Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Going For Gold In The International Math Olympiad, Queena N. Lee-Chua

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In July 2016, two high school students in the Philippine team garnered gold at the 57th International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) in Hong Kong, capping a three-decade long quest for the top prize in the most prestigious high school math competition in the world. The four other team members also brought home honors, boosting our country to its highest rank ever, 17th out of 109 countries. This article discusses the history of the Philippine participation in the IMO, and examines the critical factors that have led to the victory. For Philippine team participants in general, these include: institutionalized and refined search …

A Comparison Of Online And Face-To-Face Achievement In Physical Science, Lisa F. Mozer

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study provided a descriptive analysis of learning outcomes in both online and face-to-face grades 9-12 physical science courses. Archived data from a single school system were used for a comparative analysis of learning outcomes in high school physical science between students enrolled in online classes and students enrolled in face-to-face classes. The study compared two years of summative assessment scores of two student groups and, overall, found equality between the two learning environments. Online learning outcomes and face-to-face learning outcomes were similar for both school years, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. The overall comparison between learning environments was further examined …

Food And Energy For All, Bradley Stevens, Stephen Rybczynski, Deborah Herrington

Peer Reviewed Articles

When asked what plants need for photosynthesis, many students can correctly recall the reaction equation and state that plants require CO2, H2O, and light. Many students, however, do not understand that these reactants are the raw materials plants use to make sugars and instead believe that they are food for plants. Moreover, when questioned further, students often voice the idea that plants get their food from the soil (Kestler 2014). This is consistent with findings that fewer than half of current middle and high school students have a correct understanding of the process of photosynthesis (AAAS 2015). We developed this …

Exploration Of Student Biodiversity Knowledge And Decision-Making For A Wildlife Conservation Socioscientific Issue, Ashley R. Alred

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

Global biodiversity, a foundation for ecosystem function, is diminishing at a rate unprecedented in the last 50 years. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem services deterioration is linked to increased food insecurity, reduced water quality and availability, decreased energy security, higher economic losses and human suffering (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Consequently, educators should invest in supporting students in their development of ecological understanding and formal decision-making skills so they are equipped with meaningful tools they can use as scientifically literate citizens. To contribute to that mission, this study seeks to explore student 1) comprehension and explanation of biodiversity concepts and 2) decision-making …

Pedagogical Moves As Characteristics Of One Instructor’S Instrumental Orchestrations With Tinkerplots And The Ti-73 Explorer: A Case Study, James L. Kratky

Dissertations

Those supporting contemporary reform efforts for mathematics education in the United States have called for increased use of technologies to support student-centered learning of mathematical concepts and skills. There is a need for more research and professional development to support teachers in transitioning their instruction to better meet the goals of such reform efforts.

Instrumental approaches to conceptualizing technology use in mathematics education, arising out of the theoretical and empirical work in France and other European nations, show promise for use to frame studies on school mathematics in the United States. Instrumental genesis is used to describe the bidirectional and …

Race, Space, And The Conflict Inside Us, Francis Su

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Talking about race is hard. Our nation is wrestling with some open wounds about race. These sores have been around a while, but they have been brought to light recently by technology, politics, and an increasingly diverse population. And regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, we will all need to work at healing these sores, not just in our personal lives, but in our classrooms and in our profession.

Life After Calculus: 20 Years Later, Darren B. Glass

Math Faculty Publications

In 1996 Math Horizons interviewed a group of students at the Joint Mathematics Meetings; now, 20 years later, one of those students, Darren Glass, interviews another group of students.

Exploring Connections Between Advanced And Secondary Mathematics, Erin E. Baldinger, Eileen Murray, Diana White, Shawn Broderick, Nicholas Wasserman

Department of Mathematics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The second meeting of this Working Group continues to explore questions about the connections between abstract algebra and school mathematics. Our goal is to focus in on questions around the way in which teachers’ practice might be influenced based on their understanding of such connections. In particular, we will gather interested individuals in an effort to deepen our understanding of existing connections between abstract algebra and secondary mathematics and which of these connections are important for secondary teachers to know and understand. Moreover, we aim to further research in this area by first considering connections between abstract algebra and school …

Quantifying Life: A Computational Approach To Teaching Mathematics To Biology Students, Dmitry Kondrashov

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Designing And Mentoring In A Research Experience For Undergraduates, Alex Capaldi

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Phys 115: Descriptive Physics, Donald Umstadter

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Syllabi

Syllabus for PHYS 115: Descriptive Physics for Fall 2016 semester.

Family-Friendly Science: Increasing Family Engagement In Stem Education, Alison Bixler

Honors Projects

Family engagement is vital to a child’s success in his or her academic career. Current research has focused more specifically on the relationship between parent engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and a student’s success in his or her STEM education. This paper is a summary of present research pertaining to this topic, as well as a summary of the results of a field-based study the author and faculty mentors completed to learn more about methods for engaging families in STEM education, particularly in the area of science. Present research indicates that a successful method for engaging …

Montauk Point, An Essential Field Experience For Students In The New York City Area, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Keshaw Narine

Publications and Research

Except for a thin strip of Proterozoic and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rock along its very western edge and an outcropping of coastal plain deposits along its northwestern edge, the surface of Long Island is immediately underlain by unconsolidated deposits consisting of moraines of glacial till, outwash plains of stratified drift, and beach and dune complex formed by wave action. Two very prominent features of the island are the Harbor Hill Moraine, which marks the southernmost extent of the last major advance of continental glacier ice in the New York area during the Pleistocene and the Ronkonkoma Moraine, which marks …

Experiential Learning Opportunities Through Nasa Stem Content Allows Greater Grass Root-Level Understanding Of The Present Day’S Extreme Climate Change Scenario, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Matthew Khargie

Publications and Research

The NASA MAA (MUREP Aerospace Academy) project at York College has demonstrated a track record of providing experiential learning opportunities (ELO) to its participating students. ELOs associated with MAA are designed to increase learners’ involvement, knowledge, comprehension and application of learning in one or more STEM subjects/disciplines. They involve inquiry-and-activity-based learning approaches designed for the level of the learner to inspire, engage, and educate while progressively challenging each student. ELO activities enable learners to acquire knowledge, understand what they have learned, and apply that knowledge through inquiry-based tasks. Specifically, we are prepared to address the following priority: Encourage, increase, and …

Effective Integration Of Nasa Stem Curricula Is Allowing Students To Appreciate Earth Science Concepts, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Krishna Mahabir, Newrence Wills, Matthew Khargie

Publications and Research

NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Aerospace Academy - MAA is a national, innovative activity designed to increase participation and retention of historically underserved and underrepresented K-12 youth in the STEM disciplines, particularly earth science and human exploration (HEO). HEO is dedicated to informing and educating the public about NASA's plans for a new era in space exploration. Utilization of NASA satellite images, online climate education, space mathematics and other earth science-related resources is allowing students to conduct basic research and prepare themselves for a New York City-wide science competition. In addition to offering school children a solid …

A Comparison Of Solvent And Water-Borne Alkyd Coatings And The History Of Voc Regulations In The United States, Molly Elise Burns

Master's Theses

A Comparison of Solvent and Water-Borne Alkyd Coatings Abstract

Conventional solvent based alkyd coatings have gone out of favor due to concerns over volatile organic compound (VOC) content. However, due to recent focus on renewable raw materials, alkyds are making a comeback in waterborne form. Water based alkyd coatings are known to have poor shelf stability and corrosion resistance, as well as other problems during the formulation process. This project focused on comparing solvent borne to two types of water-borne alkyds, water reducible alkyds and alkyds emulsions. The purpose was to understand the differences between the three types of alkyds …

Freedom Through Inquiry, Francis Su

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

I delivered this speech at the Inquiry‐Based Learning Forum & 19th Annual Legacy of R.L. Moore Conference on August 4, 2016. It is partly an homage to an influential teacher, partly an excuse to articulate what makes some styles of teaching so effective, and partly an excuse to talk about difficult issues facing our nation and our classrooms today.

Abstracts From The 2016 Ahac Conference, Erick Agrimson

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

This is a listing of Abstracts from AHAC 2016

Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2016), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The focus of ACER’s Research Conference 2016 will be on what we are learning from research about ways of improving levels of STEM learning. Australia faces significant challenges in promoting improved science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning in our schools. Research Conference 2016 will showcase research into what it will take to address these challenges, which include: the decline in Australian students’ mathematical and scientific ‘literacy’; the decline in STEM study in senior school; a shortage of highly qualified STEM subject teachers, and curriculum challenges. You will hear from researchers who work with teachers to engage students in studying …

Creating Art Patterns With Math And Code, Boyan Kostadinov

Publications and Research

The goal of this talk is to showcase some visualization projects that we developed for a 3-day Code in R summer program, designed to inspire the creative side of our STEM students by engaging them with computational projects that we developed with the purpose of mixing calculus level math and code to create complex geometric patterns. One of the goals of this program was to attract more minority and female students into applied math and computer science majors.

The projects are designed to be implemented using the high-level, open-source and free computational environment R, a popular software in industry for …

Episodic Future Thinking In Mathematical Situations, Wes Maciejewski, Reece Roberts, Donna Rose Addis

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Episodic future thinking is a process of mentally projecting one's self into a future event, allowing the event to be experienced before it actually occurs (Atance & O'Neill, 2001). The current study explores the possibility that students engage in episodic future thinking while solving mathematical tasks. Participating students were given mathematical situations and verbalized thoughts that emerged as they planned resolutions to the situations. All participants exhibited episodic future thinking and we present a categorization of these thoughts. Given extant results on the positive influence episodic future thinking has on general problem-solving ability, we propose that a similar influence might …

Research Mathematicians & Mathematics Educators: Collaborations For Change, Greg Oates, Wes Maciejewski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Definition Of A Method For The Formulation Of Problems To Be Solved With High Performance Computing, Ramya Peruri

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Computational power made available by current technology has been continuously increasing, however today’s problems are larger and more complex and demand even more computational power. Interest in computational problems has also been increasing and is an important research area in computer science. These complex problems are solved with computational models that use an underlying mathematical model and are solved using computer resources, simulation, and are run with High Performance Computing. For such computations, parallel computing has been employed to achieve high performance. This thesis identifies families of problems that can best be solved using modelling and implementation techniques of parallel …

Students' Reasoning With Haptic Technologies: A Qualitative Study In The Electromagnetism Domain, Sadhana Balachandran

Open Access Theses

With abundant applications in the medical training and entertainment industry, haptic technology is slowly making its way into the realm of science education, particularly in conveying abstract and non-visible concepts. Electric field is one such abstract concept. Past studies have shown that learning concepts such as electric fields in a traditional classroom can be quite challenging since students have a hard time visualizing the phenomena and applying its effects to reason. Furthermore, these concepts are the building blocks for more complex concepts such as matter and molecular interactions. Visuo-haptic devices provide a great platform to enable students to visualize and …

Does A Taste Of Computing Increase Computer Science Enrollment?, Steven Mcgee, Randi Mcgee-Tekula, Jennifer Duck, Taylor White, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lucia Dettori, Dale F. Reed, Brenda Wilkerson, Don Yanek, Andrew Rasmussen, Gail Chapman

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study investigated the impact of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program on the likelihood that students of all races and gender would pursue further computer science coursework in high school. ECS is designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around computer science concepts. If the course provides a meaningful and relevant experience, it will increase students' expectancies of success as well as increase their perceived value for the field of computer science. Using survey research, we sought to measure whether the relevance of students' course experiences influenced their expectancies and value and whether those attitudes predicted whether students …

Development And Testing Of An Assessment To Measure Spatial Thinking About Enhanced Greenhouse Effect, Heather Jean Skaza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Americans, in general, do not behave in environmentally sustainable ways. We drive cars and fly in planes that emit planet-warming carbon. We purchase food in nearly indestructible packaging that is not recycled or repurposed. We do not consider the environmental impact of the “stuff” stuffed into our grocery and department stores, most of which is made of materials that had to be dug out of the ground, leaving rivers and skies full of pollution in its place. Citizens have a responsibility to understand complex global and local environmental problems. A person’s ability to think about the way that an environmental …

Structural Behavior Of Nbsexte2-X Superconductors Under High Pressure, Vahe Mkrtchyan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Niobium chalcogenide compounds have recently gained a great deal of interest due to the fact that a superconducting phase coexists with the charge density wave state (CDW), as well as their potential for numerous applications. Two superconducting compositions, NbSexTe2-x (x=2, 1.5) were prepared by solid state route using high purity Nb, Se, and Te powders. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns collected at ambient conditions for NbSe2 and NbSe1.5Te0.5 showed a single phase with hexagonal crystal structure, with space group P63mmc. High-pressure X-ray diffraction measurements were performed at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory to investigate structural stability up to …

Stop Ruining Math! Reasons And Remedies For The Maladies Of Mathematics Education, Rachel M. Steinig

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Did you love math as a kid? Or was it ruined for you? Sadly, many people have had math ruined for them for various reasons. Some might say that it was because of not understanding what was going on, being bored in class, parental or societal pressure to achieve in math, not seeing a point in learning math, wrong amount of homework, grades, curriculum, physical concerns, mean teachers, or any number of things. This article delves into the many common reasons why math is ruined for so many kids, and offers solutions so that math can be enjoyable for everyone. …

Review Of Sustainable Energy -- Without The Hot Air By David Mackay (2009), Kira Hamman

Numeracy

David MacKay. Sustainable Energy: Without the hot air. (Cambridge, England: UIT Cambridge Ltd., 2009). 384 pp. ISBN 978-0954452933 (also available as a free e-book).

Physicist David MacKay transforms what has historically been a debate fraught with skepticism and hysteria into an informed conversation. He does this by providing clear, accurate quantitative information on energy production and consumption in a form that allows comparison and invites thoughtful analysis. By recalibrating power into kilowatt-hours per day per person, he makes the numbers meaningful on an individual level. He then meticulously estimates the productive capacity of various renewable energy sources, explores alternative …

On A Desert Island With Unit Sticks, Continued Fractions And Lagrange, Victor J. Ricchezza, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

GLY 4866, Computational Geology, provides an opportunity, welcomed by our faculty, to teach quantitative literacy to geology majors at USF. The course continues to evolve although the second author has been teaching it for some 20 years. This paper describes our experiences with a new lab activity that we are developing on the core issue of measurement and units. The activity is inspired by a passage in the 2008 publication of lectures that Joseph Louis Lagrange delivered at the Ecole Normale in 1795. The activity envisions that young scientists are faced with the need to determine the dimensions of a …