Överingress: Tänk att du är på en skogspromenad, alla träd har smala stammar och är antingen gran eller tall. Kvittret och sången har försvunnit eftersom här inte finns några insekter för fåglarna att äta. Den biologiska mångfalden i Sverige är viktig för att vi ska må bra. I dag bryter många skogsägare mot lagen när de avverkar skog och det påverkar den biologiska mångfalden negativt. När valet nu står mellan gamla träd och nya hus, i ett samhälle med bostadsbrist, är prioriteringarna inte självklara.

Educational looping is an educational method where teachers remain with the same core group of students over multiple academic years. The current research on this topic shows a strong positive correlation between the effects of looping and the growth of personal relationships between students and teachers, but neglects to examine the connection between looping and student educational growth. This paper explores the relationship between looping and academic gains, as well as between looping and retention of content material over time. This paper explores both the relationship between looping and academic gains and between looping and retention of content material, and attempts to explain the relationship between looping and student performance on state assessments. Additionally, the research also examines whether students who looped with one teacher throughout their middle school years retain more content knowledge than students who had different teachers during middle school. The focus on middle school is important to the academic community because most research on looping has focused on younger students. In order to compare the quantitative effects of looping, this study compared student performance on the Louisiana state assessments at the end of each school year in 2009, 2010, and 2011. By analyzing two groups of students in Louisiana, one that looped with the same science teacher for three years, and one that had three different science teachers, we can determine that based on the state test scores, the two student populations were significantly similar at the end of the first year, significantly different at the end of the second year, and significantly similar at the end of the third year. In addition to the results from the state tests, the students were also given a retention assessment in August 2011 and May 2012 to see if students who looped retained more information than students who did not loop. Results from these assessments showed that looping did not cause a positive change in student retention of content knowledge. By breaking down the groups into different categories, a few small positive trends were found, but overall, the study was thwarted by a number of complicating systematic factors. Subsequently, a positive trend is seen in favor of looping after the first two years of the study, yet after the third year, an overwhelming amount of external factors prevented this trend from continuing.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to supplement and reorganize the existing Unit 7: Measurement of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System Comprehensive Curriculum (EBRCC) to improve student performance. To restructure the unit, I analyzed the Measurement Standards outlined in both the Common Core Standards and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. I also studied the existing structure of the unit to reorganize the topics in a manner that is more succinct and effective in promoting student learning. In addition to reorganizing the unit, I also implemented my own supplements over the three week period. To determine if the supplements I introduced and the changes I made were effective, I gathered and reviewed student data, including performance on a benchmark assessment, student responses to open-ended questions about the subject matter, and pre- and post- assessments involving student scripts on the key ideas the unit. The analysis of the pre- and post-assessments demonstrate that there were considerable advantages to the changes I made. Students scores showed an overall average learning gain of 111.5% on the post-assessment. Seventy percent of my students scored proficient or above on the Edusoft Benchmark assessment, which is 23% higher than that of the students that I taught last year. This was also approximately 38% higher than the percent of students scoring proficient or above in other Algebra I classes at my school this year.

One of the biggest obstacles that a high school teacher faces in the classroom is motivating students to complete work. Traditional ideology focuses on intrinsic rewards as way to encourage students to participate and try in the classroom. Things like valuing education, planning for college, and taking pride in a good report card are used in attempts to motivate. Yet, in the adult world, people expect a concrete extrinsic reward (i.e. a paycheck) for the work that they do. This study takes the idea of extrinsic rewards and brings them into the classroom. This study was conducted over two academic years at two different schools. Students were split into two groups. Experimental groups were offered a reward of a pizza party if they scored an 80% or above on a unit exam. Control groups were not offered a reward. The students were taught the same material on the same day and given identical assessments. The data collected from the study showed that offering a reward increased students test scores during the 2010-2011 school year in East Feliciana Parish. No effect was seen during the 2011-2012 school year at Madison Prep Academy. Males in the experimental group showed no difference when compared to males in the control group. Females in the experimental group in East Feliciana outperformed females in the control group but the results were inconclusive for females at Madison Prep. Differences were seen between genders in experimental groups but there does not seem to be a pattern to which group (males or females) performed higher. Factors such as small sample sizes and school culture may have had an effect on the results.

ABSTRACT This study examines the effect that pretesting has on unit test scores in a high school Biology I classroom. The experimental classes were given a pretest before four units of curriculum and then taught the concepts of these units with a traditional lecture based methodology. Their unit test scores were compared to a control class that did not take pretests before the units. In addition, the End of Course (EOC) test scores of the control and experimental classes were compared to determine if pretesting improved transfer of knowledge to a different type of test. Pretesting did not cause a statistical difference between the unit test scores of the control and regular experimental classes. However, the honors experimental class did have higher unit test scores than the control class as well as the regular experimental classes. It was also found that there was no significant difference between the control classes EOC scores and the regular classes. Again the honors experimental class did have higher EOC scores than the control class and the regular experimental classes. Pretesting is not an effective tool to increase unit test scores for regular education students. It does not seem to affect learning gains or transfer of knowledge for these either for these students. Honors students performed better overall in this study maybe as a result of pretesting.

This study explores the benefits of student use of web logs (blogs) in a high school Biology classroom. Students were assigned to blog by answering questions on topics from the Miller and Levine (2010) Biology textbook, which correlated to the Louisiana Grade-Level Expectations (GLEs), benchmarks that should be familiar to students at the end of a course. Raw gains (from pretest to posttest) were compared for the study group of 124 ninth and tenth grade students to determine if blogging increased student learning gains by increasing student accountability. The Louisiana Enhanced Assessment of Grade-Level Expectations (EAGLE) test bank was used to create multiple choice pretests and posttests based on Louisiana GLEs. Analyses were done to compare class level (Honors and Regular), gender, and LEAP English Language Arts (ELA) levels. No statistically significant correlations due to blogging were found in these comparisons, though student accountability, effort, and engagement were increased based on teacher observations.

This thesis outlines a dual-intensity approach using a web-based program, MyMathLab, for procedural fluency and, in parallel, extended written tasks for helping students improve their reasoning skills, to learn to use multiple representations, and securing mathematical knowledge. The new Common Core State Standards have increased expectations and achievement goals at all grade levels, the required changes being most significant at earlier grade levels (in elementary and middle schools). It is my assertion that a combined approach, one that encompasses both procedure-oriented practice for fluency and extended written tasks designed to stretch thinking and reasoning is needed to meet these goals.

The newly released Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted with the goal in mind that in the future our students will leave high school ready and better prepared for college and careers. In particular, the CCSS insists that a faithful implementation of the eight Standard of Mathematical Practices will lead to a generation of mathematical thinkers who have learned how to read, write, model, reason, and solve problems in mathematical terms. Unfortunately, at present, my students and others do not know how to write and reason mathematically. By way of this thesis, I searched for ways to help forty-five students in my Geometry classes improve their mathematical writing and reading skills by adding structured journal writing. In this thesis, the work of three of the forty-five students was analyzed on the basis of three journal entries. Students A, B, and Cs work showed that there was obvious change and growth in writing abilities, how they explained their reasoning, and how correct it was. All forty-five students completed a survey about their experiences with the journals and Geometry as a whole. The students, as seen in the survey responses, understood what the journals were designed to do and many of them saw the benefit of having a writing template. Within the same year I implemented the journals, our schools score on the Geometry End-of-Course test increased by fourteen percent from the previous year. Overall, though it cannot be said this is strong enough to stand alone and defend the template, it does show that three students, who represent a class of forty-five, with varying levels of understanding have all improved their mathematical writing and reasoning abilities. I do believe that this template should be tested to further solidify its effectiveness and that the success I had with my class on the End-of-Course test, due to the structured emphasis on writing and reasoning, can be replicated with ease.

Mathematical modeling is the procedure whereby students apply mathematical concepts learned in class to new and unfamiliar situations. A modeling task is a mathematically-rich problem that engages students in mathematical thinking, drawing upon their previously learned knowledge and supporting their understanding of the mathematical concepts currently being covered. Modeling requires students to assign meaning to the mathematical concepts and to extend the concepts beyond rote learning. In order for students to be successful in a classroom that is centered around the idea of mathematical modeling, the students must be taught how to collaborate with other students, persevere through challenging problems, and become aware of their own thinking. In this thesis, I focus on a professional development workshop designed to train high school teachers on how to successfully use mathematical modeling in their classroom by providing them with guidelines on how to use modeling tasks effectively, sample tasks that can be used, and instruction on how to develop modeling tasks for their classroom. The goal is to affect change in the daily routines of high school mathematics classrooms by providing teachers with compelling reasons why changes are necessary, steps on how to make the necessary changes, and good examples of problems to be used in class.

This study investigates the relationship between a students spatial abilities and their success in high school physics. First, I investigate whether the success of students in high school physics class correlates with their spatial abilities before taking the class. Second, I investigate whether taking high school physics has an effect on students spatial abilities. No direct intervention was given to any of the students. Three instruments were administered to determine the students spatial abilities, The Perspective Taking/Spatial Orientation Test (Hegarty & Waller, 2004), The Mental Rotation Test (Peters & Laeng, 1995), and The Paper Folding Test (Ekstrom, French, Harmon, & Derman, 1976). Students were also evaluated on their pre-conceived notions of force and motion using the Force Concept Inventory (Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992). These four instruments as well as the students course test averages were evaluated to determine correlation. Results show that there may have been an improvement in spatial abilities as measured by the Mental Rotation Test in the AP course (n=17,p<0.05). However, I did not find any correlation to pre-existing spatial abilities and performance in the course