Mathematics permeates almost every aspect of human life and it is a skill much needed by the increasingly complex technological world. It is necessary that this essential skill must be properly developed among students to prepare them for future academic and professional careers. An assessment of the research-based instructional strategies blending with old traditional methods with the modern technological development is a must. Due to the complexity of mathematics learning and the varied learning styles of learners, an integration of appropriate multiple instructional strategies into mathematics education will positively impact mathematical achievement of students. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of the use of Integrated Technologies Instructional Method (ITIM) as a supplement to the traditional lecture method on mathematics achievement of the Integral Calculus students at the College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Saudi Arabia. The ITIM includes the four instructional strategies such as the use of the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, the collaborative learning, the bilingual support and the study support. Different types of academic supports have been used to examine their effects on students achievement in mathematics. Mathematics, the bedrock of science and engineering, is considered a very important indicator of a student's academic success in professional higher education. Undergraduate engineering students' low achievement in the first year mathematics is an issue demands much attention. The study was undertaken to address students' weak background in mathematics and particularly their high failure rates in this particular course. A total of 218 undergraduate engineering students, comprising of both the experimental and the control groups, were involved in this experimental design study. The control group was taught by the traditional lecture method whereas the experimental group was exposed to the ITIM as a supplement to the traditional lecture method. Apart from the effects of the use of ITIM, students' performance in the previous courses (covariates) such as mathematics, computer, and the English language were compared with their final grades of the Integral Calculus course. The final grades of students were taken as the dependent variable and the ITIM and students' scores in the previous courses as the independent variables. It has been noticed from the literature review that the application of only one instructional strategy does not address the needs of the diverse learning styles of students. A mixed mode method, quantitative and qualitative, was used to collect and analyse data. The quantitative data instruments included students' final exam grades and the student questionnaires. Interviews with students were used as qualitative tools of data collection. An independent t-test, ANOVA, univariate analysis and the stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed to determine the overall statistical significance. The study concluded that there was a statistically significant difference in the performance of the experimental group of students' in terms of their end-of-course grades compared to that of the control group. The regression model revealed significance of covariates on the dependent variable. However, no significant relationship was found between the mathematics achievement and attitudes towards the use of ITIM. The study was an attempt to demonstrate the suitability of the instructional strategies on the bilingual Arab undergraduate engineering students; however, they can probably be applicable to other bilingual students.

Education reform initiatives continue to push schools to improve methods of measuring accountability intended to improve student achievement in the United States. Federal programs like the Teacher Incentive Find (TIF) provide school districts with funds to develop and implement school accountability and leadership programs. Teacher leadership is one of the concepts being formally developed amongst these initiatives. My applied thesis project focused on work I conducted with a team of researchers at American Institutes for Research, where we evaluated a teacher leadership program in its third year of implementation. Teacher leadership is facilitated through distributive leadership. School leaders distribute responsibilities that provide teachers with opportunities to extend their expertise outside of their own classrooms. My thesis explores teacher leadership roles and investigates implementation across the client school district. It also discusses how particular anthropological theories about communities of practice, learning, and identity can provide a foundation for conceptualizing teacher leadership implementation and the social interactions between program actors.

This thesis is about students’ approaches to learning (SAL) in computer science education. Since the initial development of SAL instruments and inventories in the 70’s, they have been used as a means to understand students’ approaches to learning better, as well as to measure and predict academic achievement (such as retention, grades and credits taken) and other correlating factors. It is an instrument to measure a student’s study strategies – not how “good” a student is. A Swedish short version of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was used to gather information on whether we, through context and content, encouraged sustainable study behaviour among our students. ASSIST was used in two distinct situations: 1) Evaluation and evolvement of an online programming course design, and 2) Engineering education in media technology and computer science in a campus environment where approaches to learning has been evaluated and studied over time during the five year long programmes. Repeated measurements have been analysed against factors predicting academic achievement, and have been evaluated on a cohort level (not individual) in order to clarify patterns rather than individual characteristics. Significant for both projects was that a surface approach to learning correlated negatively with retention. Students who adopted a combination of deep and strategic approach to learning performed better in terms of grades, ECTS credits completed and perceived value of the education. As part of developmental tools it can be beneficial to use ASSIST at a group level in order to see what kind of approach a course design or a programme supports among the students. / <p>QC 20161028</p>

A  thesis submitted  to  the  Faculty  of Commerce,  Law  and  Management, University  of  the  Witwatersrand,  Johannesburg,   in  partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy, May 2016 / Universities  in  21st  century  emerging  knowledge  economies  seek  to  build  a  culture   and  practice  of  research  activeness  and  intensiveness.  How  do  university  research   sub-­‐‑systems  position  universities  to  push  through  conditions  of  adversity  to  realise   research  activeness  and  intensiveness?     Based  on  data  collected  from  an  exploratory  study  of  selected  research  active   universities  in  India  and  four  case  studies  from  a  single  research  active  university  in   South  Africa,  the  research  finds  that  university  research  sub-­‐‑systems,  operating  in   emerging  knowledge  economies,  are  engaged  in  quantum  research  games.  Research   complexity  and  adversity;  uncertainty  with  respect  to  the  outcomes  and  impact  of   research;  and  contestation  with  respect  to  resources,  values  and  value;  renders  the   university  research  game  a  quantum  game,  leading  to  the  research  entanglement  of   scientist-­‐‑researchers.       Epistemologically  located  in  social  constructionism  and  using  grounded  theory   analytical  methodology,  the  theory  of  positioning  universities  for  research  activeness   and  intensiveness  through  research  entanglement  identifies  four  trends  of   entanglement.    Research  actors  who  operate  in  a  habitual  state  of  heightened   entanglement  are  able  to  push  through  adversity.     It  is  theorised  that  the  position  of  leaning  towards  heightened  research  entanglement   creates  an  advantage  for  universities  towards  achieving  greater  research  activeness   and  intensiveness.  Where  the  position  of  leaning  away  from  entanglement  is   dominant,  this  may  create  institutional  stasis  and  an  inability  to  advance  the   institution  towards  greater  research  effort / GR2018

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<p>There is a large variation in the quantity and quality of ethics that U.S. engineering students learn. Why is there so much room for improving the state of engineering ethics education in the United States? Recognizing the interplay between individual agency, structural factors, and historical contingency, this dissertation is a three-part approach to answering that question – I present three distinct, mutually informative threads for studying engineering ethics education from different angles. The first thread is an historical approach. The second thread is an empirical study of the mental models that faculty members have regarding engineering ethics education. The third thread applies theoretical constructs from political science and economics to analyze structural factors impinging on engineering ethics education.</p><p><br></p> <p>From the studies, first we see that trailblazers of engineering ethics developed the new knowledge required of this emerging field through interpersonal relationships; they leveraged existing organizations and built new institutional mechanisms for sharing knowledge and creating a community of scholars and an engineering ethics curriculum; they utilized resources from supportive colleagues and administrators to corporate, governmental, and nongovernmental funding that legitimated their work. Their efforts ultimately created pedagogical materials, prevalent ideas, publication outlets, meetings, and foundations that not only contributed to the current state of U.S. engineering ethics education but also the launching point for future generations to build upon and continue developing that state. Second, mapping the mental models of engineering ethics education among engineering faculty members provided a typology for analyzing the state of engineering ethics education and places where one can expect to find variation, deepening our understanding of the state of engineering ethics education. Third, outlining a theory of the political economy of engineering education highlighted factors that could be influencing curricular and pedagogical decisions in engineering departments. Furthermore, I supplemented the outlined theoretical phenomena with data from the mental models interviews in order to provide a proof of concept and relevant grounding for the phenomena.</p><p><br></p> <p>In sum, faculty members make decisions based on their mental models. Structural factors shape the broader environment and institutions in which those faculty members operate. Those structures and institutions change over time, leading to the current state of engineering ethics education. Having all three pieces has provided a more complete understanding of the state of U.S. engineering ethics education.</p><p><br></p> <p>Ultimately, my dissertation accomplishes multiple goals. First, I have provided additional evidence for understanding and explaining the qualitative and quantitative discrepancies of engineering ethics coverage in U.S. undergraduate engineering education at multiple levels of analysis. Second, I have amassed evidence that can inform future research efforts. Third, I have demonstrated the use of certain theories and methods infrequently employed in engineering education research. Finally, I have outlined potential new avenues for interdisciplinary research, especially at the nexus of political economy, education, engineering, and society. </p>

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<div> <div> <div> <p>Currently there is a need for research that explores students’ understanding of advanced topics in order to improve teaching and learning beyond the context of introductory-level courses. This work investigates students’ reasoning about graphs used in enzyme kinetics. Using semi-structured interviews and a think aloud-protocol, 14 second-year students enrolled in a biochemistry course were provided two graphs to prompt their reasoning, a typical Michaelis-Menten graph and a Michaelis-Menten graph involving enzyme inhibition. Student responses were coded using a combination of inductive and deductive analysis, influenced by the resource-based model of cognition. Results involve a discussion regarding how students utilized mathematical resources to reason about chemical kinetics and enzyme kinetics, such as engaging in the use of symbolic/graphical forms and focusing on surface-level features of the equations/graphs. This work also addresses student conceptions of the particulate-level mechanism associated with competitive, noncompetitive, and uncompetitive enzyme inhibition. Based on the findings of this study, suggestions are made regarding the teaching and learning of enzyme kinetics. </p> </div> </div> </div>

The purpose of this study was to develop a prediction model for graduation rate at non-residential research universities. As well, this study investigated, described, and compared the student characteristics of non-residential and residential institutions. Making distinctions between significant predictor variables at non-residential research universities and significant predictor variables at residential institutions was also an aim. The researcher obtained data from the Integrated Postsecondary Data System. Student and institutional variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, analysis of variance, and regression analyses. Results indicated that student and institutional characteristics can be used to significantly predict graduation rate at nonresidential institutions with student variables yielding greater predictive power than institutional variables. As well, residential status was found to moderate the relationship between undergraduate enrollment and graduation rate. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Given the demands of the era of accountability and standardization, the purpose of this study was to explore how educational leaders construct their identity and agency. The study utilized overlapping post-structural and critical theoretical frameworks on identity and agency to analyze how high school principals interpret and enact comprehensive school reform rhetoric and their state’s educational leadership standards. In addition to several cycles of coding, a critical discourse analysis was performed with the input of the participants’ high schools in order to further analyze the form and function of discourses, socially situated meanings, and ideologies that constitute being an educational leader and doing the work of an educational leader. The findings from the study revealed that the high school principals discursively construct their professional identity and agency by engaging in discourses and social practices related to managing the personnel, numerical data, and external expectations of the organization. As a result, the participants use the comprehensive school reform rhetoric as a way to legitimize and rationalize their duty as educators. The socially situated meaning attributed to the state’s educational leadership standards is not as clear, with the participants dismissing their value for a lack of context. In interpreting and enacting the school reform policy mandates set forth by the district and the state, principals conserve a corporatized model of school leadership that borrows much of its neoliberal language from the business sphere. The principals are positioned as mid-level managers, confirming Foster’s (2004) description of the contemporary school leader who is preoccupied with controlling the numeracy, information systems, and language of the organization. Future research should focus on performing critical discourse analysis studies with the upper levels of management, including, but not limited to, the central office and the office of the superintendent, as a way of exploring a more transcendent meaning of schooling and school leadership that focuses on human development. This study has the potential to provide leadership preparation programs and policymakers significant insight into the problems, paradoxes, and possibilities of school reform rhetoric and its impact on local school leaders. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection