This study examined six novice pre-service secondary science teachers’ lesson planning processes when designing instruction while enrolled in a spring education course prior to their student teaching. Six novice pre-service secondary science teachers enrolled in an education course during the spring semester prior to their student teaching. During the course, participants were introduced to the lesson planning software, Tennessee’s Next Generation Tools for Teaching Standards-Based Science, version 1.4 (Jordan & Audet, 2007). This software provides resources, sample lesson plans, and links lesson planning with four science reform documents, Benchmarks for Science Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993, p. 4), Science for All Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990), National Science Education Standards (NSES) (National Research Council, 1996), and Tennessee Curriculum Standards (Tennessee Department of Education, 2007). Participants used this software to write their first science lesson plans. The focus of this research was to examine the processes novice pre-service teachers pursue as they engage in lesson planning and the sources that influence their planning decisions. Findings are as follows: 1) novice pre-service secondary science teachers acknowledged the importance of Standards but planned in a sequence that found lesson activities before objectives; 2) despite similar experiences with a science lesson plan template, students used two different approaches to lesson planning; 3) science education reform documents were consulted by all participants when writing lesson plans, however participants did not find all of the science education reform documents to be beneficial.

This quantitative study explored whether or not the mathematics curriculum and instruction of the schools in the TennGaLina cluster were impacted by the place-based educational reform promoted by the Annenberg Rural Challenge. The study focused on the programs of five small rural Southern Appalachian schools. Qualitative methods of grounded theory were used to analyze data from interviews, surveys, and school artifacts.

The Hispanic population in the United States experiences many challenges in education that have placed them behind their Euro-American counterparts in terms of achievement. These challenges are associated with socioeconomic status and family structure, educational expectations, cognitive skills, and low-quality schooling in the elementary grades. The purpose of this study was to examine how Hispanic students construct science learning in an argument-based inquiry classroom. This research constitutes a qualitative case study grounded in a sociocultural constructivist framework. Data was collected using a variety of qualitative techniques, including nonparticipant observations, analysis of semi-structured interviews, audio recordings, transcription, and observations. The focal participants of this study are three Latino/Hispanic students, two in fifth grade and one in fourth grade. Findings indicated that the two aspects of an argument-based inquiry approach impact students learning in science under diverse conditions. Students also encounter particular challenges while they are involved in this learning context.

The Nature of Science (NOS) and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) have commonalities in the knowledge bases: they are both ways of explaining the natural world; founded on a set of practices and the historical accumulation of knowledge; and part of the education is learning practices and developing knowledge of the concepts that are foundational to the disciplines. Throughout the United States, schools are attempting to strengthen students' understanding of NOS through various approaches, although few have adopted the integration of TEK into curriculum. This research assesses two summer camps for middle school students that are science focused, one with TEK integration and one with minimal TEK integration. Pre- and post- surveys and student work samples were analyzed to determine the impact of TEK integration on students' understanding of some of the NOS concepts. A significant increase was observed in the camp that integrated TEK, while no change was observed in students' understanding of NOS in the camp that had minimal TEK integration.

Eighth grade students at a middle school in a southern state were required a mathematics pass rate of 67.6% to meet annual yearly progress (AYP). Black and Hispanic students performed below the required pass rate on state assessments; thus, the school did not make AYP from 2007-2010. In an attempt to address low test scores in mathematics, the principal assigned 1 teacher to implement multiple intelligences (MI) instructional strategies, while the other teachers (n = 3) would use traditional strategies. The purpose of this qualitative bounded, descriptive case study was to identify students' MI preferences through an MI inventory, to observe which MI strategies students used to solve problems, and to compare unit pre- and posttest scores of students who received MI strategies instruction with students who received a traditional approach. Gardner's MI theory served as the framework. Students' chosen MI included logical-mathematical, visual, and bodily kinesthetic as evidenced by students' tallied MI preferences and lesson observations. Classroom observations were analyzed with thematic analysis using open coding. Observation data revealed that students used MI techniques that aligned with their preferred intelligences to solve mathematics problems. According to unit test scores, Black and Hispanic students in the MI classes scored higher on the unit test than Black and Hispanic students in the more traditional classrooms. Based on the findings of this study, a mathematics professional development project was designed to help teachers improve instruction. These endeavors may contribute to positive social change for Black and Hispanic students when teachers design mathematics lessons using students' preferred MI to improve student achievement.

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Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play an integral role at large, research-intensive universities. GTAs have become increasingly important for instruction particularly in laboratory and discussion sections. This dissertation focuses on the use of a mixed reality teaching simulator, TeachLivE™, alongside existing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) GTA training. In Chapter 1 we focus on an introduction to chemistry education research (CER) and the background of the study presented. In Chapter 2 the focus shifts to discussing the theoretical and conceptual frameworks as well as the relevant study instruments. In Chapter 3, we introduce the simulator as a training method for GTAs through the development of content rich concept modules. We discuss their development from selecting the relevant pedagogical skills, integrating student conceptions, and testing the modules with experienced GTAs. We found that the modules provided the GTAs a low-risk environment to practice cold calling and normalizing error skills. In Chapter 4 we analyze GTA conceptualization and use of error framing and cold calling in the simulator as well as their use of the two skills in the classroom. We found that while GTAs were able to use error framing in the simulator, they used the skill less frequently in the classroom. We found that cold calling was used frequently in the simulator and the GTAs were able to integrate the skill into their training practice and classroom. In Chapter 5 we focus on the impact of the teaching simulator on GTA instruction. We identified three GTA instructional styles and found that the method of training had an impact on the instructional styles GTAs used when they taught. Finally, in Chapter 6 we discuss the overall outcomes of the work and future works associated with the project. The result from this dissertation shows the impact of a mixed reality teaching simulator on chemistry GTAs' instructional styles and the ability of this simulator to be integrated into existing training to help prepare GTAs for their roles as instructors.

The purpose of this 3-phase transformative mixed-methods study was to use intersectionality theoretical framework to explore the science identities and relevant science learning experiences of male students of color (MSOCs) in STEM and their decisions to pursue science professions after college. Phase 1 utilized a researcher-developed survey to analyze differences in science identity scores (SIS), science relevancy scores (SRS), and decisions to pursue science professions of 702 diverse college students enrolled in STEM-related courses at a state college in Southeast United States. While there were no statistically significant differences in SIS and SRS scores regarding race/ethnicity or socioeconomic factors, statistical differences in SRS were present regarding gender. Female students had higher SRS than male students. When considering gender and socioeconomic level, a statistically significant interaction occurred across racial/ethnicity groups in SIS and SRS. Black and Hispanic males had higher SIS and SRS when at least one parent had a bachelor's degree. Phase 2 and 3 utilized interviews of five (MSOCs) from which these themes surfaced as largely shaping their decisions to pursue STEM fields: a) future-focus mindsets, b) connectedness to technology, engineering, and math, and c) science experiences and ideas. Students described the teacher's personality, the classroom environment, and the foundational characteristics of science as being critical components of relevant formal science learning experiences. Implications regarding what social justice looks like in the science classroom include1) the need to confirm SIS and SRS construct reliability from this survey instrument with a different population of diverse college students, 2) the important role science teachers and other educational stakeholders play in developing purposeful interactive instruction that adequately connects and prepares male learners for science professions, and 3) the intentional integration of real-world technology, engineering, and mathematics processes and resources in science curriculum and professional development for teachers of science.