Lee Yun-wing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-92). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivation and Objectives --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Organization of Thesis --- p.4 / Chapter 2 --- Review of Related Work --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Traditional Education Theory --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Integrative Learning Model --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Problem-Based Learning --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Cognitive Apprenticeship --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Conversational Model --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Self-Regulated Learning --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.6 --- Seven Principles for Good Practice for Education --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Online Learning Examples --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Web sites Comparison --- p.30 / Chapter 2.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.38 / Chapter 3 --- An On-line learning model --- p.39 / Chapter 3.1 --- Conceptual Design --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2 --- Software architecture --- p.51 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Authentication --- p.53 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Courseware studying --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Quiz retrieval --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Performance Monitoring --- p.57 / Chapter 3.3 --- Chapter Summary --- p.58 / Chapter 4 --- Demonstration --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1 --- Account Management --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2 --- Courseware --- p.62 / Chapter 4.3 --- Quiz --- p.68 / Chapter 4.4 --- Email address list and newsgroup --- p.76 / Chapter 4.5 --- Instructor Area --- p.77 / Chapter 4.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.80 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion and Future Work --- p.82 / Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusion --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2 --- Future work --- p.85 / Bibliography --- p.87

This study analyzes the effect of three different high school scheduling options on the delivery of biology instruction, on student achievement, and on student perceptions of their instructional activities. Participants were biology students and teachers from twelve high schools in a north Texas urban school district of 76,000. Block classes had 11 to 18 percent less instructional time than traditional classes. Texas Biology I End-of-Course Examination achievement results for 3,195 students along with student and teacher surveys provided information on instructional activities, attitudes, and individualization. Using an analysis of variance at a j i< .01 the following results were found; student achievement was significantly different for each of the scheduled comparisons groups, test score means were not statistically significant between the scheduled comparison groups for different ethnic groups, economically disadvantaged students, and magnet students. No significant differences were found between the science learning activity index for each of the scheduled groups. Student response data when disaggregrated and reaggregrated into program groups found a statistically significant higher index of science activity at a p. < .01 for magnet students when compared to both the regular and honor students. Regular program students had a significantly higher index of individualization than honors program students. Accelerated and rotating block classes were found to hold a significantly more positive attitude about their science learning conditions than did the traditional students. These data suggest that during the first two years of block scheduling, the initial impact of block scheduling, where total time for science is reduced, results in lower student achievement scores when compared to traditionally scheduled classes. Yet, block scheduled student attitudes and perceptions about science learning are significantly more positive than the traditionally scheduled students.

Student's verbal participation in science classrooms is an essential element in building the skills necessary for proficiency in scientific literacy and discourse. The myriad of new, multisyllabic vocabulary terms introduced in one year of secondary school biology instruction can overwhelm students and further impede the self-efficacy needed for concise constructions of scientific explanations and arguments. Factors inhibiting students' inclination to answer questions, share ideas and respond to peers in biology classrooms include confidence and self-perceived competence in appropriately speaking the language of science. Providing students with explicit, engaging instruction in methods to develop vocabulary for use in expressing conclusions is critical for expanding comprehension of science concepts. This study fused the recommended strategies for engaging vocabulary instruction with linguistic practices for teaching pronunciation to examine the relationship between a student's ability to pronounce challenging bio-terminology and their propensity to speak in teacher-led, guided classroom discussions. Interviews, surveys, and measurements quantifying and qualifying students' participation in class discussions before and after explicit instruction in pronunciation were used to evaluate the potential of this strategy as an appropriate tool for increasing students' self-efficacy and willingness to engage in biology classroom conversations. The findings of this study showed a significant increase in student verbal participation in classroom discussions after explicit instruction in pronunciation combined with vocabulary literacy strategies. This research also showed an increase in the use of vocabulary words in student comments after the intervention.

Science has been identified as a crucial element in the competitiveness and sustainability of America in the global economy. American citizens, especially minority populations, however, are not pursuing science education or careers. Past research has implicated `attitudes toward science' as an important factor in the public's participation in science. I applied Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior to attitudes toward science to predict science-related sustainability-action intentions and evaluated whether scientists and Native Americans differed in their general attitudes toward science, cultural values, and specific beliefs about science. Analyses revealed that positive attitude toward science and the cultural value of individualism predicted intentions to engage with science-related sustainability actions. Unexpectedly, scientists and Native Americans did not differ in their cultural values or positive attitude toward science. However, Natives Americans held significantly more negative attitude toward science than scientists. Implications for science education and attitudes towards science theory and application are discussed.

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' 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' 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.

Improving the STEM readiness of students from historically underserved groups is a moral and economic imperative requiring greater attention and effort than has been shown to date. The current literature suggests a high school science sequence beginning with physics and centered on developing conceptual understanding, using inquiry labs and modeling to allow students to explore new ideas, and addressing and correcting student misconceptions can increase student interest in and preparation for STEM careers. The purpose of this study was to determine if the science college readiness of historically underserved students can be improved by implementing an inquiry-based high school science sequence comprised of coursework in physics, chemistry, and biology for every student. The study used a retrospective cohort observational design to address the primary research question: are there differences between historically underserved students completing a Physics First science sequence and their peers completing a traditional science sequence in 1) science college-readiness test scores, 2) rates of science college-and-career readiness, and 3) interest in STEM? Small positive effects were found for all three outcomes for historically underserved students in the Physics First sequence.

As technology and our world understanding develop, we will need citizens who are able to ask and answer questions that have not been thought of yet. Currently, high school and college graduates entering the workforce demonstrate a gap in their ability to develop unique solutions and fill the current technology-driven jobs. To address this gap, science needs to be prioritized early in children's lives. The focus of this research was to analyze a science training program that would help pre-school teachers better understand Mind in the Making life skills, the nature of science, science practices, and improve their self-efficacy integrating science education into their classrooms and curriculum. Seventy-one teachers enrolled in two three-day, professional development trainings that were conducted over three, five-hour sessions approximately one month apart. During that training the teachers learned hands-on activities for young children that introduced life and physical science content. They were also given the task of developing and implementing a science-based lesson for their students and then analyzing it with other participants. The information from the lesson plans was collected for analysis. After the last training the teachers were given a pre/post retrospective survey to measure effective outcomes. The results from the lesson plans and surveys indicate that the trainings helped improve the teachers' understanding of Mind in the Making, the nature of science, and science practices. The results also show that the teachers felt more comfortable integrating science education into their classrooms and curriculum.

The current study set out to determine the relationship between student gradelevel, implicit views of science ability, science achievement and science interest.Differences by grade level were also explored. The study also considered the differences in male and female implicit theories of science ability, science interest, and science achievement. Participants in the current study consisted of a total of 1910 students from six elementary schools from one south-central Kentucky district that participate in Project GEMS (Gifted Education in Math and Science). Data were analyzed by means of analysis of variance and Pearson correlations. Younger students evidenced lower scores on the implicit theories measure. No gender differences were observed in implicit theories of science ability or science interest. Females did evidence lower achievement in science than males. Implicit theories of science ability were significantly and positively correlated with science achievement. Conversely, no such relationship existed between implicit theories of science ability and interest. Limitations of the current study are discussed and possible future directions are offered. Findings from the current study underscore the importance of considering domain-specific views of ability when addressing poor science performance and when considering gender gaps in science achievement.

Scientific inquiry in K-12 classrooms tends to be procedural, lacking opportunities for students to gain understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed through reflection, debate, and argument. Limited opportunity to develop scientific argumentation skills prevents students from practicing the scientific thinking needed to understand the nature of scientific knowledge and the role of scientific inquiry. To solve this problem in science education, recent research has focused on how to support student opportunities to learn scientific argumentation in the context of learning science content. The purpose of this investigation was to examine and analyze one science teacher's understanding of scientific argumentation and his teaching strategies for developing students' argumentation skills in the classroom. This investigation also analyzed student discourse in response to those teaching strategies, to see how students demonstrate improved scientific thinking skills while they developed skills in scientific argumentation. One science teacher, Mr. Field, and his students at the middle school level participated in this study for two months. Three interviews employing semi-structured protocols were used to examine Mr. Field's understanding of scientific argumentation. A structured observational protocol enhanced with field notes and audio tape recordings were employed to investigate Mr. Field's teaching strategies that led students to demonstrate scientific thinking skills. Transcriptions of student discourse and two lab reports were also analyzed for the quality of students' scientific thinking skills. Three different tools for argument analysis, Toulmin, Epistemic Operation, and Reasoning Complexity, were used to examine student argumentation in detail. The teacher, Mr. Field, defined scientific inquiry as the combination of developing procedural skills through hands-on activities and reasoning skills through argumentation. Seven different teaching strategies emerged based on sixty hours of classroom observation. Daily Science and the Claim-Evidence Approach were the two main teaching strategies that gave students opportunities to demonstrate the reasoning skills needed to construct scientific knowledge. However, students developed less extended arguments during Daily Science, whose purpose was to provide them with a chance to practice basic skills, such as differentiating independent variables from dependent. On the other hand, students developed more extended arguments during the Claim-Evidence Approach, where the purpose was to provide students with opportunities to develop claims, to find evidence from experiments to support the claims or refute those of others, and to discuss the limitation of the experiments. The less extended argumentation observed during these activities is described as a linear flow, moving from Mr. Field's question to students' answers to Mr. Field's evaluation at the end. The more extended argumentation can be described as a circular flow, moving from Mr. Field's question, to students' answers, to Mr. Field's evaluation with more prompts or questions, to students' responses as justification, to Mr. Field's general explanation based on students' justification, and finally to the teacher's or students' synthesis or applications. The former argumentation is named Fundamental Argumentation and the latter Exploring Argumentation. Fundamental Argumentation occurred more often than the other during this study. Shifting from Fundamental Argumentation to Exploring Argumentation was observed to depend on the teacher's scaffolding, such as using more extended questions and prompts to further the discussion. In addition, the students' abilities to develop scientific argumentation were related to their scientific knowledge, the teacher's engagement in interacting with students, and the opportunities students had to practice scientific argumentation. Limited scientific knowledge is believed to prevent students from demonstrating reasoning skills. Also, "wait time" that students need to retrieve knowledge, described by Mr. Field, is also believed to be one of the barriers to scientific argumentation in some of Mr. Field's classroom interaction. Further investigation of students' abilities to develop scientific argumentation in different contexts, such as group work and whole class discussion, is recommended with the use of the argument analysis tools employed in this study, in order to better understand the nature of learning and teaching scientific argumentation in the classroom. / Graduation date: 2006

Since the close of WWII, higher education has been central to the growth of U.S. science, but the role of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)has been under-explored within this narrative. The nation s 105 HBCUs constitute less than one percent of the U.S. higher education community, but consistently have served as a major conduit for the production of African Americans in the sciences, technology, mathematics and engineering. National Science Foundation data reflect an average 29 percent share for the period 1994-2001. The output is even more striking when examined by degrees awarded in disciplinary clusters 50 percent in the agricultural sciences, 45 percent in the physical sciences and mathematics, and 42 percent in the biological sciences. This research explores the role of HBCUs in educating African Americans in science from the boosterism period shortly following World War II, through affirmative action legislation of the 1960s and 1970s, and concluding with current federal policies. A particular analysis is undertaken of Spelman College, a private liberal arts college founded by New England missionaries in the South during the late 19th century as a seminary for former slave women and girls. Spelman presents a unique case to analyze the particularistic characteristics of race, gender and institutional setting within the context of a so-called normative structure of science. Over a 25-year period, Spelman was able to rise beyond the structural limitations of its position as a Black college, a women's college, and a southern college to become one of the single most productive undergraduate institution for African American women earning the baccalaureate degree in science. What new perspectives might the Spelman story specifically and the history of HBCUs generally offer about the history of U.S. science, the notion that careers be open to talent, and current public policy discourse regarding efforts to increase the participation of under-represented racial minorities and women in science, engineering and mathematics? My thesis is that it is the politics of particularlism, not an ideal of universalism, that has fundamentally determined who participates in science and has had a significant impact on HBCUs. Despite these constraints, the contributions that these institutions have made to the U.S. scientific workforce have been enormous.