<p> Teaching evolution provides teachers with the opportunity to educate students on how science aims to understand the natural world. Rooted in research, the purpose of this project was to create NGSS-aligned curriculum focused on teaching the nature of science (NOS) within the context of biological evolution. Field testing and review of the unit resulted in revisions aimed at creating more comprehensive teacher resource materials and explicit inclusion of NOS. </p><p> Emphasizing NOS in curriculum development and teaching scientific qualities through an evolutionary context has taken the focus off <i>belief</i> or <i>disbelief,</i> keeping the attention on the scientific concept at hand. Designing curriculum around compelling subject matter and embracing student-led learning increased and maintained student interest in the classroom.</p><p> Implementation of this curriculum not only requires the teacher to be knowledgeable in conventional educational pedagogy, but also the subjects of NGSS and NOS. Additional training and support centered around NGSS is recommended for science educators interested in integrating NOS into their curriculum and instruction.</p><p>

Data collected in this study indicated significantly greater pre-to-post test score gains, confidence level gains, and increased student engagement in learning about electric circuits through model-based instruction compared to students who learned through more traditional teaching methods. Since the teachers in the model-based group were known to widely utilize guided whole-class discussions to foster the students' construction of explanatory models, it was deemed important to study the specific types of teaching strategies that may be supporting these positive effects. An in-depth analysis was conducted to identify teaching strategies used during whole class discussions by the two teachers whose students had the largest pre-to-post test gains. A new diagrammatic system for representing the parallel use of several nested levels of teaching strategies and their interaction with student reasoning moves was developed to support these microanalyses. This study found evidence that, in addition to previously documented dialogical strategies that teachers utilize to engage students in effectively communicating their scientific ideas in class, there is a second level of more cognitively focused model-construction-supporting strategies that teachers use to foster students' reasoning about the construction of explanatory models of scientific concepts. A compendium was developed of thirty nine whole-class discussion-based teaching strategies, each of which contributes to one of four phases (Observation, Model Generation, Model Evaluation and Model Modification) of a model construction cycle. While the thirty nine strategies were identified within the teaching of high school electric circuits, it is believed that they are general enough to apply to other topics and levels of instruction. It was discovered that even though considerable differences were observed between two model-based teachers in the ratios of student and teacher contributions to the model construction process taking place during whole-class discussions, both teachers were able to support high levels of student participation in these conversations as well as virtually identical pre-to-post test gains in circuit problem solving outcomes. This result suggests that there is not "one best way" to facilitate model-based learning. The study attempts to contribute to a coherent model of how teachers can support students' conceptual change processes through a process of scaffolding whole-class discussions.

Urban districts suffer from a severe shortage of qualified science teachers. Therefore, many new science teachers will need to take positions in urban districts with little or no exposure to urban communities. As a result, prospective teachers find it difficult to learn how to negotiate the cultural contexts of urban teaching. Consequently, it is essential for teacher preparation programs to begin to examine the cultural contexts of urban science teaching to understand how to support the personal and professional well being of novice urban science educators. Through in-depth phenomenological interviews this research documents the experiences, perceptions, and beliefs of veteran urban science teachers and how they navigated pathways to successful teaching careers. Results focus on how the cultural levels of teacher socialization (personal, institutional, and societal) shaped their induction into the teaching profession. In addition, the analysis of the data suggests that teacher preparation programs need to be reconceptualized to include a specific focus on culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy, teacher identity development, and how to develop community networks and connections. This restructuring is key for novice urban teachers to either increase their cultural sensitivity, or align their own cultural belief systems in-order to develop the necessary skill set to become successful urban science teachers.

<p> With the recent adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in Oregon, there is a great need for teachers to be trained to effectively implement the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their teaching. Time and location are the largest constraining factors that affect teacher participation in professional development trainings. To address this constraint, Tryon Creek State Park offered a NGSS professional development training opportunity for teachers that was integrated within a field trip that they took their students on. Before the field trip, teachers were introduced to the NGSS through a set of NGSS pre-field trip materials which informed them about the NGSS and how aspects of it would be integrated into their students&rsquo; field trip. Teachers accompanied their students on a two-hour long field trip at Tryon Creek State Park where teachers observed nature guides model NGSS-aligned activities for the students. My research aimed to answer the following question: How will an informal science education program at Tryon Creek State Park affect K-2 teachers&rsquo; awareness of the Next Generation Science Standards? Outcomes were measured through a pre/post retrospective survey and follow-up interviews. On the survey teachers reported little awareness of the three dimensions of the NGSS and very few of the teachers increased their understanding after the treatment. On the other hand, most had a high level of awareness and confidence in teaching factual information supporting the NGSS prior to treatment, resulting in a ceiling effect. Interviews suggested that few teachers read the materials sent in advance of the field trip, but teachers who did read the materials indicated increases in understanding of the NGSS. During the field trip several of the nature guides were effective in modeling science and engineering practices. These findings suggest that this method of professional development is promising, but needs further refinement.</p>

<p> This study investigated high school students&rsquo; definitions and interpretations of what an animal is, with a focus on marine animals. Past studies have shown that students&rsquo; definitions of animals often center on themes of movement or appendages. In this study, student responses were analyzed against a predetermined definition of an animal--a multicellular eukaryotic organism that is heterotrophic. Marine animals consistently misidentified by the students were also identified. </p><p> The data for this study was collected through surveys and interviews, using ninth grade high school students. Students were asked to identify marine organisms as animals or not, and to provide a definition or reasoning for classifying organisms as animals.</p><p> The purpose of this study is to better inform educators of the preconceptions about animals, specifically marine animals, that students bring into the classroom. This will allow educators to address those preconceptions to encourage a fuller understanding of animals in their students.</p>

<p> With only 11% of the current Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce being Black and Latino men and women, there is a crisis of underrepresented individuals in STEM fields. The construction of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the mantra &ldquo;all standards, all students,&rdquo; represents an attempt to increase access to science for more students, and increase their self-efficacy about STEM subjects, as low self-efficacy is cited as one of the main causes of disinterest in STEM subjects. This study examined the relationship between students&rsquo; self-efficacy in STEM fields and their career interests, specifically in a population of Black and Latino youth. The study further analyzed self-efficacy and STEM interest between two groups of middle school students, those engaged with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and those with traditional instruction. The Student Attitudes Towards STEM survey was distributed to 580 students to collect quantitative data on student self-efficacy in STEM and their attitudes towards varied STEM careers. Statistical analysis (correlation) determined a significant (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01) moderate correlation between students&rsquo; self-efficacy and STEM career interest. Statistical analysis (independent samples t-test) also determined there was no statistical difference between the two student groups. This study offers insights into the implementation of the standards, suggestions for future research around science programs in schools, and a call to action for all schools to offer science courses to all students from kindergarten to 12th grade to increase interest in STEM fields for future careers and life outside the classroom.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify misconceptions and perceptions of best teaching practices to better bring about conceptual change in thermodynamics, a core idea within the high school physical science Next Generation Science Standards. This study identified student misconceptions related to a thermodynamics unit, focusing on misconceptions related to temperature and energy, temperature and perceptions of hot/cold, and heat capacity. I also sought to identify factors that students and I, separately, identified as affecting their thinking. Data includes a pre-test and a post-test given to high school chemistry students. The instruments included multiple-choice and free-response questions. I also kept a teacher journal of my thoughts throughout the unit. The unit was somewhat successful in addressing heat energy and temperature misconceptions as more students answered post-test questions correctly when compared to the pre-test responses. Students identified labs and out of class experiences as affecting their thinking, which I agree with and would also include activities that make students more aware of their own thinking along with group discussion and modeling.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug 16

<p> This mixed methods case study documents an effort to implement authentic science and engineering instruction in one teacher&rsquo;s ninth grade science classrooms in a science-focused public school. The research framework and methodology is a derivative of work developed and reported by Newmann and others (Newmann &amp; Associates, 1996). Based on a working definition of authenticity, data were collected for eight months on the authenticity in the experienced teacher&rsquo;s pedagogy and in student performance. Authenticity was defined as the degree to which a classroom lesson, an assessment task, or an example of student performance demonstrates construction of knowledge through use of the meaning-making processes of science and engineering, and has some value to students beyond demonstrating success in school (Wehlage et al., 1996). Instruments adapted for this study produced a rich description of the authenticity of the teacher&rsquo;s instruction and student performance. </p><p> The pedagogical practices of the classroom teacher were measured as moderately authentic on average. However, the authenticity model revealed the teacher&rsquo;s strategy of interspersing relatively low authenticity instructional units focused on building science knowledge with much higher authenticity tasks requiring students to apply these concepts and skills. The authenticity of the construction of knowledge and science meaning-making processes components of authentic pedagogy were found to be greater, than the authenticity of affordances for students to find value in classroom activities beyond demonstrating success in school. Instruction frequently included one aspect of value beyond school, connections to the world outside the classroom, but students were infrequently afforded the opportunity to present their classwork to audiences beyond the teacher. </p><p> When the science instruction in the case was measured to afford a greater level of authentic intellectual work, a higher level of authentic student performance on science classwork was also measured. In addition, direct observation measures of student behavioral engagement showed that behavioral engagement was generally high, but not associated with the authenticity of the pedagogy. Direct observation measures of student self-regulation found evidence that when instruction focused on core science and engineering concepts and made stronger connections to the student&rsquo;s world beyond the classroom, student self-regulated learning was greater, and included evidence of student ownership. </p><p> In light of the alignment between the model of authenticity used in this study and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the results suggest that further research on the value beyond school component of the model could improve understanding of student engagement and performance in response to the implementation of the NGSS. In particular, it suggests a unique role environmental education can play in affording student success in K-12 science and a tool to measure that role.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.