Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Community-Based Inquiry Improves Critical Thinking In General Education Biology, Ian J. Quitadamo, Celia L. Faiola, James E. Johnson, Martha J. Kurtz

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

National stakeholders are becoming increasingly concerned about the inability of college graduates to think critically. Research shows that, while both faculty and students deem critical thinking essential, only a small fraction of graduates can demonstrate the thinking skills necessary for academic and professional success. Many faculty are considering nontraditional teaching methods that incorporate undergraduate research because they more closely align with the process of doing investigative science. This study compared a research-focused teaching method called community-based inquiry (CBI) with traditional lecture/laboratory in general education biology to discover which method would elicit greater gains in critical thinking. Results showed significant critical-thinking …

Mathematicians Playing A Role In Math Education: What We Learned At The Ime/Mime Workshop, Anna Bargagliotti, Rama Chidambaram, Gizem Karaali

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

In Hollywood, some actors are regularly cast as mean, others as sweet and endearing, and some typically play innocent big-eyed youths who inevitably succeed after awakening to the particular facts of life that their producer wants them to awaken to. It is unusual and difficult for actors to cross the bridge between different types on a regular basis. However, there are always exceptions to the rule.

In the seemingly unrelated world of academics, mathematics faculty may find themselves playing different roles. People with different skills and interests strive to balance their careers in ways that will be uniquely fulfilling to …

Curriculum Reform In Science Education In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

An Appraisal Of The Criticisms Of Educational Research In Recent Years, Sherwin Rodrigues

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

According to Hodkinson (2001) educational research in the UK has been passing through "a crisis of confidence" in the last decade as a result of several attacks upon its quality. The scope of this paper is to briefly highlight these „attacks‟ on educational research and then focus on one of its primary criticisms for an in-depth analysis. I mainly draw upon the work of Hargreaves (1996), Hammersley (1997) and Hillage, Pearson, Anderson and Tamkin (1998) but allude to other sources as well.

The Relationship Between Learning Style Preference And Achievement In The Adult Student In A Multicultural College., Matilde E. Roig

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Minority college students have varied learning styles and process information from distinct background and cultural perspectives, which influences their learning. Accordingly, the way faculty approach teaching affects student achievement. Few minorities are in scientific fields, with a shortage of scientists predicted. A problem exists in understanding the relationship between learning style preferences and achievement of minority college students. The purpose of the study was to investigate this relationship in adult minority students in a South Florida college's biology courses. Research questions pertained to relationships between learning style preferences, race, ethnicity and grades. This quantitative study used the online Felder-Soloman Inventory …

Expanding The Database Curriculum, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes

Faculty Articles

As database concepts and technologies continue to evolve there exists a need to expand the topics included in database curricula. This is challenging given the restraints on the number of courses that can be included in a typical CS or IS program. While a set of commonly identified core concepts and principles exists, there is little consensus on what supplemental materials should be included in database courses. Through an NSF proof-of-concept grant, we designed and developed courseware incorporating the use of animations to deepen and enrich standard presentations of core database concepts and to complement database teachings as found in …

Learner-Centered Assignments In Computer Literacy, Martha E. Myers, Meg C. Murray, Mario Guimaraes, Debra B. Geist

Faculty Articles

Literacy is a concept that is understood to be the identifier of an educated populace. In today's world, literacy includes computer literacy, as well as language and quantitative literacy. This paper describes exercises developed to improve first year students' computer literacy through more learner-centered engagement. Exercises are designed to support learner-centered goals of independent and responsible learners, appropriate breadth and depth of content, teacher as facilitator, and assessment woven into learning. Exercise topics include purchase of a personal computer, basic logic via spreadsheets, an annotated bibliography built with electronic resources, and an integrated assignment customized by and for each student.

New Ways Of Teaching Science, Naheed Anwar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Integrating The Wasl Into The High School Algebra Curriculum, Kent Stafford Pearsons

All Graduate Projects

Most Algebra courses in Washington are supplemented with Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) material. However, in the last two years, little more than half of Washington sophomores passed the math portion of the WASL; for about half of tenth graders the extra worksheets did little to no good. Students need relevant WASL material that correlates with the current math they are studying. In this manner, even though questions may be phrased differently, the material is familiar and so answering questions are more possible. Also, since new worksheets have multiple choice, teachers can discuss how most wisely to answer this …

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows: 1. Is the education technology …

Breaking The Math Barrier, Bilqees Patel

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Making Use Of Bilingual Interview Data: Some Experiences From The Field, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper describes the challenges faced, and rules devised, while dealing with bilingual interview data as part of a life history study of a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science while teaching in a school in Karachi. The interview data generated was both in Urdu and English, which underwent a number of processes (transcription, translation, and transliteration) to evolve into “interim texts,” to finally become a part of the data analysis process. I have called these translated materials “transmuted texts,” as they reflect the original, but have been recreated. This paper is significant because as globalization connects …

A Rotating Panel Survey To Assess Quality Of Hunter College Education, Jennifer Sousa Brennan, William (Bill) H. Williams

Publications and Research

A rotating sample design is proposed to most accurately measure the perceived quality of a Hunter College education. A representative sample of Hunter College students will belong to one of six rotating panels. Students will be contacted during four rotation periods and report their assessment of the two most recent months. It is advantageous to use a rotating panel design as opposed to a fixed panel design in order to guard against the negative effects of a deteriorating response rate. Stratified sampling will help to ensure representation across major departments and academic year of study. Methods for sampling procedures, stratification, …

Learning Mathematics In English Medium Classrooms In Pakistan: Implications For Policy And Practice, Anjum Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This is an in-depth qualitative study of students learning mathematics in classrooms where the medium of instruction was English which was the second or third language of the learners i.e. they were multilingual classrooms. Moreover, to promote reasoning and learning with understanding, the teachers had introduced group work, mathematical discussion, and mathematics tasks employing everyday contexts and language. Focus of the paper is the complex relationship between the language of instruction and the process of learning mathematics. The study demonstrates that learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms brings added complexity because students moved back and forth from the language of instruction …

Enrichment Curriculum For Third Grade Mathematically Gifted Students, Brooke Anne Mcallister

All Graduate Projects

Research shows that mathematically gifted students learn differently from their same age group peers. They require curriculum to be differentiated to meet their specific learning styles (Johnson, 2006). Studies have shown that formal instruction in elementary school classrooms often lacks challenge for the gifted learner since courses in regular classrooms sometimes have a relatively narrow range of topics, minimal investigation of concepts, repeated drill and practice, and yearly repetition (Fello, 2004). This project consists of curriculum for third grade gifted math students which takes the regular classroom curriculum to a more contextual level. This unit provides inquiry-based, discovery learning approaches …

One Problem, Two Contexts, Danielle L. Gigger

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, a group of students were presented with two mathematically isomorphic problems but in radically different contexts. Analysis of their thinking and reasoning as they worked to solve and explain each problem demonstrates that the thinking and reasoning that emerged in each problem responded to clear purposes that the problems elicited in these students. The first problem was posed in a context that relied on experience and intuition rather than a formal mathematical description. The second problem was posed in a formal, set-theoretic context. While the analysis offered here reveals similarities in the students' final reasoning in the …

Reinventing A Level 7 Programme In Electrical Engineering And Greatly Improving On Student Retention, Eugene Coyle, Mike Murphy, Frank Costello, Leslie Shoemaker

Books/Book chapters

Following the successful implementation over a number of decades of a three-year Diploma in Electrical and Control Engineering at Technological University Dublin, the programme entered a period of extreme difficulty and uncertainty in the late nineteen ninetees and early years of the new millennium. As with many such engineering programmes, student numbers seeking to enter began to diminish. Furthermore, engagement and retention of students who had enrolled on the programme became evermore challenging, necessitating some radical moves in the formation and operation of the programme and in putting additional student support mechanisms in place. The situation hit rock bottom between …

Does Changing The Definition Of Science Solve The Establishment Clause Problem For Teaching Intelligent Design As Science In Public Schools? Doing An End-Run Around The Constitution, Ann Marie Lofaso

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection in 1859, it sparked some of the most contentious debates in American intellectual history, debates that continue to rage today. Although these debates have numerous political ramifications, the question posed in this paper is narrow: Does the Establishment Clause permit a particular assessment of current evolutionary theory – intelligent design (“ID”) – to be taught as science in American elementary and secondary public schools? This article shows that it does not.

To understand current disputes over whether and how to teach the origins of life …

Learning To Use Innovative Pedagogy: The Experience Of A Primary Science Teacher In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they weThis study examined the experiences of primary science teachers when they were exposed to a new and innovative teaching strategy and the process that they followed in using the strategy in the class- room for the first time. Four primary science teachers, among the 22 participants of an 8-week Certificate in Education (Science) in Karachi, were observed and interviewed after the four-day teaching session where they were instructed how to use "Discrepant Events" to teach science content. Only the case of Farhana Batool, a teacher in a private school, …

How Have Teachers Affected The Disinterest Towards Mathematics?, Amy Brown

Senior Honors Projects

In our school system today there is a collective disinterest and lack of enthusiasm towards mathematics as a whole. This apathy is prevalent as early as elementary school and continues through higher education. It is disheartening that so many students avoid mathematics because of their misconception that it is too difficult and has little value in their future. How well prepared are our teachers to deal with this? I began my research by looking at the past perceptions of mathematics and how the reform movement has changed this perspective. I also looked at the changing standards and how the Principles …

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.

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 …

Communicating Applied Mathematics: Four Examples, Daniel E. Finkel, Christopher Kuster, Matthew Lasater, Rachel Levy, Jill P. Reese, Ilse C. F. Ipsen

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Communicating Applied Mathematics is a writing- and speaking-intensive graduate course at North Carolina State University. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief description of the course objectives and the assignments. Parts A–D of of this article represent the class projects and illustrate the outcome of the course:

• The Evolution of an Optimization Test Problem: From Motivation to Implementation, by Daniel E. Finkel and Jill P. Reese

• Finding the Volume of a Powder from a Single Surface Height Measurement, by Christopher Kuster

• Finding Oscillations in Resonant Tunneling Diodes, by Matthew Lasater

• …

Reassessing Possible Naturalized Ideology Regarding Science, Education, And Religion., Todd Campbell

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This manuscript asks questions about what may be the naturalized, or taken for granted, ideologies in science education regarding religion. There have been times in history when religion has taken a dogmatic role in limiting the practices of science (e.g. the Roman Catholic Church and Galileo). This manuscript reflects on the dogmatic ideals through reaching beyond the capacities of an empirical way of knowing. A Science, Technology, and Society (STS) approach to science teaching is considered as a possible mechanism for honoring both science and religion as valid yet different ways of knowing and better addressing students’ integration of science …

Reconceptualising The Professional Development Of In-Service Science Teachers In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

Pakistan is a society in transition in more ways than one: politically it is still trying to find its place in the democratic nations of the world; economically it is taking steps to move closer to a market-based economy; and socially it is nurturing a more liberal and just society by reining in the religious extremists. In the aftermath of 9/11 stress has been on educational reform in a number of areas including – updating curriculum, improving access to schooling and developing teacher education. Teacher as the agent of reform is slowly gaining currency in Pakistan. The Institute for Educational …

The Effects Of Inquiry And Single-Gender Grouping On Second Grade Girls' Attitudes And Participation In Science, Elsy Estrada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Disparities between males and females in attitudes toward science have been the focus of extensive investigations. Studies have found that females feel intimidated by their male peers in science and mathematics classes, making girls less likely to participate. Their confidence in these areas decreases and they become less likely to follow related career paths. Researchers and educators are at task to find methods to provide equal learning opportunities for all students. The purpose of this action research was to investigate the effects of single-gender grouping and inquiry-based teaching on girls' participation and attitude in science class. This study took place …

The Relationship Between Participation In Extended-Day Programs And Mathematics Achievement Of Title I-Eligible Students, Crystal M. Lovell

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Teachers’ Experiences Of Learning Science: A Case Of Autobiographical Reflection, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper analyzes the experience of learning science in school of 34 teachers enrolled in a science methods course in the M.Ed. programme offered by the Aga Khan University, Pakistan. The participants were expected to write their reflections after recalling their experience of learning science in school. The findings reveal that the majority of teachers recalled negative experiences of learning science and that the teaching style of their teachers influenced the way they feel about science even to this day. It follows that if teachers are helped to recall their own experience of learning science in the classroom, it opens …

Action Research For Female Science Teacher Development: Case Pakistan, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.