The instructional materials prepared for this project are based on outdoor activities that correlate with the Duval County, Florida, Performance Objectives for Life Science in the seventh grade. Special emphasis is placed on hands-on, sensory experiences and observations, and sequencing of instruction within lessons. The review of related literature includes the philosophy of outdoor/environmental education, a historical perspective of outdoor/environmental education, and learning theory as it applies to the principles and practices of an outdoor approach to education.

Environmental education is becoming an increasingly important component of secondary science education as our society attempts to minimize the exploitations and damaging actions of humankind on the earth. Environmental education has evolved primarily from environmental consciousness in the 1960s to an environmentally active focus in the 1990s. This project examined the effectiveness of an environmental education curriculum that focuses on improving environmental behaviors and attitudes as well as knowledge. The review of the literature for this project indicates that responsible environmental behaviors are linked to four types of environmental education categories. These categories are hierarchical and include: 1) ecological concepts, 2) conceptual awareness, 3) issue investigation and evaluation, and 4) environmental action skills (Disinger, 1993). A review of environmental education curricula provides a wide variety of activities in all four of the above listed categories. Information documenting the relationship between the acquisition of environmental knowledge and behav~ural change as a result of participating in community based environmental activities is less evident. Therefore, this project attempted to investigate the relationships between participation in community-based environmental activities and tenth-grade students' knowledge and attitudes toward environmental issues. During the spring semester of 1995 forty-five tenth-grade biology students at a private urban high school were pretested to assess their initial environmental concept knowledge and their initial environmental attitudes. These students were subsequently exposed to a three-week introduction to environmental concepts and to techniques for investigating environmental issues. Students were simultaneously given a variety of issues to investigate. An additional four hours of time were required of each student to participate in a community service related to an environmental concern. They submitted a written report of their work which included background research, method of participation, results and conclusions on the effect of their project on the environment. Following these experiences, a posttest was administered to assess any change in students' environmental knowledge or attitudes. Effective environmental education encourages the active participation of students in environmental improvement. The results of this investigation could assist educators in the selection of appropriate environmental activities for use with high school students.

O vídeo educacional é uma categoria de produto audiovisual feito especialmente para atingir objetivos educacionais. Esse tipo de produto envolve dois grandes grupos de conhecimento: o conhecimento audiovisual e a educação. O primeiro deles, o conhecimento audiovisual, vai guiar a confecção em termos de linguagem, roteiro, produção de imagens e outros. O segundo grupo, a educação, vai abordar os aspectos de ensino e aprendizagem que diferenciam o vídeo educacional de outras espécies de audiovisuais. A ciência da mente, cérebro e educação (MCE) – uma disciplina que une as áreas da pedagogia, psicologia e neurociência em prol do ensino e da aprendizagem – compõe o corpo teórico referente à parte de educação. Dez diretrizes, que guiam a aplicação prática da ciência MCE em sala de aula, foram extraídas da literatura e, posteriormente, adaptadas para que pudessem ser aplicadas ao processo de produção audiovisual. O objetivo desta pesquisa é, assim, propor procedimentos metodológicos para a produção de vídeos educacionais que integrem as diretrizes adaptadas da ciência da mente, cérebro e educação. Dessa maneira, vídeos confeccionados a partir desses procedimentos contariam com a base da ciência MCE para seu planejamento e execução. / The educational video is a category of audiovisual product made specially for educational purposes. This sort of product involves two main groups of knowledge: audiovisual and education. The first, the audiovisual knowledge, will guide the production in terms of language, script, video shooting, among others. The second, education, will approach aspects of teaching and learning that distinguish the educational video from other sorts of videos. Mind, brain and education science (MBE) – a discipline that combines the fields of education, psychology and neuroscience on behalf of teaching and learning – composes the theoretical framework about education. Ten guidelines, that guide the practical application of MBE science in the classroom, were extracted from the literature and, lately, adapted so they could be applied to the video production process. The goal of this research is, therefore, to propose methodological procedures to the educational video production that integrates the adapted guidelines from mind, brain and education science. This way, videos made from the procedures would have the basis of MBE science in their planning and execution.

Professions and careers related to science and mathematics lack representation of minorities. Within these underrepresented minority populations there is no other group more affected than Latina women and girls. Women in general, are still underrepresented in many areas of our society. While women's roles are changing in today's society, most changes encourage the participation of more White/Anglo women in traditionally male roles. Latina women are still more disadvantaged than White women. There is no doubt that education is significant in increasing the participation of minorities in the fields of science and mathematics, especially for minority girls (Oakes, 1990; Rodriguez, 1993). This study explored the interests, life experiences, characteristics and motivations of Latina girls of Puerto Rican origin who are successful in science and mathematics high school courses. The study identifies factors that can influence the interest of Latina girls of Puerto Rican origin in science and mathematics career choices. This research is significant and relevant to educators and policy makers, especially to science and mathematics educators. The research is primarily descriptive and exploratory. It explores the social characteristics of Latina girls and professional women who have been successful in science and mathematics high school courses. The research offers the reader a visit to the participants' homes with descriptions and the opportunity to explore the thoughts and life experiences of Latina girls, their mothers and young Latina professionals of Puerto Rican origin. This research reveals the common characteristics of successful students found in the Latina girls of Puerto Rican origin who where interviewed. Creating a portrait of Latina girls of Puerto Rican origin who are successful in science and mathematics high school courses in one of the school districts of western Massachusetts. The research findings reveal that teacher relationships, family expectations, mother's support, mother - daughter relationship, cultural pride, talent recognition, the girls' perception of teachers and school and the girls strong desire to change their economic situation contribute to their success in school regardless of their low socio-economic backgrounds.

This study explores the career progression and life history of black mathematicians and scientists who teach on university faculties in the United States. It investigates the following questions: Why are there so few black mathematicians and scientists in colleges and universities in the United States? What is the experience of black students who express an interest in science and math? What barriers do black scientists and mathematicians face as they move through school towards their career in higher education? What factors facilitate their success? The current literature shows that there are few women and minorities teaching or working in math and science compared to white men, although reasons for this underrepresentation are still not well understood. I explored this phenomenon by conducting two sets of in-depth interviews with twelve black faculty, six women, six men, from both historically black and predominantly white higher educational institutions in the United States. My interviews were based upon a life history approach that identified the participants' perceptions of the barriers and obstacles, as well as the supports and facilitators encountered in their schooling and career progression. The findings from the study show the importance of a strong family, community, and teacher support for the participants throughout their schooling. Support systems continued to be important in their faculty positions. These support systems include extended family members, teachers, community members, supervisors, and classmates, who serve as role models and mentors. The life study interviews provide striking evidence of the discrimination, isolation, and harassment due to race and gender experienced by black male and female mathematicians and scientists. The racial discrimination and the compounding effect of racism and sexism play out differently for the male and female participants in this study. This study suggests directions for future research on the experiences of young black students who are currently in the math and science educational pipeline. It also offers recommendations for ways in which parents, teachers, administrators, faculty, advisors, and government officials can enhance the educational experiences of black students who express interest and have skills in math and science.

Strong educators always look for different ways to excite and enthrall their students in the curriculum. The field of science education often loses student interest due to the complexities and vocabulary found in the scientific realm. Incorporating music into the classroom has shown positive results as a way to integrate student learning and a different way of facilitating students in the learning process (Brewer, 1992; Davies, 200). Resources for implementing the integration of music and science exist throughout the Internet in a variety of mediums. This study looks at the availability of said resources and the concepts they cover, for what students they are intended for, how are they intended to be used and the level of accuracy they maintain. Those resources upholding the accuracy desired for use in the classroom were then compiled onto one webpage for use by elementary science educators. The webpage is open and free to the public and may be shared.

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Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-09-27T12:37:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosana Cássia Rodrigues Andrade.pdf: 1526344 bytes, checksum: db3b9962ddd2e9b168b962c596334a23 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-27T12:37:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosana Cássia Rodrigues Andrade.pdf: 1526344 bytes, checksum: db3b9962ddd2e9b168b962c596334a23 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-15 / It is noted that the proposed theme has not been sufficiently studied by the Education Science. There is a lack of corresponding teaching degree courses showing the challenging and urgent character of a reflection on the training of Religious Education teachers. This study aims to analyze teachers’ training paradigms that permeate the course of Science of Religion at Unimontes, in order to understand the concepts that underlie the pedagogical proposals in the period of 2001 to 2012. This is a qualitative research with an exploratory study of documentary nature in order to describe the history of the Science of Religion course at Unimontes through the analysis of the Pedagogic Political Project (PPP) elaborated from 2001 to 2012 and official minutes which are part of the educational practices instrumentalized by bibliographic and field researches. The field research used a semi-structured interview which had the participation of 21 professors and 4 coordinators who work or have already worked in the course during this period. In the quantitative data analysis we used the statistical program (Statistical Package for Social Sciences - SPSS) 17.00 for Windows and qualitative data analysis was performed through content analysis technique based on Bardin (2004). The data revealed the importance of the Science of Religion course in an attempt to break solidified paradigms and propose new places and ways of thinking and studying religion. It was also found that the way the PPPs are organized, they emphasize the deepening of specific knowledge of the area, leaving the teacher training under the responsibility of few pedagogical subjects. However, there is an attempt to invest in teacher training to meet the challenge of enabling the professional of Science of Religion, having Science of Religion as a reference area, so the formation of these teachers is still a challenge for educational institutions. This study may give social contribution by showing paths for initial training of RE teachers mainly at Unimontes / A temática proposta nesta tese representa um tema que ainda não foi suficientemente estudado pela Ciência da Educação. Faltam cursos de licenciatura correspondentes, e isso mostra o caráter desafiador e urgente de uma reflexão sobre a formação dos professores de Ensino Religioso. Este estudo objetiva analisar os paradigmas de formação docente que permeia o curso de Ciências da Religião da Unimontes, para compreender as concepções que fundamentaram as propostas pedagógicas, no período de 2001 a 2012. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, realizada por meio de estudo exploratório, de cunho documental, de forma a descrever o histórico do Curso de Ciências da Religião na Unimontes pela análise dos Projetos Políticos Pedagógicos produzidos no período de 2001 a 2012, e atas oficiais, que constituem parte integrante das práticas educacionais instrumentalizadas por pesquisas bibliográficas e de campo. A pesquisa de campo utilizou-se de uma entrevista semiestruturada, da qual participaram 21 professores e 4 coordenadores que trabalham ou já trabalharam no curso durante esse período. Na análise dos dados quantitativos, utilizou-se o programa estatístico (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – SPSS) 17.00, para Windows, e a análise dos dados qualitativos foi realizada através da técnica de análise de conteúdo, fundamentado em Bardin (2004). Os dados revelaram a importância do Curso de Ciências da Religião na tentativa de romper paradigmas solidificados e propor novos locais e formas de se pensar e estudar religião. Constatou-se, também, que os PPPs da forma como estão organizados enfatizam o aprofundamento do saber específico da área, ficando a formação do licenciando sob a responsabilidade de poucas disciplinas pedagógicas. Entretanto, percebe-se uma tentativa de investir na licenciatura para responder ao desafio de habilitar o profissional do Ensino Religioso, tendo a Ciência da Religião como área de referência; portanto, a formação desses professores ainda é desafio para instituições formadoras. O estudo poderá dar sua contribuição social ao apontar caminhos para uma formação inicial de professores de ER, principalmente no âmbito da Unimontes

This research discusses the issue of education reform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) through an exploration of the perspectives of a range of participants involved in the preparation programme for science teachers which is run through an existing relationship between the University of Taibah and public schools in Medina city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research examines the perspectives of participants in the university and the school (university supervisors, university coordinators, headteachers, collaborating teachers and science student teachers). It discusses teacher preparation issues in the multiple contexts reported in the literature. Teacher preparation in other contexts has revealed models which could be useful in the Saudi context. Activity Theory (AT) was used as the theoretical framework to achieve this study’s objective of exploring the academic systems of the university/school and the relationship between them in science teacher preparation, focussing on the contradictions that create conflicts for student teachers learning to teach the modern science curriculum. Activity Theory was a useful tool in organizing this research as it permitted the exploration of the relationships between systems, analysing the rich data collected on the relationship between university and school. Activity Theory acted as a link between the need for a more expansive unit of analysis in initial teacher education (ITE) studies and appropriate and effective research methods. This research is situated within the interpretative paradigm. It usescase study with mixed methods as an appropriate methodology, using multiple methods of data collection, namely semi-structured interviews as the main tool, questionnaires and documentary evidence. This research revealed the utilitarian nature of the relationship between the university and the school, which did not reach the level of a cooperative partnership, and which contained many contradictions that created conflicts for science teachers when learning the teaching skills required of modern science curricula.

Studies by the National Association for Educational Progress found that English Language Learner (ELL) students perform poorly compared to other students on standardized mathematics exams. The research problem addressed how Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) affected the instructional practices of high school mathematics teachers. The purpose of this evaluative case study approach was to explore the extent to which the implementation of SIOP influenced mathematics instruction in a mid-sized rural high school. The conceptual framework for this study was formed by combining Krashen's i+1 nativist theory for language acquisition through comprehensible input, Long's interactionist theory for acquisition of knowledge and Bandura's teacher efficacy theory. A concurrent mixed method design was selected to draw together inferences from both qualitative and quantitative data. NVivo software was used to combine a line by line analysis of interviews with an analysis of the components on the SIOP observation checklist. Interview findings suggest that teachers expressed a favorable response to SIOP since implementation. Classroom observations confirmed the efficacy of SIOP implementation. An analysis of covariance was used to evaluate mathematics achievement data from the Measurement of Academic Progress. Quantitative findings indicated no significant increase in mean scores after the first year of SIOP implementation. The results of this study could enhance the capacity of mathematics teachers to adjust instruction appropriate for their second-language development needs. Implications for positive social change include removing language barriers so that more ELL students may continue taking advanced mathematics courses and enter rewarding math-related careers.