Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Motivation For Achievement And Attitudes Toward Mathematics Instruction In A Required Calculus Course At The Norwegian University Of Science And Technology, Donna Sundre, Carol Barry, Vidar Gynnild, Erin Tangen Ostgard

Donna L. Sundre

This study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) examines students’ learning goals and attitudes toward mathematics in a first-year calculus course in undergraduate engineering education. Achievement motivation research using the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) is advanced from current literature with two additions: (1) a course specific context using introductory college calculus students, and (2) participation of Norwegian students. Pre- and posttest measures of attitudes indicate that students do change learning goals over time, unfortunately opposite to the instructors’ aspirations. A significant increase in “Mastery Avoidance” and “Work Avoidance” was accompanied with a drop in “Mastery Approach” and …

Making The Journey From A Traditional Model To An Online Model, Jenny Shrensker, Nazire Koc

Jenny Shrensker

Student Experience 14: "So What?", Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This activity is designed to encourage students to question their own learning and the implications that learning has to them as well as to the broader community. For example: How will this knowledge, these skills and these concepts influence individual lives and the life of the community? What impact does this have on the environment? The activity also helps teachers to reflect about the relevance of lessons within their own curriculum and appropriateness of their teaching strategies. And it is a way for students to take the concepts and apply them in new ways making them more relevant.

Student Experience 03: Photo Points, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students learn about using photogrammy (making multiple identical images of a location taken with a camera whose relative position is known to a certain degree of accuracy) to monitor change over time. This set of activities within the following lesson will help students learn about the process of collecting identical images and its importance, and practice collecting images from set locations, first in their own environments and then in the field. With this background, students can participate in photo point data collection during their expedition on Geology Day, and have a better understanding of the importance of this data collection. …

Student Experience 02: Powers Of Ten Background, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Powers of Ten (P10) refers to scale. This scale can be an excellent tool to use when framing observations. In other words, P10 is a way of putting objects being observed into context using size as the focal point. Once students understand the terminology, it can be used to both communicate and focus attention.

Student Experience 11b: Mammoth Hot Springs Microbe Wheel, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Mammoth Hot Springs Microbe Wheels.

Student Experience 12: Using The Ir Thermometer To Develop Answerable Questions, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students learn about and use IR thermometers in the classroom or some place on the school grounds to develop answerable questions. After developing the questions, they perform brief investigations to answer their questions and share their findings with their classmates.

Student Experience 04: Mammoth Hot Springs Photo Points, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Photos taken over time from set photo points can help to increase understanding of terrace formation and concretely map the movement of microbial communities. Now, and in the future, researchers can use these high quality photos to help answer questions about things such as microbial mat migration, possible shifts in water flow, and formation of terracing through travertine precipitation/deposition. In the meantime, visitors and students will have access to these photos and can compare visible changes themselves.

Background 4: Student Experience Lesson - Systems Study, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This lesson helps students observe, integrate and articulate their knowledge of a familiar earth system by considering how the different parts of the system interact to keep it in balance. Students first explore the word “system” and then apply the concept of systems to a familiar natural environment. Students will create a collage that is a representation of this system through discussion, further inquiry, and investigation.

Student Experience 08: Starrs Temperature Tools, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students get a chance to use various temperature tools to explore the Celcius temperature scale. They also will explore the differences in the temperature tools and determine and share with the whole group which tools are appropriate for measuring temperature in different situations.

Background 3: Microbiological Communities In Mammoth Hot Springs, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Microbial Communities in Mammoth Hot Springs Background

Student Experience 07: What's In The Bag?, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This is a "black box" activity. Students use their sense of hearing, touch, and smell to figure out what objects are contained in their paper bag.

Background 6: Student Experience Lesson - Facies Modeling Using Video, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Background for Student Experience Lesson: Facies Modeling Using Video

Student Experience 10: Grid Protocols, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students will use specific protocols and equipment to systematically collect comprehensive data from a single location at a single point in time.

Student Experience 13: Student Driven Research, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

In groups of 4-5, students develop answerable quesitons about MHS, and design their investigations and data collection procedures. Next, they carry out their investigations in the field during the expedition, perform simple data analysis, and present their findings and challenges to authentic audiences both at E:Y! and back in their own communities.

Background 1: Mammoth Hot Springs Background, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Mammoth Hot Springs geologic background

Student Experience 06: Prolonged Observations, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students participate in an exercise conducting a prolonged observation of a known object. Students will compare how their observations change as the observation time passes. This activity meant to teach the importance of careful, sustained observation as a "scientific tool".

Student Experience 09: Social Applications For Power Of Ten (P10), Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

In this lesson, students are asked to observe and record their observations of an object at a specific distance, either moving away from or toward at specific powers of ten intervals. Discussions of their observations may help students to see how detail changes with perspective, and how different jobs, including science, might require focus on different powers of ten.

Student Experience 05: The Candle, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Sometimes objects turn out to be something other than what we think we are observing. Learning to make careful observations provide the basis for students to engage in further observations of objects that are both familiar and unfamiliar. In this lesson, students make observations while the teacher manipulates an object that appears to be a candle. This leads to the exploration of the differences between observations and inferences.

Background 5: Student Experience Lesson - Labeling Facies, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Background for Student Experience Lesson: Labeling Facies

Annotated Bibliography: Environmental Education (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Personality And Programming, Amy B. Woszczynski, Tracy C. Guthrie, Sherri Shade

Sherri Shade

Information systems students continue to struggle to successfully complete computer programming classes. Learning how to program is difficult, and failure and attrition rates in college level programming classes remain at an unacceptably high rate. Since many IS students take a programming course as part of their program of study, IS educators should better understand why IS students tend to achieve low success rates in programming courses and what can be done to improve success rates. Little research to date has addressed potential reasons for student failure in programming principles courses. Many educators simply assume that high failure rates are acceptable …

Developing Transfer Skills In A Biochemistry Class, Jeong V. Choe

Jeong Choe

Students seem to struggle with transferring prior knowledge if the new problem they are given is in a different form from the way they learned the material. The process of transfer can be identified by four components: 1) recognizing the similarity between the old and new contexts; 2) identifying the potential of a certain skill or concept that has worked in the past, to give solutions to new problematic situations; 3) mental testing of the application of the potential solution; and 4) an attempt to apply the skill or concept to a new context (Georghiades 2000). These four components are …

Revisiting Fibonacci And Related Sequences, Arthur Benjamin, Jennifer Quinn

Jennifer J. Quinn

This issue focuses on proving several interesting facts about the Fibonacci Sequence using a combinatorial proof. The aim of Delving Deeper is for teachers to pose and solve novel math problems, expand on mathematical connections, or offer new insights into familiar math concepts. Delving Deeper focuses on mathematics content appealing to secondary school teachers. It provides a forum that allows classroom teachers to share their mathematics from their work with students, their classroom investigations and products, and their other experiences. Delving Deeper is a regular department of Mathematics Teacher.