Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Leveling The Playing Field: Teacher Perception Of Integrated Stem, Engineering, And Engineering Practices, Bridgette Fincher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions and approaches of 14 third-through-fifth grade Arkansan elementary teachers towards integrative engineering and engineering practices during 80 hours of integrated STEM professional development training in the summer and fall of 2014. This training was known as Project Flight. The purpose of the professional development was to learn integrated STEM content related to aviation and to write grade level curriculum units using Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design curriculum framework. The current study builds upon on the original research.

Using a mixed method exploratory, embedded QUAL[quan] case study design and a …

How Select Groups Of Preservice Science Teachers With Inquiry Orientations View Teaching And Learning Science Through Inquiry, Peggy Diana Ward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although hailed as a powerful form of instruction, in most teaching and learning contexts, inquiry-based instruction is fraught with ambiguous and conflicting definitions and descriptions. Yet little has been written about the experiences preservice science teacher have regarding their learning to teach science through inquiry. This project sought to understand how select preservice secondary science teachers enrolled in three UTeach programs in Arkansas conceptualize inquiry instruction and how they rationalize its value in a teaching and learning context. The three teacher education programs investigated in this study are adoption sites aligned with the UTeach Program in Austin, TX that distinguishes …

An Analysis Of Secondary Integrated Stem Lesson Plans: Common Characteristics, Learning Expectations And The Impact From The Teacher's Definition Of I-Stem, Jacob Hayward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated teachers’ understanding of their definition of I-STEM (Integrated STEM education), how those understandings manifested into lessons and associated lesson artifacts, how they assessed students in such lessons, and what factors or rationales supported their ability to conduct or not conduct I-STEM lessons. A survey was sent to the members of four professional organizations representing I-STEM disciplines to solicit their participation in this project. Ten teachers ranging from grades 9-12 participated in this study. Of those who responded, six teachers identified with National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), three teachers selected International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA), …

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 …

Predicting Mathematics Teachers' Acceptance Of Reflective Blogging To Improve Instruction, Diana Sue Fesmire

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An internal district audit identified that a rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged Southwestern school district has a lack of congruent and consistent implementation of the Common Core State Standards in mathematics. Innovative and cost-saving avenues for professional development (PD), such as reflective blogging, foster teacher learning to reconcile the enacted curriculum with the intended curriculum. This correlational study investigated the predictive power of technology acceptance and motivation constructs on reflective mathematics teachers' social media use intention and participation in informal, virtual Communities of Practice (vCoP). The framework that guided this study is the unified acceptance and use of technology and self-determination theory. …