Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Noyce Teacher Academy Reflections 2015-2016, Martin Rosenman

Open Educational Resources

Highlights of selected topics and activities by Noyce Teacher Academy fellows.

Using Mobile Technology To Engage Middle School Students In The Scientific Practice Of Argumentation Via Screencasting, Patricia Anne Mcginnis

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This case study examined the use of mobile devices in supporting data collection and argumentation in the sixth grade science classroom. Mobile devices were used for data collection during laboratory activities and for constructing screencasts of science arguments. Findings revealed that students exhibit little planning when collecting digital data. Students used the digital data to add visual interest to their screencasts, support observations, and support inferences. Students who used the screencasting application’s narration and annotating tools were more likely to create appropriate and sufficient science arguments than their peers. One of the low achieving students in this study was able …

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 …

Eighth Grade Mathematics Intervention: Improving Student Self-Esteem And Content Knowledge Of Targeted Mathematic Skills, Stephanie Hart

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

By eighth grade some students believe they are “not good” and never will be successful at mathematics. Discouraged by poor grades, negative feedback from teachers or demoralized by repeated academic failure, these students disengage from their mathematics classwork. In some cases, mathematics intervention classes are a last chance to get them back on track to qualify for Algebra I in 9^th grade. The purpose of this study is to identify strategies to reengage students by increasing their academic content knowledge in mathematics and boosting their self-esteem and sense of belonging in the school setting. The review of the literature …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Retention Effects Of An Experiential Pedagogical Approach, Kelsea E. Adams

Senior Honors Projects

The quality and nature of delivery of education, especially at the K12 level is a major focus of the education reform movement. As an aspiring teacher, I am interested in developing a personal understanding of the efficacy of different modes of delivery. A large body of studies has examined the differences between experiential learning versus traditional classroom learning as well as effects on student retention. Traditional classroom learning involves literary texts, PowerPoint presentations and teacher-centered learning. In contrast, experiential learning is a hands-on, real world experience that provides students with an environment to expand their critical thinking skills and apply …

Reflective Assessment, Feedback And Academic Achievement In High School Mathematics, Nalline S. Baliram

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of metacognitive strategies and content-specific feedback on student achievement in high school mathematics. Participants in the study consisted of a convenience sample of honors geometry students in grades 9 and 10 in a private high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida. Beyond answering the specific research questions raised in the study, an additional aim was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge pertaining to effective ways to use metacognitive instruction and provide effective content-specific feedback to improve student achievement and learning.

A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control-group design with repeated-measures was …

Put Away Your Phone And Learn! How Technology Engages Or Disengages Students And… When It Is Good That Your Students Are Confused, Douglas K. Duncan

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Some technology increases student learning, some decreases it. I will show evidence of both and discuss what makes the difference. Approximately 70% of college students now text during class, and no faculty member we studied saw even as much as half of the texting that occurred. Is there any viable way to stop this? What should instructors do about the use of laptops in class?

The second part of the talk will address the uses of confusion, presenting interesting data showing the type of confusion that leads to increased student learning. Part of the discussion will be how demos – …

The Scientific Teaching Practices Survey For Undergraduate Stem Courses, Mary F. Durham, Jenny K. Knight, Brian Couch

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education (SI) is a faculty development workshop in which STEM instructors are trained in the Scientific Teaching (ST) pedagogy and encouraged to implement its practices at their home institutions. While participants generally report positive experiences at the SI, it remains unclear how these experiences affect instructors’ teaching practices and associated student outcomes. As part of a larger effort to evaluate the SI, we developed a survey to gauge the frequencies of ST practices that could occur in undergraduate STEM courses. The ST Practices Survey is derived from the observable teaching practices described in …

Using Just-In-Time Teaching In A Flipped Undergraduate Biological Systems Engineering Course, Jeyamkondan Subbiah

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

This study analyzed the role of the evidence-based instructional practice of Just-in-time (JIT) teaching integrated with the flipped classroom in an undergraduate biological systems engineering course. In the present paper we provide a detailed overview of the course design, development, and implementation of JIT in a flipped approach to instruction by communicating the technologies used, pedagogy employed to integrate online and in-class activities, and the collaboration between the instructional design support and instructor. Based on the results, we provide recommendations for engineering faculty that want to explore the flipped approach to teaching, examples for online learning activities and how to …

Using Interactive Engagement Strategies To Enhance Learning In College Science Courses, Bailey Z. Kreager, Leilani Arthurs

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

The number of decreasing science majors in U.S. institutions of higher education is connected to the quality of science instruction (Seymour, 1994; Daempfle, 2003) and resulted in nation-wide efforts to improve the quality of college-level science education (National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment et al., 1996; NGSS Lead States, 2013). This talk presents historical trends in the adoption of interactive engagement (IE) strategies in college-level science courses and presents one such IE strategy, lecture tutorials (LTs), in the context of sedimentology and stratigraphy.

To determine historical trends in the adoption of IE strategies, peer-reviewed journal articles accessible via …

The Cantor Set Before Cantor, Nicholas A. Scoville

Topology

A special construction used in both analysis and topology today is known as the Cantor set. Cantor used this set in a paper in the 1880s. Yet it appeared as early as 1875 in a paper by the Irish mathematician Henry John Stephen Smith (1826 - 1883). Smith, who is best known for the Smith normal form of a matrix, was a professor at Oxford who made great contributions in matrix theory and number theory. In this project, we will explore parts of a paper he wrote titled On the Integration of Discontinuous Functions.

Topology From Analysis, Nicholas A. Scoville

Topology

Topology is often described as having no notion of distance, but a notion of nearness. How can such a thing be possible? Isn't this just a distinction without a difference? In this project, we will discover the notion of nearness without distance by studying the work of Georg Cantor and a problem he was investigating involving Fourier series. We will see that it is the relationship of points to each other, and not their distances per se, that is a proper view. We will see the roots of topology organically springing from analysis.

Connecting Connectedness, Nicholas A. Scoville

Topology

No abstract provided.

The Exigency Of The Euclidean Parallel Postulate And The Pythagorean Theorem, Jerry Lodder

Geometry

No abstract provided.

Computational Modeling Intervention: Using Dynamical Models To Teach Complex Biological Processes, Audrey J. Crowther, Tomáš Helikar, Nicholas Galt, Joseph Dauer, Heather Berganr, Bryan Kowal

UCARE: Research Products

The Unites States, while being one of the richest countries in the world, ranks 17th in science proficiency out of 31 countries. New techniques for teaching are needed if the US wants to keep up with increasing global competition. Often the problem with traditional methods for teaching biological processes is that they present the material as linear or causal, when in fact there is a much wider network at play. For example, cellular respiration is often represented as a linear process that always starts with glucose and always ends with ATP and water. However, there are several entry and exit …

Weartec Students’ Preferences And Perceptions Of Formal Vs. Informal Education, Sarah Houston, Gwen Nugent

UCARE: Research Products

This research investigated students’ preferences and perceptions between in-class instruction and informal instruction through the NSF-funded WearTec study, whose goal was to increase interest in STEM fields within 4^th-6^th graders through the use of wearable technologies, primarily girls. Students who participated in both the formal and informal education programs in the WearTec study were the students who were selected to participate in this research. A mixed method analysis was used with quantitative data from student surveys and qualitative data from student interviews that asked questions related to the student survey responses. Results showed that many of the …

Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Mathematics Education Experiences: A Phenomenological Study, Christine Mcelhaney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions about mathematics of pre-service elementary school teachers at a small private university in the Midwestern United States. The theoretical framework used for this research study came from Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, including the component of teacher efficacy. Because mathematics is a fundamental subject for students to develop skills necessary for various 21st century careers, this qualitative phenomenological study sought to examine how pre-service teachers perceived their ability and confidence to teach mathematics. I limited the choice of participants to elementary pre-service teachers who had not yet completed any mathematics …

The Relationship Between Using Study Island Supplemental Math Software And Third, Fourth, And Fifth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement, Michael Rich

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The ex post facto study investigated the relationship between the use of Study Island supplemental math software and students’ math achievement in a Title I public elementary school in Georgia during the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and the 2013-2014 school years. Data from the school was collected regarding the use of a supplemental math software program called Study Island during the 2012-2013 and the 2013-2014 school years. Data on students’ math achievement test scores was collected from school level reports for the 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and the 2013-2014 school years. Data was analyzed using a two-tailed t test to investigate the possible relationship …

Assessing The Impact Of Historical Story Telling On Student Learning Of Natural Selection, Janice Marie Fulford

Dissertations

Research suggests that because of its historical nature, the learning of evolutionary biology is problematic compared to that of other science disciplines. While explanations used in historical sciences often employ historical narratives, which are distinct from narratives in other contexts, such as stories, the two types of narratives have structural similarities that suggest the potential role of stories based in the history of science for the teaching of evolutionary biology. Stephen Klassen, a prominent science educator, has studied how stories from the history of physics can promote the learning of and attitudes towards science. Klassen’s pioneering work identifies structural components …

Creating A Learning Continuum: A Critical Look At The Intersection Of Prior Knowledge, Outdoor Education, And Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas And Practices, Trisha Leigh Schlobohm

Dissertations and Theses

Outdoor School is a cherished educational tradition in the Portland, OR region. This program's success is attributed to its presumed ability to positively impact affective and cognitive student outcomes. Residential programs such as Outdoor School are considered to be an important supplement to the classroom model of learning because they offer an authentic, contextually rich learning environment. References to relevant literature support the idea that student gains in affective and cognitive domains occur as a result of the multi-sensory, enjoyable, hands-on nature of outdoor learning. The sample population for this study was 115 sixth graders from a demographically diverse Portland, …

A Retrospective On Student Learning And Acceptance Of Evolutionary Science, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

In this presentation, I provide an analysis of my work (1985-present) with non-major biology students and science teacher candidates in developing strategies for teaching and enhancing learning with respect to Evolutionary Science.

Tryon Trekkers: An Evaluation Of A Stem Based Afterschool Program For At-Risk Youth, Chessa Eckels Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

This study contributed to the body of research that supports a holistic model of afterschool learning through the design of an afterschool intervention that benefits elementary school students of low socioeconomic status. This qualitative study evaluated a science focused afterschool curriculum that was designed using principles from Risk and Resiliency Theory, academic motivation theories, science core ideas from the Next Generation Science Standards, and used environmental education philosophy. The research question of this study is: how does an outdoor and STEM based afterschool program impact at-risk students' self-efficacy, belonging and engagement and ability to apply conceptual knowledge of environmental science …

Learning Through Nature: A Study Of A Next Generation Science Standards Based Teacher Workshop That Blends Outdoor Learning Experiences With Formal Science, Ashley Fanning

Dissertations and Theses

Many teachers lack the confidence and knowledge to transition their classroom science lessons to an outdoor setting. Very few teacher professional development (PD) programs focus on improving teachers' self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) that is needed to enhance their science curriculum with outdoor lessons. This study examined an exception: The Connect2Science workshops, which provided elementary teachers the opportunity to experience nature-based science lessons. My research question for this study is: In what ways does a professional development workshop focused around the Next Generation Science Standards influence teachers': a) self-efficacy in teaching science outdoors and b) science pedagogical content knowledge? …

Growing Stem Education On The Playground: A Case Study Of The Factors That Influence Teachers’ Use Of School Gardens, Megan Poole

Dissertations and Theses

School gardens can have a profound, positive influence on a student's academic achievement, social skills, and attitudinal orientation. Despite these clear benefits, the use of school gardens as an instructional medium is not as prevalent as would be expected. There are several types of obstacles that can prevent teachers from using school gardens, including facets of time, support, and knowledge-based challenges. This multiple case study employs a mixed methods design to uncover factors that influence primary school teachers' decisions to utilize a school garden in their STEM curriculum. The goals of this study were to determine the types of benefits …

Remember Embers: Model-Based Reasoning, Collaborative Teams And Much More!, David Gosselin

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

Studies of interdisciplinary research teams indicate that team members struggle to achieve knowledge integration across disciplines. Knowledge integration across disciplines is at the heart of addressing important research challenges, such as impacts of global change, trade-offs between water, food, and energy production, and the need for sustainable cities. The EMBeRS Project is testing a new model for integrating knowledge across disciplines based on cognitive science theories of model-based reasoning. The project will create educational materials to train students to overcome the barriers to integrating knowledge across disciplines.

Issues arise due to the inability of team members to work collaboratively in …

An Investigation Into Intermediate Grades Teachers' Noticing Of The Mathematical Quality Of Instruction, Krista Lynn Strand

Dissertations and Theses

The Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI) is an important feature of a classroom mathematics lesson. Before teachers can strengthen the MQI of their own lessons, however, teachers must first be able to notice MQI-related features of instruction. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate intermediate grades teachers’ MQI-related noticing as they go through a ten-week research-based MQI professional development (PD) program. Specifically, this dissertation is guided by two research questions: (1) How do individual teachers’ noticing of MQI-related features of instruction shift as they go through an MQI-focused professional development program? and (2) How do teachers approach the task …

Using Ipads And Video-Based Instruction To Teach Algebra To High School Students With Disabilities, Elias Clinton, Tom J. Clees

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation targets a study in which four high school students with disabilities were taught to solve algebraic equations using iPads and video-based instruction. All students showed immediate increases in accurate responding following the introduction of the video-based intervention. This presentation provides practitioners with a flexible technology-based intervention for students with disabilities in need of grade-level academic instruction. The intervention could be used across a variety of subjects and academic tasks.