Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Middle School Mathematics Teacher Certification, Degree Level, And Experience, And The Effects On Teacher Attrition And Student Mathematics Achievement In A Large Urban District, Bonnie Swan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the backgrounds and experiences of middle school mathematics teachers that often distinguish "quality" teachers, including certification, experience, degree type, and degree level and how those demographics and others vary for different types of schools. The emphasis was on profiling teachers in a large urban district by describing their basic features and distributions, as well as how middle school mathematics teachers, according to those differences, relate to student mathematics achievement, teacher attrition and teacher mobility. Student achievement was measured by test results from the Norm Reference Test-Normal Curve Equivalent (NRT-NCE) mathematics portion of …

Effect Of An Inquiry-Based Curriculum And Experiential Education Of Middle School Students' Attitude In Science, Angela Rae Teubert

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

No abstract provided.

Inquiry And Understanding : Educational Research With Middle Level Science Students , Deborah A. Sage

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Physics Instructors' Beliefs And Students' Beliefs, Goals And Motivation For Studying Physics In Thai Rajabhat Universities, Anusak Hongsa-Ngiam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Students' interest in physics seems to be decreasing at all levels of education in most countries including Thailand. This problem is likely to be influenced by physics teaching and learning processes. Instructors' beliefs influence teaching strategies whereas students' beliefs, goals and motivation influence learning strategies. The investigation of factors influencing teaching and learning will provide useful information for improving the teaching and learning of physics. This research aims to explore physics instructors' beliefs about teaching and learning physics, students' beliefs, goals and motivation for studying physics in Thai Rajabhat universities. A questionnaire was administered to instructors who teach introductory physics …

Biotechnology Education In The State Of Iowa: A Survey Of Teachers And Factors Affecting Inclusion, Jason Allen Lang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research studied biology, agricultural education, and family and consumer science teachers in Iowa regarding the topic of biotechnology in their classrooms. The survey study involved collecting demographic information about respondents, which could then be used to characterize those who teach biotechnology and those who do not. The survey also asked about perceived barriers to teaching biotechnology. As the first large scale sampling of Iowa teachers (1477), the survey attempted to provide a picture of biotechnology education in the state. Demographic data showed an aging teaching population, a teaching load of some teachers, especially those in FCS and Ag Ed, …

Effect Of A Biomes Genetics Unit On Student Achievement In High School Biology, Melissa C. James

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research has found the learning cycle to be an effective science instructional tool for implementing hands-on activities and leading interactive discussion. In 2000 a curriculum entitled Biology Instructional Opportunities for Motivating Every Student (BIOMES), was written by teachers from Iowa and Wisconsin and edited by Dr. Jody Stone and Dr. Lyn Countryman of the University of Northern Iowa. BIO MES was designed using a three stage learning cycle format to allow students to be true science investigators and create a more student-centered environment to stimulate the development of reasoning skills. The purpose of this study was to test the BIO …

Student Attendance And Its Relationship To Student Achievement In An Earth Science Class, Gregory Lee Schafer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research studied the relationship between the attendance patterns of ninth grade high school students and achievement, in a required ninth grade Earth Science course as defined by course grades, in a medium sized Midwestern school district. Data was collected from a school district computerized system spanning a five year period from August of 2000 to June of 2005 and included 3667 data sets. The data consisted of course grades as indicated by A, B, C, D, and F and the number of days absent for each semester. The research question framing the study was, "Is there a statistically significant …

Exploring The Relationship Between Mathematics Content Knowledge And Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among Pre-Service Teachers, Hsueh-I Martin Lo

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study replicates and extends a previous study (Nathan & Petrosino, 2003) that explored the relationship between the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of pre-service mathematics teachers.

In that study, Nathan and Petrosino (2003) examined and reported evidence supporting the counterintuitive hypothesis that, in some situations, having a high degree of content knowledge may be associated with the "expert blind spot" (symbol-precedence) in pedagogical content knowledge. Pre-service teachers with various levels of expertise in mathematics subject matter were given a series of mathematics problems and asked to rank order their difficulty. Nathan and Petrosino (2003) reported that, on the …

Vocabulary Development Through Math Journaling Using Technology Resources In An Elementary Math Classroom, Debbie Hansel

Graduate Research Papers

An action research study was conducted in a second grade classroom in a nonpublic elementary school with student seven-to-eight years of age. The purpose of the research was to determine if the use of computer-based content journaling leads to a better understanding of the mathematical vocabulary being focused on and to establish if the use of computer-based reflective journal entries has a positive impact on the students' attitude toward mathematics.

The comparison of scores from the pre-assessment and post-assessment of vocabulary knowledge demonstrated an increase in accuracy. Journaling helped students arrive at the generalization relating the size of what is …

The Study Of Computational Fluency, Cassandra Hart

Graduate Research Papers

Teachers, educators and researchers are still attempting to reach consensus on the kinds and amounts of computational fluency that are relevant for today's classroom. But one thing is certain, computational fluency is one of the most vital components of developing mathematical understanding. It is absolutely necessary that students have knowledge of basic number relationships and the ability to choose from a number of appropriate strategies. The question to be answered in this study is how can Computational Fluency strategies enhance student achievement in math and improve the current climate for learning? This study evaluated the implementation of the Computational Fluency …

Best Practices In Middle Level Mathematics Teaching And Learning, Wendy Sue Korte

Graduate Research Papers

The added pressure on students and teachers to do well in mathematics has placed a new emphasis on how best to teach math. This paper discusses the standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and how those standards can be implemented into classrooms in order to help students to increase their mathematical power. Although teaching to the standards would be a drastic change for many teachers with the proper professional development, standards-based math classes could be a reality that will help our students' mathematical understanding.