Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Visions For Mathematics Instruction, Instructional Practices, And Common Core: Individuality In Large-Scale Reform, Kelsey A. Clarkson

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core content standards and standards for mathematical practice (SMP) have introduced an unprecedented opportunity in U.S. history to consider the implications of a national scale standards reform effort that provides teachers the individualistic opportunity to select instructional practices aimed at achieving the standards. The content standards and SMP specifically lay out what students should be able to do by the end of each grade but do not describe how teachers should support students through instructional practices in order to achieve these goals (CCSSI, “Myths About Implementation,” para. 1). Seemingly in contradiction to the Common Core State Standards Initiative’s …

See3d: 3d Printing For People Who Are Blind, Caroline Frances Karbowski

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Objects such as snowflakes, castles, and butterflies have become more than just words when explored as a 3D print. The founder’s passion for braille led to the creation of the program See3D, which organizes the printing and distribution of 3D printed models for people who are blind. 3D prints such as DNA, cells, animals, constellations, telescopes, historic landmarks, logos, and maps were created to fulfill requests by people who are blind for tactile learning tools. Recipients shared their feedback on how to improve the models, and the printing and distribution service. See3D seeks to spread awareness about accessibility by …

Use Of Scientific Argumentation By Deaf/Hard-Of-Hearing Students In Environmental Science Topics, Annemarie Ross, Randy Yerrick, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Deaf/hard-of-hearing (Deaf and hard-of-hearing) postsecondary students may have some misconceptions surrounding scientific concepts that might be partially ascribed to a lack of access to culturally-responsive forms of pedagogy. The Deaf and hard-of-hearing community is diverse in communication modes, including those who use American Sign Language as their primary language, and therefore, some students from this population may display characteristics similar to English Language Learners. Through classroom discourse analyses and interviews, we found a general lack of persuasion characteristics used by most students in an environmental science unit, and that the lack of higher-level scientific argumentation skills seemed to be related …

Space Camp Experience For Attendees Of The 2019 Island Conference In Huntsville, Alabama, Rachel Bigham

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

About the space camp experience

Overview Of The Proceedings Of The 2019 Inclusion In Science, Learning A New Direction Conference On Disability (Island), Cary Supalo Dr., Jasodhara Bhattacharya, Daniel Steinberg, Derrick W. Smith Ed.D., Coms

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The 10^th annual Inclusion in Science, Learning a New Direction Conference on Disability (ISLAND) was hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), with support from the UAH College of Education, UAH Office of Academic Affairs, and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, as well as the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), a National Science Foundation funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and the UAH Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education (CCRE). On October 4-5, 2019, the conference was held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center facility and at the new Student …

Teaching A University Course On The Mathematics Of Gambling, Stewart N. Ethier, Fred M. Hoppe

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Courses on the mathematics of gambling have been offered by a number of colleges and universities, and for a number of reasons. In the past 15 years, at least seven potential textbooks for such a course have been published. In this article we objectively compare these books for their probability content, their gambling content, and their mathematical level, to see which ones might be most suitable, depending on student interests and abilities. This is not a book review (e.g., none of the books is recommended over others) but rather an essay offering advice about which topics to include in a …

The Effects Of Socioscientific Issues On Informal Reasoning And The Transference To Controversial Issues In A Social Studies Context, Thomas J. Dolan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if informal reasoning skills associated with socioscientific issues (SSI) transferred to controversial issues in a social studies context. The principal researcher developed three controversial issues derived from social studies education to create social studies context issues (SSCI). This acronym has been termed by the principal researcher, as controversial issues in social studies have not been evaluated beyond the social studies classroom. Twenty-one, fifth grade students participated in this three-month study, which featured three specific SSI units (A Need for Speed? – speed limit reduction, Roller Coaster Ban – preventing injuries to children, …

Developing A Critical Discourse About Teaching And Learning: The Case Of A Secondary Science Video Club, Tara Barnhart, Elizabeth Van Es

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Video is used widely to support teachers’ learning and enactment of responsive instruction. Informed by principles of video club design, we designed a video club to support secondary science teachers developing a vision of responsive teaching, attention to student thinking, and a critical discourse to analyze their own and others’ efforts to enact responsive practices. In this study, we investigate if and how teachers developed a critical discourse in this context. Analysis reveals that the group developed a more collaborative, interpretive, and evidence-based discourse about teaching and learning. These findings contribute to research on video clubs as a professional development …

Hands-On Science Camp For K-12 Students In Taiwan Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired, Ying-Ting Chiu

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The Yuan T. Lee Foundation Science Education for All (YTLF) has implemented a science camp for students with visual impairments in Central Taiwan since 2009. The implementation of the camp serves as an informal science education practice model that informs curriculum design and development, personnel preparation and organization, as well as perceptions toward students with visual impairments. This article gives an overall introduction to the implementation of the camp in addition to the ideas and the outcomes.

From The Co-Editors..., Todd Pagano, Sami Kahn

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Stem Stories, February 2020, #2, Brooke Wiese

STEM Stories

Undergraduate Research - Anna Sagan

Culturally Relevant Science Teaching: A Literature Review, Uma Maheshwari Ganesan

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

This educational research literature review paper aims to discuss the rationale, review eight empirical research studies, and identify knowledge gaps in culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. This paper focuses on synthesis, review, and comparison of the findings of the empirical studies, and categorizes them into thematic heads such as similarities and differences between studies under the broad categories of professional development (PD) programs and case studies. Following these reviews, the author summarizes her reflections and thoughts about the literature to understand the big picture of culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. The basis of this literature review are various …

Full Steam Ahead: Creating Interdisciplinary Informal Learning Opportunities For Early Childhood Teacher Candidates, Sara L. Hartman, Danielle Dani

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Early childhood teacher candidates benefit when presented with opportunities to engage meaningfully with their clinically-based school community. Informal learning events that are hosted after school hours but within school settings present a valuable way to provide these opportunities. Too often, content areas exist in isolation in classrooms, a stark contrast to the real world where content is connected and overlapping. Additionally, while many early childhood teachers express insecurity about their ability to teach STEM content, an integrated STEAM (STEM + Arts & Humanities) approach may help to promote comfort with STEM content and presents an authentic example of content integration. …

Fab Fridays: Fostering Elementary Teacher Candidate Preparation Through Informal Stem Events, Jennifer R. Meadows, Jane Baker, Stephanie Wendt

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Informal STEM learning opportunities offered outside of the structured school day have been gaining popularity in today’s STEM-oriented culture. These are venues where children and their families gather to engage and explore in science, technology, engineering, and math —together. For a number of years, faculty from the College of Education at Tennessee Tech University have been promoting these events for the local community, free of charge, to encourage and foster a love for STEM Education. Methods professors recognize these events as golden opportunities for teacher candidates enrolled to learn about STEM content while aiding in the development of their pedagogy. …

Assessing Differences Between Three Virtual General Chemistry Experiments And Similar Hands-On Experiments, Cory Hensen, Gosia Glinowiecka-Cox, Jack Barbera

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

To date the efficacy of virtual experiments is not well understood. To better understand what differences may exist between a hands-on learning environment and a virtual learning environment, three experiments were chosen for investigation. For each experiment, approximately half of the students completed a hands-on version of the experiment and the other half completed a virtual version. After completing the given experiment, students were compared on: their ability to meet the learning objectives for that experiment, their responses to six affective scales, and their grade on a laboratory report. Differences were found on four learning objectives. Two of these learning …

The Impact Of Frayer Models In A Mathematics Classroom, Makenna Geise

Honors Projects

The purpose of this action research study was to explore the impact that Frayer Models have on students’ attitudes towards mathematics. I conducted a two-week unit on transformations, where students were introduced to a classroom focused on academic language, supplementing their learning with Frayer Models for homework and in-class assessments. I assessed their attitudes towards mathematics before and after the use of the Frayer Models, where I analyzed the effect that the Frayer Models had on the students and their use of academic language. It was evident that most of the students’ found the focus on academic language beneficial to …

Stem Stories, February 2020, #1, Brooke Wiese

STEM Stories

Undergraduate Research - Dr. Lisa Kopf

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 32, No. 1, February 2020

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Welcome new Entomology Graduate Students!

Congratulations December Graduates!

Spring 2020 Beekeeping Workshops Planned

Student News & Activities

BugFest attendance increases last fall

Faculty Awards & News: Joe Louis, Tom Hunt, Justin McMechan, Bob Wright, Wayne Ohnesorg, Ron Seymour, Troy Anderson, Lance Meinke, Tom Weissling, Julie Peterson, Ana Vélez and Doug Golick

Publications & Books

Staff News & Activities

Online MS in Entomology Continues Growth

Comics In The Classroom - What's At The Center Of The Solar System?, Amee Jeanette Hennig, Allison Huff Macpherson, Brooke A. Whitworth

Publications

Teaching in today’s classroom looks vastly different from 20 years ago. Today, many teachers have access to projectors, computers, smartboards, laptops and tablets, and have vast amounts of information and programs available at the click of a button. However, having access to all of these resources is not always beneficial, especially if we are not equipped to incorporate it into instruction. The 2015 Project Tomorrow Survey findings showed a number of aspects that support technology use in the classroom. Highlights of this data, related to the Center for Integrated Access Network’s (CIAN) digital comic book, include the following results ( …

Examining And Developing Fourth Grade Children’S Area Estimation Performance, Cheryl L. Eames, Jeffrey E. Barrett, Craig J. Cullen, George Rutherford, David Klanderman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This study explored children’s area estimation performance. Two groups of fourth grade children completed area estimation tasks with rectangles ranging from 5 to 200 square units. A randomly assigned treatment group completed instructional sessions that involved a conceptual area measurement strategy along with numerical feedback. Children tended to underestimate areas of rectangles. Furthermore, rectangle size was related to performance such that estimation error and variability increased as rectangle size increased. The treatment group exhibited significantly improved area estimation performance in terms of accuracy, as well as reduced variability and instances of extreme responses. Area measurement estimation findings are related to …

The Use Of A Modified Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix To Assess Students’ Depth Of Knowledge In Key Concepts Of Gas Stoichiometry And Chemical Equilibrium, Maria Greene

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The research presented as part of this dissertation is a combination of two separate studies conducted to assess and evaluate undergraduate general chemistry students’ understanding and depth of knowledge (DOK) of concepts in gas stoichiometry and chemical equilibrium. The two separate studies were conducted using a modified Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix (CRM) to analyze students’ responses to multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and their written rationales to their answer choices. The Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix, which is an incorporation and coordination of both Bloom’s and Webb’s DOK taxonomies, allowed the facilitation of the opportunity to code students’ written responses across the four …

A Teacher Educator's Narrative Journey Into Mindfulness, Al-Karim H. Gangji

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this manuscript style research study, using multiple approaches and multimethodology, I explore mindfulness and wellness in my college conceptual physics classroom designed primarily for pre-service elementary teachers. This high-stake science course is a pre-requisite class to enter the elementary education program. The subject of physics let alone science, creates high level of anxiety and intense emotions. Over the past three decades, mindfulness has gained an exponential popularity in many fields including education. Mindfulness involves one’s ability to pay attention to the present moment. As a tool, mindfulness raises an awareness of intense emotions that often accompany teaching and learning. …

Black And Brown Students’ Mathematics Anxiety In Elementary School: The Use Of Restorative Justice Circles And Critical Concepts Of Care, Hope, And Love, Mariana E. Winnik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Children navigate their world and are constantly making meaning of their experiences. Through this meaning making, children are also constructing their identities. Black and Brown children have an added layer of identity construction compared to their White peers. Black and Brown students develop their racial identity in conjunction with multiple other identities. This paper focuses specifically on how Black and Brown students construct a "mathematics identity" that is meaningful to their racial identity in order to help lessen their mathematics anxiety. I argue that the use of Restorative Justice Circles (RJC) in classrooms will allow for students to bring their …

Project Based Learning: Are There Any Academic Benefits For The Teacher Or Students?, Michael Aristidou

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper, I raise an issue often neglected in Project Based Learning (PBL) literature. What academic benefits, if any, does the teacher or the student gain by adopting PBL pedagogy in college? I argue that PBL by its structure yields little academic benefits for the teacher or the students, and this could affect motivation as well. I present some examples from my personal teaching experience in mathematics. And thus, as I explain, a more “traditional” project-based approach could be better for both teacher and students.

Students Studying Students And Reasoning About Reasoning: A Qualitative Analysis, Salvatore J. Petrilli, Grant Clark, Nicholas Demarco, Jack Esposito, Brianne Giuliano, Sara Greiss, Emily Harris, Alessia Merritts, Kyle Murray, Mateusz Piekut, Brian Seidl, Scott Shannon, Nicole Silva, Christina Sullivan, Brittany Willoughby, Yile Zhou

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this work, a faculty member takes a journey along with students as they enhance their understanding of how people solve mathematical problems through a mainly qualitative statistical project. Student authors of this paper registered for a problem solving seminar led by the faculty author, and then created and analyzed self-built assessment tools to explore problem solving techniques. Here we share our findings and recommendations, which we hope will inspire others to explore novel pedagogical techniques in the teaching of mathematical problem solving. We incorporate into our presentation ur voices, reflecting on how we and others solve problems.

College Students’ Images Of Mathematicians And Mathematical Careers, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, Miranda Nouhan, Michaela Williams

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper we report our findings of college students’ images of mathematicians and we reflect on different methodologies used to assess this information. The study reported in this paper was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, we asked 179 college students to “draw a mathematician” and also asked them to list five characteristics and five careers for a mathematician. In the second stage of the study, we conducted four focus group interviews with a total of twelve college students. During the focus group interviews, we showed the students 16 photos of real people and asked them to …

Hadron, Caitlyn Castillo '20

Hadron Magazine

• Pg 7 : Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Pg 8 : Possible Treatments of Respiratory Diseases in Infants
• Pg 11 : Black Holes Suppress the Growth of Dwarf Galaxies
• Pg 12 : DARPA Funded Gene Modulation, the New Genetic Medicine?
• Pg 14 : Biomarkers of Chronic Pain
• Pg 16 : How Regenerative Medicine is Leading to Discoveries
• Pg 18 : Interview on the new 'Rhetoric and Communications' Course
• Pg 21 : Mathematical Epidemiology
• Pg 22 : The 'Quantum Zeno Effect' Explained
• Pg 24 : References

1st Annual Girls In2 Stem Conference, Maxine Alexandre-Strong '20, Mingyang Li '20, Joseph Bertrand '20, Shivani Venkatraman '21, Neha Maddali '20, Eunice Kim '22, Srinitya Voora '22

Girls IN2 STEM

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Education And Mathematics Performance Among Secondary Students, Susan W. Githua, John C. Ricketts

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of agricultural education, FFA involvement, and SAE participation on the mathematics performance of secondary students. The study explored these factors using an ex post facto research design. Respondents in the study were secondary students enrolled in Agricultural Education program (N=80) and non-agricultural education students (N=59). Results revealed that agricultural education students had a higher mathematics mean score (M=12.15, SD=4.61) than non-agricultural education students (M=10.67, SD=3.63). There were positive statistically significant differences between mathematics performance of the students and their FFA involvement as well as SAE participation.

Exploring Innovative Ways To Incorporate The Association Of College And Research Libraries Framework In Graduate Science Teacher Education Eportfolio Projects, Alison Lehner-Quam, Wesley Pitts

Publications and Research

This article investigates ways in which student voice informed design research into information literacy instruction in a year-long graduate science education ePortfolio culminating project. Library and science education faculty partnered in a two-year project to create communities of secondary science education students, in two cohorts, who used the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education to support their own research and reflections into information literacy. The overarching goal was to improve the course design to help science teachers develop their professional competencies in information literacy to conduct research to support their practice. Examination of students’ responses to research experiences …