Programs that engage middle students in participatory, real-world, and hands-on field based instruction can be a powerful asset to the educational experiences for students; motivating and inspiring some to appreciate and value school in a different way. Overnight environmental science programs have a unique opportunity to support students by creating experiences where students can participate in learning in vastly different ways from what they may engage with in the traditional 4-walled classroom, while concurrently developing a relationship with the natural world. Decreasing educational budgets and increased need to substantiate educational programs in terms of their impact on students has added pressure for overnight environmental science programs to validate their impact through quantitative means. Utilizing overnight environmental science education program attendance records and merging them with school district data relating to attendance, this study investigates the impact of one such overnight environmental science program on students' attendance rate change. Analyzing the secondary data using multiple linear regressions modeling, researchers explored how the overnight environmental program impacted student attendance rate change and how it varied by demographic characteristics to understand if and how the program addresses school district and educational policy reform targets.

The main aim of this study is to determine what factors limit Natural Science, Grade 7 teachers from engaging learners in practical work or performing experiments. This study is conducted in the Ogongo circuit of the Omusati Region. A qualitative case study approach was adopted for the study. The sample includes two (2) Grade 7 Natural Science teachers and six (6) Grade 7 Natural Science learners. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data. Data from interviews and observations were analyzed using thematic analysis. All interview and observation transcriptions were categorized into codes, categories, and themes. Themes and subthemes were grouped into tables and linked to literature to strengthen the findings of this study. The main themes were lack of pedagogical know-how, time, laboratory materials, and training to update and practice appropriate teaching strategies/approaches. The results of the study recommend training to prepare teachers on the use of appropriate teaching to improve the teaching and learning of Natural Science. The study recommends that Natural Science teachers should share knowledge and facts concerning Natural Science to understand teaching and learning concepts better. The learners are afforded enough opportunities to judge, analyze, and draw conclusions from the supplied content based on their level of understanding of tasks. The study exposed factors limiting teachers practice and informs stakeholders on ways to improve Grade 7 science teaching and learning to overcome the challenges of the field. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

From the very beginning, library education has been a mixture of theory and practice. Dewey required apprenticeships to be part of the first library school at the University of Chicago as a method to indoctrinate new professional. Today, acculturation is incorporated into the professional education through a large variety of experiential learning techniques, including internships, practicum, field work, and service learning projects, all of which are designed to develop some level of professional skills within an information organization. But, what is done for understanding library culture? It is said that one cannot truly recognize the extent of one's own cultural assumptions, until they have experienced another. This study followed a group of LIS graduate students that took that next step – going to Russia. By employing a critical hermeneutic methodology, this study sought to understand what value students gain by from working on an assessment project in an international school library. Using a horizon analysis, the researcher established the worldview of participants prior to their departure, analyzed their experience through post-experience interviews, and constructed an understanding of value. Among other concepts, the researcher looked specifically to see whether "library cultural competency", understanding library culture in global context, was developed through working on a service learning project within an international school library. This dissertation provides feedback for the program leaders and ideas for future research.

Analiso nesta dissertação as representações sobre o ciclo de vida das plantas de onze coleções de livros didáticos de ciências aprovados pelo Programa Nacional de Livros Didático (PNLD) referente ao ano de 2011 para, em um segundo momento, focar nas mensagens visivas das representações de cada uma das divisões de plantas briófitas, pteridófitas, gimnospermas e angiospermas. As mensagens visivas permitir-me-iam caracterizar as transformações ocorridas tanto na forma de representar o ciclo quanto nas linguagens utilizadas nas estruturas representacionais que, na maioria das vezes, não condizem com os títulos empregados para nomeá-las. Lançando mão dos pressupostos da tríade pierciana (ícone-objeto-símbolo) a análise semiótica empreendida forneceu-me subsídios para, em uma terceira etapa da pesquisa, coletar desenhos junto aos sujeitos da pesquisa no que tange ao ciclo de vida das plantas, cujos ícones apresentaram os indícios que caracterizam o objeto, ou seja, o ciclo de vida das plantas - encerrado em simbologias com significados que reverberam em contextos históricos específicos, como uma lei própria das estruturas iconográficas. Nos ciclos de vida das plantas essas simbologias se encerram no círculo, envolvendo a vida das plantas como algo ininterrupto, isto é, a planta germina, cresce, desenvolve-se, reproduz e volta a germinar. Baseada nas premissas piercianas constatei que embora as imagens no ensino de ciências sejam de fundamental importância, elas interferem sobremaneira na aprendizagem dos fenômenos naturais, modificando percepções entre os ícones e o objeto real, fato este evidenciado quando comparei as representações imagéticas dos sujeitos desta pesquisa com as representações dos livros didáticos de ciências nos quais não há indícios da finalização do ciclo vital das plantas: a representação da senescência e da morte das plantas. / The object of this essay is the analysis of the representations about vegetables life cycle included in eleven science didactic books approved by PNLD related to the year of 2011. The intention is to focus on the visual messages delivered by the representations of each one of the vegetables division bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Those visual messages would allow me to identify the changes occurred both in the way to represent the cycle as well the language used to perform it. Most of the time these representations do not match with the titles used to designate them. In light of the pierciana triad (icon-object-symbol) the semiotics analysis used during the third phase of this study provided me subsidies to collect drawings from the research subjects regarding the vegetable life cycle. Such icons showed evidences that the feature of the object (vegetables life cycle) is enclosed in symbols linked to specific historic contexts like a particular law applied in iconographic structures. These symbols used to show the vegetables life cycle like something uninterrupted. In other words, the vegetables would germinate, grow, develop, breed and back to germinate in an endless cycle. Even though images are fundamental in the science teaching process I was able to conclude (Based on the PIERCIANAS premises) that the images may induce relevant misunderstandings between Icons and real objects. The perception of the natural phenomenon may be strongly corrupted. The evidences of this statement became crystal clear when I compared the image representations of the subjects of this research with the images of the science didactic books that dont clearly show the end of the life cycle of the vegetables: A senescence representation of the vegetables death.

Analiso nesta dissertação as representações sobre o ciclo de vida das plantas de onze coleções de livros didáticos de ciências aprovados pelo Programa Nacional de Livros Didático (PNLD) referente ao ano de 2011 para, em um segundo momento, focar nas mensagens visivas das representações de cada uma das divisões de plantas briófitas, pteridófitas, gimnospermas e angiospermas. As mensagens visivas permitir-me-iam caracterizar as transformações ocorridas tanto na forma de representar o ciclo quanto nas linguagens utilizadas nas estruturas representacionais que, na maioria das vezes, não condizem com os títulos empregados para nomeá-las. Lançando mão dos pressupostos da tríade pierciana (ícone-objeto-símbolo) a análise semiótica empreendida forneceu-me subsídios para, em uma terceira etapa da pesquisa, coletar desenhos junto aos sujeitos da pesquisa no que tange ao ciclo de vida das plantas, cujos ícones apresentaram os indícios que caracterizam o objeto, ou seja, o ciclo de vida das plantas - encerrado em simbologias com significados que reverberam em contextos históricos específicos, como uma lei própria das estruturas iconográficas. Nos ciclos de vida das plantas essas simbologias se encerram no círculo, envolvendo a vida das plantas como algo ininterrupto, isto é, a planta germina, cresce, desenvolve-se, reproduz e volta a germinar. Baseada nas premissas piercianas constatei que embora as imagens no ensino de ciências sejam de fundamental importância, elas interferem sobremaneira na aprendizagem dos fenômenos naturais, modificando percepções entre os ícones e o objeto real, fato este evidenciado quando comparei as representações imagéticas dos sujeitos desta pesquisa com as representações dos livros didáticos de ciências nos quais não há indícios da finalização do ciclo vital das plantas: a representação da senescência e da morte das plantas. / The object of this essay is the analysis of the representations about vegetables life cycle included in eleven science didactic books approved by PNLD related to the year of 2011. The intention is to focus on the visual messages delivered by the representations of each one of the vegetables division bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Those visual messages would allow me to identify the changes occurred both in the way to represent the cycle as well the language used to perform it. Most of the time these representations do not match with the titles used to designate them. In light of the pierciana triad (icon-object-symbol) the semiotics analysis used during the third phase of this study provided me subsidies to collect drawings from the research subjects regarding the vegetable life cycle. Such icons showed evidences that the feature of the object (vegetables life cycle) is enclosed in symbols linked to specific historic contexts like a particular law applied in iconographic structures. These symbols used to show the vegetables life cycle like something uninterrupted. In other words, the vegetables would germinate, grow, develop, breed and back to germinate in an endless cycle. Even though images are fundamental in the science teaching process I was able to conclude (Based on the PIERCIANAS premises) that the images may induce relevant misunderstandings between Icons and real objects. The perception of the natural phenomenon may be strongly corrupted. The evidences of this statement became crystal clear when I compared the image representations of the subjects of this research with the images of the science didactic books that dont clearly show the end of the life cycle of the vegetables: A senescence representation of the vegetables death.

The purpose of this research was to determine what type of correlations existed between student and parent attitudes towards using smartphones in school and the resulting impact on achievement, specifically for low-achieving students. Participants in the study were third-grade students and their parents from a primary school in Singapore. The study employed a quantitative analysis to understand the correlations among the different participant groups. The instruments used were Likert-based surveys, along with scores from mid-year and end-of-year achievement exams in English and science. The three most relevant major findings showed that (a) low-achieving students show a positive attitude toward completing science activities, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; (b) the parents of low-achieving students appear to provide their children with autonomy in using their smartphones, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; and (c) having a smartphone and using the smartphone to complete school work is important to low-achieving students and their parents.

The world is becoming a global place in which science, technology, engineering and mathematics hold a key to a successful future. To help secure this future it is important to engage students early with relevant curriculum that sparks interest and success in STEM fields. However, education reform occurs slowly, so this paper looked at a potential paradigm that can help to bring about change in a middle school environment that harnesses the long standing strengths of learning and education with the integration of technology to create changes in the pedagogy of learners and teachers. The study implemented a transmedia STEM book and evaluated the impact it had on student perceptions of STEM, school attitude, academic achievement, and preferred activity types, providing an example vehicle for change that can be adopted over time. The main findings showed that students who used a 3-Dimensional printer had higher math achievement and a more positive perception of math.

The project focuses on the creation of supplemental teaching materials that can be used to support reading and writing activities in the science content curriculum taught in a bilingual fifth grade classroom. Mediated structures are used to link the curriculum in the language arts with science materials. They are also used to provide depth and complexity to the materials offered by textbooks adopted by the school district. The mediated structures discussed and developed in the project are included.

This study investigates the effectiveness of an instructional strategy that uses students' prior understanding of informal evidence based reasoning (EBR) to build an understanding of scientific EBR. A pre and post instructional strategy survey revealed that students' understanding of EBR increased over the length of the study. Data collected from pre and post instructional discussions also showed increases in the amount of EBR students used.

In this study, one AP Biology curriculum unit and one general Biology curriculum unit that included tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) technology provided by Project NANO, a grant-funded, collaborative initiative designed to integrate cutting-edge nanotechnology into high school classrooms were implemented at a public high school in rural Oregon. Nine students participated in the AP unit and 52 students participated in the general Biology unit. Each student completed an opinion-based pre and post survey to determine if using the SEM as a part of the curriculum unit had an impact on his or her interest in science or in nanoscience. Interviews were conducted to add to the data. The results indicate that using the SEM can increase a student's interest in science. Recommendations for improving student experience were identified.