Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Research And Boosting Science Learning: Diagnosis And Potential Solutions, Peter Fensham

2006 - Boosting Science Learning - What will it take?

In this paper I want to draw on relevant research to address the theme of this year’s conference in three ways: 1. The nature of the problem 2. Possible solutions 3. Constraints on these possible solutions

Student Poster Presentations As A Venue For Personal And Professional Growth, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Student Publications And Presentations In Science – Writing The Abstract As A Model In Teaching Scientific Writing, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V02n1, Winter 2006, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Pare Lorentz Award for Iowa Documentary

--118th Iowa Academy of Science Annual Meeting

--Iowa Summit on Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education

--Iowa Science Teachers Journal

--Considering Reorganizing the IAS Sections

--GLOBE ONE

--Grants & Award Program Announcements

--IAS Honors New Fellows

--Now Accepting 2006 Fellows Nominations

Academic Content Instruction And The High School English Language Learner: A Series Of Lessons That Model An Approach To Content Instruction In Science In A Multi- Level English As A Second Language High School Classroom, Juliet M. Parry

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a series of lessons on biology that model an approach to content instruction Biology in a multi-level English as a second language high school classroom. It includes background information on the course, lesson plans, explanation of and rationale behind them, historical perspective on the shift from content instruction in the native language to content instruction in the new or target language.

Test 1880: Mccormick Xtx 185/Mccormick Mtx 165 Diesel, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

No abstract provided.

A New Model Of Evolution Education For Middle School Science, Walter Lee Owen

Theses Digitization Project

Proposes a new model for teaching inquiry and critical thinking in the middle school science classroom. This model will assist students in learning the evidence for evolution for themselves, as well as assisting them in developing skills in critical thinking and inquiry. The objective of this model is to create a more scientifically literate student body who can go on to pursue an even greater understanding of the nature of science.

Addressing Second And Third Grade California Science And Social Science Content Standards Through Environmental Literature, Denise Truex Hatfield

Theses Digitization Project

In response to the federal legislation No Child Left Behind, schools across the country implemented required reading programs for classroom instruction. Open Court's Reading program meets this criterion for many schools. The text in Open Court Reading for grades two and three was evaluated for science and social science content standards that would be supportive of environmental education. Supplemental lessons from Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WET were identified.

Tools For Teaching Intersession In A Year-Round School, Rebecca Jane Santana

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to create a website that would assist teachers who teach intersession at the year round school. The goal is to allow teachers to spend less time on paperwork and focus on what they need to do in order to service their students and help them meet their goals.

Towards A Science Education For All: The Role Of Ideas, Evidence And Argument, Jonathan Osborne

2006 - Boosting Science Learning - What will it take?

This presentation offers a critical analysis of contemporary science education and the values on which it rests. Science education wrestles with two competing priorities: the need to educate the future citizen about science; and the need to provide the basic knowledge necessary for future scientists. It is argued that the evidence would suggest that it is the latter goal that predominates – a goal which exists at least, in part, in conflict with the needs of the majority who will not continue with science post compulsory education. The argument is advanced that there are four essential elements to any science …

A Model For Incrementally Transforming The Science Classroom From Traditional Instruction To Inquiry, Tana Michelle Jerome

Theses Digitization Project

Explores the implementation of inquiry into the science classroom and presents a model for incrementally changing the traditional (behavioralist) instruction found in the science class to inquiry-based (constructivist) instructional strategies.

How Can A Science Educator Incorporate Field Study Into Their Advanced High School Science Courses?, Michael Alexis Apffel

Theses Digitization Project

Organizes information and opportunities for high school level science field work and categorizes it to inform the educator of the field study possibilities. Assists educators in overcoming the obstacles of implementing field science into existing science courses. Several field study lesson plans are provided.

A Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Curriculum For Secondary Biology Teachers, Raquel Georgina Martinez

All Graduate Projects

Research was conducted in the following areas, which help support the need for a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum for secondary biology teachers. The history of both bilingual education and science, the importance of bilingual education, a summarization of selected bilingual and ESL models, bilingual and science curriculum, supported bilingual research, standardized tests, science and ELL students, and in closing secondary bilingual research. Based on the conducted research, the curriculum was developed utilizing the late-exit bilingual model, preview/review, and the incorporation of the student's culture.

Knowing Versus Understanding: Teaching That Goes Beyond Trivialities, John Stiles

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

In this century of science and technology, it is essential that students learn to critically assess science issues in historical perspectives. The traditional method of teaching students to memorize information bits cannot accomplish the goal of creating a science- and technology-literate public. However, if teachers transform their learning environment into one that encourages and supports student conceptual understanding, not only will graduates be able to make informed decisions regarding science, but numerous studies show that student achievement also increases, often dramatically. This article promotes National Science Education Content Standard A and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8.

Science Education On The U.S./Mexico Border: Field-Based Studies For Future Teachers In Bilingual/Binational Schools, William Robertson, Judith Munter, Claudia Garcia

Selected Works Temporary Series

The University of Texas at El Paso’s field-based program of studies for future teachers provides opportunities for powerful learning through a dialectical union of reflection and action. Methods courses in academic disciplines are linked with seminars and coursework on community partnerships, critical pedagogy and culturally responsive education. This article illustrates the processes of planning, implementation and evaluation of this approach, highlighting the impacts of community service learning. Parents, students and future teachers interact in workshops that center on validating native language literacy, increasing parental involvement and providing conceptually correct science education. The project indicates that two-way dual language programs with …

Implementing The Texas Master Science Teacher Program, William Robertson, Elaine Hampton, Brian Giza

Selected Works Temporary Series

In 2004, the State of Texas authorized the Texas Master Science Teacher certification. This post-baccalaureate certification provided a much-needed opportunity for experienced science teachers to be formally recognized for their leadership roles at a time in which science instruction was being impacted by a number of sometimes competing state and national initiatives. This article describes the steps and lessons learned by the team that implemented the first Master Science Teacher program in Texas.

A Practical Approach To Building Web Sites In The Classroom, William Robertson

Selected Works Temporary Series

The five-phased process for building Web sites in the classroom may be useful in helping educators facilitate the process of integrating computer technology and the Internet into instruction and curriculum design. The method described is a synthesis of a personal process of discovery, teaching, and learning that has come from practical experience with teachers and students. To effectively utilize this five-phased approach, the instructor must ascertain the final goal, whether it is a curriculum product, Web site, oral presentation, or some other form of demonstration of learning. The identified phases are a set of guiding principles that at any time …

Id Hysteria Says More About Some People's Freudian 'Id' Than About Science, William W. Cobern

Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project

One of the dumbest things I have ever heard from an otherwise intelligent person came not quite a decade ago and from astronomer Alan Hale commenting on the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide (Hale, 1997). It is silly enough that he thought that his personal encounters with a few psychotic speculators regarding the Hale-Bopp comet represented a commonly held view of comets; but no, we learn from Alan Hale that the real reason 39 people in the Heaven’s Gate cult committed suicide is that they were ignorant and superstitious. They apparently didn’t know that after all a comet is nothing more …

Standards Based Interactive Bilingual Math Centers For The Kindergarten Classroom, Laura Berge

All Graduate Projects

Statistical data from various research sources indicate a large discrepancy between mathematical achievement levels of Hispanic students. The project is significant in that it integrates current research on early learners, educational pedagogy, ELL teaching strategies, and mathematical learning to ensure success in mathematics for young Hispanic students. Toward this end, the purpose of this project was to develop bilingual math centers using a constructivist approach and the latest research on second language acquisition and teaching for the early childhood classroom. This project is also unique because it supplements current math curriculums used throughout the state while providing the necessary scaffolds …

Moving Traditional Teaching Methods Of Advanced Placement Biology Toward Improving Opportunity For Students To Develop Understanding Of Scientific Principles, Mabell Jeannette Martinez

Theses Digitization Project

This project investigated the role of the advanced placement program in the classroom. The research suggested that implementation of inquiry-based methods in science classrooms, including advanced placement biology courses, would improve student understanding.

A Comparative Analysis Of Three Manufacturers Of Science Probeware For The Classroom, Matthew Phillip Reisenhofer

Theses Digitization Project

Evaluates and assesses the probes and associated probeware of three manufacturers using a variety of criteria that are essential information for a consumer. The probes and probeware examined include Pasco Scientific's ScienceWorkshop, Venier's LabPro, and Onset's HOBO. Three experiments were used to test each of the criteria for comparison. Based on the data in the study no manufacturer proved themselves to be clearly the best, and taken collectively the benefits and drawbacks balance out.

Front Matter

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Winter Bird Use Of Conservation Reserve Program Fields Harvested For Biomass, Les D. Murray, Louis B. Best

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

As Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts expire, many fields may be returned to agricultural production. Growing switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) as a biomass fuel is an alternative to returning fields to rowcrops. CRP fields provide winter cover for birds, but the harvest of biomass would remove most of the cover and affect bird use of the fields. We estimated winter bird abundances in nonharvested, total-harvested, and partially (strip) harvested switchgrass fields in southern Iowa. Song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) were observed only in strip-harvested fields and ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) were observed only in nonharvested fields and uncut areas of strip-harvested fields. …

Changes In Land Cover And Breeding Bird Populations With Restoration Of Riparian Habitats In East-Central Iowa, Thomas J. Benson, James J. Dinsmore, William L. Hohman

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Conversion of Midwestern riparian areas for agricultural production has greatly altered their function and suitability for birds and other wildlife. Recently, however, restoration of riparian functions has been a major focus of land management agencies in the Midwest. We used historic land-use data to describe land-cover changes since European settlement and the subsequent effects of habitat restoration efforts on the landscape along a section of the Iowa River in east-central Iowa. We then used bird-density data collected in a subset of the study area in 2001 and 2002 to estimate changes in breeding bird populations of the entire study area …

Front Matter

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Research Plan And Preliminary Results - A Field Research Site For Emerging Contaminants In Iowa, Douglas J. Schnoebelen, Dana W. Kolpin, Larry B. Barber, Edward T. Furlong, Michael M. Meyer, Mary Skopec

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Research has recently documented the prevalence of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants (ECs) in streams across the United States. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been found to be an important source and collection point of ECs to streams as many ECs are incompletely removed during treatment. To investigate the complex instream processes (e.g., dilution, sorption, degradation, dispersion, etc.) chat can affect ECs following their input from a WWTP and determining if such input is having an effect on the aquatic ecosystem requires the integration of multi-disciplinary efforts at a carefully selected field site. Preliminary work has …

The Honey Creek Member: A New Holocene Alluvial Stratigraphic Unit In The Midwest, Jeremy S. Dillon, Rolfe D. Mandel

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This paper describes the type locality and type section for the Honey Creek Member, a stratigraphic unit first recognized in the Honey Creek drainage in southeastern Nebraska. The alluvial chronology for Honey Creek basin is similar to the regional chronology of streams in the Midwest, and all of the formal members of the DeForest Formation occur in the basin. However, the lithology of one unit, the Honey Creek Member, does not correlate with any of the formally recognized members of the DeForest Formation. The Honey Creek Member is composed of grayish brown silt loam overbank facies coarsening downward to a …

Effects Of Using Educational Robotics At The Elementary School Level, Vega Rishelline Anne Flores

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this research was to learn more about the uses and benefits of educational robotics in an elementary school curriculum.

Group Hosting Roundtables To Discuss Changing Deltas. Asu Scholars Joining Top Universities With Experiment, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Phenomenon Of Math Anxiety, Mary S. Fliehler

Graduate Research Papers

Math anxiety has cognitive, physical, and affective components. The physical component is recognizable by sweaty palms, nausea, rapid heart rhythm, and shortness of breath – all of which are the body's response to anxious feelings. The affective component is displayed through lack of confidence in one's ability to accomplish the required mathematics computations, avoidance of studying mathematics, limitations of career choices, and an over-all sense of helplessness when confronted with mathematical situations. The cognitive component occurs when the anxiety reaches a level that reduces the efficiency of the working memory in the brain while learning new mathematical concepts. Tobias, a …