed to a conceptual knowledge (Orton, 1983; Ferrini-Mundy & Graham, 1994). Given the prominence of traditional lecture and textbook-based calculus classes in the United States, students are not always given the opportunity to expand their conceptual knowledge of essential calculus concepts. This project introduces calculus students to a more active and communal method of teaching: Launch-Explore-Summarize (LES) (CMP, n.d.). This methodology places students at the center of their learning and emphasizes inquiry-based thinking during a class. Specifically, two LES lessons …