Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Pros And Cons Of Marine Zoological Parks According To Marine Conservationists, Kayla L. Patama

HCNSO Student Capstones

Throughout history zoos and aquariums have satisfied a number of different, albeit to some, conflicting roles (Ballantyne, Packer, Hughes, & Dierking, 2007). In recent years, zoos and aquariums have shifted their focus on taking a proactive role in wildlife conservation and promoting conservation learning among their visitors. The present capstone addresses the justifications that marine conservationists see in marine zoological parks and how they believe parks can become more relevant and valuable in the future. A 65 question survey (Appendix I) was distributed to marine science professionals online through personal contact between June and September 2017 questioning participant’s personal opinions …

Development Of An Innovative Observational Astronomy Class For High School Students In Collaboration With The University Of Texas/Rio Grande Valley, Alan W. Hendrick

Theses and Dissertations

The vision presented by the National Academy of Science Standards is for all students to spend more time ‘doing’ science in order to develop science literacy and be better prepared not only for college but also in understanding and participation in global current events. A course in observational Astronomy is just that, an opportunity for student to “do ‘science by collaborating with actual scientists in real research. The course follows a path in which students learn foundational knowledge and apply this knowledge to complete a successful celestial observation, interpreting the results by making inferences and predictions. This paper begins with …

Ldentifying And Characterizing Cognitive Factors Significant To Practicing And Learning Meteorology, Peggy M. Mcneal

Dissertations

To see the world as a meteorologist, one must understand and interpret atmospheric processes through representations depicted on two-dimensional weather charts and maps that encode large amounts of spatial and numerical data. This is a cognitively demanding and spatially challenging task, especially for students with burgeoning levels of meteorology knowledge, who lack the expertise of practiced meteorologists that read such charts and maps with ease. With little prior work informing meteorology and meteorology education through a cognitive science lens, this study surveys the literature and follows models of discipline-based education and cognitive science research to identify the discrete intelligence factors …

Making Substitutions Explicit In Sasylf, Michael David Ariotti

Theses and Dissertations

SASyLF is an interactive proof assistant whose goal is to teach: about type systems,

language meta-theory, and writing proofs in general. This software tool stores user-specified

languages and logics in the dependently-typed LF, and its internal proof structure closely

resembles M2+ . This thesis describes a new usability feature of SASyLF, “where” clauses,

which make explicit previously hidden substitutions that arise through constructs in the proof

code, primarily case analyses. An overview of SASyLF and logical frameworks is given, with

motivating examples. The requirements for “where” clauses are discussed, including a formal

definition of correctness. The feature’s implementation in SASyLF …

Using Pedagogical Tools To Help Hispanics Be Successful In Computer Science, Rodger Irish

Theses and Dissertations

Irish, Rodger, Using Pedagogical Tools to Help Hispanics Be Successful in Computer Science. Master of Science (MS), July 2017, 68 pp., 4 tables, 2 figures, references 48 titles. Computer science (CS) jobs are a growing field and pay a living wage, but the Hispanics are underrepresented in this field. This project seeks to give an overview of several contributing factors to this problem. It will then explore some possible solutions to this problem and how a combination of some tools (teaching methods) can create the best possible outcome. It is my belief that this approach can produce successful Hispanics to …

Enhancing The Learning Experience- Use Of Video Game Technology For Teaching Japanese Language, Craig A. Decampli

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The Japanese language is challenging to learn, especially for native speakers of Indo- European languages. The three components of written Japanese -- Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji – include 2,136 Kanji characters, and 46 each for Katakana and Hiragana. Teaching Japanese – generally through repetition – can lead to student boredom and affect success. Research shows that video games can at least provide a more enjoyable learning experience. Despite this fact, there are a lack of video games for teaching Japanese characters. Using the Unity game engine and the C# programming language, a video game for enhancing the learning of students …

An Affordable Vr Environment, Matthew R. Petty

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Virtual Reality is a powerful technology with the ability to affect our senses in powerful ways. Traditionally used for entertainment, we argue that it can be used for educational purposes as well. In order to get virtual reality into the classroom, we must address its cost and portability, as well as improve the interaction that users experience with the virtual environment. Our solution, a Unity program installed on an iPhone and a Mac, attempts to solve these issues. A technical demo was created that functions and can be interfaced with. While this solution is a proof of concept, its consequences …

Integrating Non-Euclidean Geometry Into High School, John Buda

Honors Thesis

The purpose of this project is to provide the framework for integrating the study of non-Euclidean geometry into a high school math class in such a way that both aligns with the Common Core State Standards and makes use of research-based practices to enhance the learning of traditional geometry. Traditionally, Euclidean geometry has been the only strand of geometry taught in high schools, even though mathematicians have developed several other strands. The non-Euclidean geometry that I focus on in this project is what is known as taxicab geometry. With the Common Core Standards for Math Practice pushing students to “model …

Soil Science Lesson Plan For The Cal Poly Learn By Doing Lab, Kelsey Ormonde

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

To increase interest in soil science and other related sciences, educational materials need to be tailored to appeal to younger students. The purpose of this project was to create a soil science lesson plan that could be utilized by the Cal Poly Learn By Doing Lab. Information from several articles, textbooks, lesson plans, and websites was reviewed to create a soil science lesson plan for students in 5-8^th grade. The lesson plan focused on the three sub-disciplines of soil science; physical, chemical, and biological. Activities were created to correspond to the three sub-disciplines. Alternate activities were created to allow …

Investigating The Mathematical Dispositions And Self-Efficacy For Teaching Mathematics Of Preservice Teachers, Jasmine M. Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

The study of the individual's beliefs and the role and influence they have on the individual's actions and behaviors, have long been examined and investigated by educators and psychologists. Moreover, researchers have overwhelmingly claimed and demonstrated that the beliefs held by teachers significantly influences their behavior and educational practices in the classroom. This thesis study investigates the mathematical disposition and self-efficacy for teaching mathematics of preservice teachers. The study's primary goals are to discover if there is a relationship or association between a teacher's mathematical disposition(MD) and his/her self-efficacy for teaching mathematics (SEFTM), and if there are significant differences between …

Increasing Marine Debris Awareness Through Public Education And Analyzing Fish For Microplastic And Pollutant Contamination, Stephanie R. Dubois

Theses and Dissertations

Marine debris is any persistent solid material that is manmade and then disposed of into the world’s oceans. Outreach and education was used in combination with biological research using an indicator fish species to raise awareness about the impacts of marine debris and encourage change in behavior to reduce marine debris. Pre and post surveys were administered during marine debris education tours for K-12 students at the Coastal Studies Lab on South Padre Island, Texas to determine change in knowledge and behavior regarding marine debris. Pinfish were collected from Laguna Madre and stomachs and livers removed for microplastics content and …

A Study Of Perceptions Of Math Mindset, Math Anxiety, And View Of Math By Young Adults, Tami L. Hocker

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

This study’s purpose was to determine whether instruction in growth math mindset led to change in perceptions of 18-22-year-old at-risk students in math mindset, math anxiety, and view of math. The experimental curriculum was created by the researcher with the guidance of experts in mathematics and education and focused on the impact of brain growth and learning supported by positive math mindset. Young adult public charter high school at-risk students were surveyed before and after completion of the experimental intervention to measure their perceptions in the domains of Math Mindset, Math Anxiety, and View of Math. The results revealed significant …

Music Times: A Music Learning Game, Emily Woo

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Music Times is a two dimensional educational video game with the purpose of gamifying learning of musical concepts. It has elements of adventure and visual novel games, and incentivizes the player to learn music to explore new levels. It is developed in the Unity game engine, scripted in C#, and targeted for mobile devices. It has six working levels: three lesson levels and three corresponding challenge levels. Each level contains slight differences in visual and aural feel.

A Study Of Mathematics Achievement, Placement, And Graduation Of Engineering Students, Sara Hahler Blazek

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how background knowledge impacts freshmen engineering students' success at Louisiana Tech University in terms of grades in two different freshman classes and graduation. To determine what factors impact students, three different studies were implemented. The first study used linear regression to analyze which demographic and academic variables significantly impacted freshman math and engineering courses. Using regression discontinuity, the second study determined if the university's placement requirement for Pre-Calculus was appropriate. The final study analyzed factors that impact graduation for engineering students as well as other disciplines to determine which significant variables were …

A Semi-Automatic Grading Experience For Digital Ink Quizzes, Brooke Ellen Rhees

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers who want to assess student learning and provide quality feedback are faced with a challenge when trying to grade assignments quickly. There is currently no system which will provide both a fast-to-grade quiz and a rich testing experience. Previous attempts to speed up grading time include NLP-based text analysis to automate grading and scanning in documents for manual grading with recyclable feedback. However, automated NLP systems all focus solely on text-based problems, and manual grading is still linear in the number of students. Machine learning algorithms exist which can interactively train a computer quickly classify digital ink strokes. We …