Astronomy is becoming a forgotten science, which is evident by its relatively low enrollment figures compared to biology, chemistry, and physics. A portable inflatable planetarium brings relevance back to astronomy and offers support to students and educators by simulating realistic astronomical environments. This study sought to determine if learning is improved in an inflatable planetarium by adhering to the design principles of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML), specifically the coherence principle, in an authentic classroom. Two groups of 5th grade students of similar ability were purposefully assigned using a 1-teacher-to-many-students format with mean lesson lengths of 34 minutes. The experimental group was differentiated with seductive details, defined as interesting but irrelevant facts that can distract learning. The control group ( n = 28), with seductive details excluded, outperformed the experimental group (n = 28), validating the coherence principle and producing a Cohen's effect size of medium practical significance (d = 0.4). These findings suggest that CTML, when applied to planetarium instruction, does increase student learning and that seductive details do have a negative effect on learning. An adult training project was created to instruct educators on the benefits of CTML in astronomy education. This study leads to positive social change by highlighting astronomy education while providing educators with design principles of CTML in authentic settings to maximize learning, aid in the creation of digital media (astronomical simulations/instructional lessons for planetariums) and provide valuable training for owners of inflatable planetariums with the eventual goal of increasing student enrollment of astronomy courses at the local level.

The Program for International Assessment tested students in mathematics from 41 countries and found that students in the United States ranked in the lowest percentile. This struggle with math among youth in the United States prompted this quasi-experimental quantitative study about using interactive technology to engage and motivate 9th grade students in an Algebra classroom. The theoretical basis of this study was a constructivist perspective, using the Piagetian concept of action as an intellect builder. A convenience sample of 76 students was divided into 4 groups: Group 1, the control group, used no technology and consisted of 21 students; Group 2 used the TI Nspires calculators and consisted of 17 students; Group 3 used the TI Nspire calculators with the TI Navigator and consisted of 20 students; and Group 4 used the TI Nspire calculators, the TI Navigator, and the clickers. The participants were given 45 instructional classes that covered a 9-week period. All groups took the Motivated Strategy for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness test (STAAR) before and after the treatment of interactive technologies. A paired t test and a factorial repeated ANOVA were conducted, revealing no significant effect for the MSLQ based on the use of technology. However, the use of technology with the STAAR did show a significant difference in test scores for 2 treatment groups: Group 3, which used the calculator and the TI navigator; and Group 4, which used the calculator, the TI navigator, and the clickers. These results support the use of additional technology that is needed in the mathematics classroom to support the use of the calculators.

Achievement data from the 3rd International Mathematics and Sciences Study and Program for International Student Assessment in science have indicated that Black students from economically disadvantaged families underachieve at alarming rates in comparison to White and economically advantaged peer groups. The study site was a predominately Black, urban school district experiencing underachievement. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between students' use of inquiry-based laboratory investigations and their performance on the Biology End of Course Test, as well as to examine the relationship while partialling out the effects of student gender. Constructivist theory formed the theoretical foundation of the study. Students' perceived levels of experience with inquiry-based laboratory investigations were measured using the Laboratory Program Variable Inventory (LPVI) survey. LPVI scores of 256 students were correlated with test scores and were examined by student gender. The Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a small direct correlation between students' experience in inquiry-based laboratory investigation classes and standardized test scores on the Biology EOCT. A partial correlational analysis indicated that the correlation remained after controlling for gender. This study may prompt a change from teacher-centered to student-centered pedagogy at the local site in order to increase academic achievement for all students. The results of this study may also influence administrators and policy makers to initiate local, state, or nationwide curricular development. A change in curriculum may promote social change as students become more competent, and more able, to succeed in life beyond secondary school.

The assimilation and synthesis of knowledge is essential for students to be successful in chemistry, yet not all students synthesize knowledge as intended. The study used the Learning Preference Checklist to classify students into one of three learning modalities -- visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (VAK). It also used the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI), which utilizes four learning domains - Converging, Accommodating, Diverging, and Assimilating - to explain the students' maturation process by showing shift from any domain towards the Assimilating domain. A shift approaching this domain was considered as improvement in the assimilation and synthesis of knowledge. This pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest study was used to test the hypothesis that modifying a high school chemistry curriculum to accentuate a student's learning preference would result in a shift towards the Assimilative domain on the KLSI and if there was a correlation between the improvement in student learning and a shift towards the KLSI Assimilating domain. Forty-two high school students were issued the VAK and provided with differentiated instruction via homologous cooperative learning groups. Pre- and post-KLSI and chemistry concepts tests were administered. T test analyses showed no significant shift towards the Assimilating domain. Further Pearson's r analyses showed no significant correlation between the KLSI and exam scores. This study contributes to social change by providing empirical evidence related to the effectiveness infusing learning styles into the science curriculum and the integration of the KLSI to monitor cognitive development as tools in raising standardized test scores and enhancing academic achievement. Results from the study can also inform future research into learning styles through their incorporation into the science curriculum.

Teachers' beliefs about standards-based mathematics curricula can have a direct impact on the implementation of those curricula. Yet, new standards-based curricular approaches, mandated as reform structures under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), fail to account for the beliefs of teachers regarding the curricula in the implementation of new instructional reform practices or policies. The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to examine pre-existing survey data from a sample (n = 362) of elementary, middle, and high school teachers in an urban school district to analyze the relationship between teachers' beliefs regarding the use of a standards-based mathematics curriculum and implementation of that curriculum. The theory of planned behavior (TPB), whose proponents posit that beliefs direct behavior, provided the theoretical framework for the study. The three constructs of TPB, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, were used as proxies for the study's independent variables: teacher beliefs about the curriculum, teacher beliefs about the professional community, and teacher beliefs about instructional leadership. The dependent variable was curriculum implementation. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used, including Pearson correlations, to analyze data. The findings of this study showed no significant correlation between teacher beliefs and implementation of the curriculum. School districts, school administrators and mathematic teachers will benefit from understanding the value of professional learning communities, positive social norms and perceived behavioral control as factors for promoting collective accountability under NCLB and teacher practice and implementation of standards-based curriculum reform.

A learning center in the southeastern part of the United States used the Singapore mathematics curriculum (SMC) to support student learning of a wide range of mathematics skills. However, a study had yet to be conducted to gain an understanding about the administration and implementation of the program. This case study was conceptually based on constructivist pedagogical theory, where learning is constructed between the teacher and students. The research questions explored how the learning center staff administered and implemented the SMC. Data for this study were collected through multiple in-depth interviews and observations of 2 educators at the learning center. These data were analyzed through typological and inductive analyses in order to discover the underlying meaning of the data. The typologies for this study were bar modeling, textbooks, workbooks, teacher edition, activities, and games. The findings that were derived from these analyses focused on 10 themes, which became the basis of a professional development training project. These themes focused on bar modeling, manipulatives, and stages of learning: concrete, pictorial, and abstract, place value, number bonds, visualization, mastery, and games. The project will support positive social change by increasing educators' insight into how to administer and implement the SMC in order to improve student mathematics achievement.

<p>Mathematics departments at Canadian universities accept yearly many international graduate students, who are aiming for the MSc and PhD degrees offered by those departments. This study seeks to understand the difficulties faced by some of those students at English-speaking Canadian universities. Its main aim is to determine why some international graduate students struggle with mathematics courses at a graduate level, even though their academic achievement in their home countries may have been high. In this study we want to know whether this problem is related to language barriers, to the time gap between the last acquired degree and the current one, to the educational systems to which students have been exposed in their countries of origin, or to other reasons. I interviewed twelve international graduate students fromMcMasterUniversityandUniversityofGuelphas well as three faculty members from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics atMcMasterUniversity. The students who participated come from different countries:Russia,Belarus,Slovakia,Pakistan,India,Bangladesh,Turkey,Iran,China, andSaudi Arabia. While some of those countries seem to have similar cultures and life styles, others are distinctly different. The interviews helped me to draw a deeper perspective about the problem by exploring the reasons that hamper some of those students from succeeding in their courses, and asking the participants to provide their suggestions to other students and faculty members on how to eliminate these obstacles. This study helps to improve the academic graduate programs of the department of mathematics by adjusting to students’ needs and enhancing their learning outcomes. It also suggests to international graduate students to discover and examine their weaknesses and prepare themselves academically to fulfill the requirements of their programs.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

There is great disagreement in the United States about with how evolution education should be dealt, as the acceptance of evolution is controversial among the general public of the United States. Furthermore, although a plethora of research has been conducted to understand which factors influence the understanding and acceptance of evolution among high school and university students -- and the general public -- there are few studies focusing on community college students. In an effort to help fill this gap in the literature, this dissertation investigates the relationship between the acceptance of evolution and academic factors among community college students. Specifically, 867 community college students were surveyed using aspects of validated instruments regarding their attitudes towards evolution and human evolution, understanding of evolution and the nature of science, previous science experience, career goals, and demographic information. The results indicated that the community college students accepted evolution at a higher level than the general public and they accepted human evolution relatively less than evolution in general. Acceptance of evolution and human evolution were highly correlated, and regression analysis revealed they were the best predictors for each other after controlling for all of the factors measured. Understanding of evolution and the nature of science were also highly correlated with the acceptance of evolution and moderately correlated with the acceptance of human evolution. The data also indicate that these community college students did not have a solid understanding of evolution. These findings have implications for the teaching of evolution as they serve to reinforce the importance of understanding both evolution and the nature of science and their relationship to the acceptance of evolution.

Students’ mathematics identity has become a more prominent concept in the research literature (Jackson & Wilson, 2012). The experiences of African Americans are still underreported, with African American elementary students receiving the least attention. This dissertation uses a case study method to explore two learners’ experiences. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore African American third grade students’ classroom interactions with mathematics in order to better understand factors that promote positive mathematics identities. This research study explored the mathematics classroom influences on three third grade African American learners’ mathematics identities in a K-8 school in a north central Midwestern city in the United States. The school was classified as 100% free and reduced lunch and served approximately 900 students, with the vast majority of students classified as African American. The three student participants and their teacher were all African American. The student participants wore glasses that video recorded their perspectives. A stationary camera was also used to capture the wider classroom environment. Each student participant completed three interviews (Seidman, 2013). The teacher participant completed one interview. Additionally, the student participants completed a mathematics interest questionnaire. Findings showed the importance of an explicit focus on the Standards for Mathematical Practice, a growth mindset, and positioning for promoting positive mathematics identities. In one case study, Janae’s experiences in lessons about fractions highlight the relevance of the Standards for Mathematical Practice, specifically attending to precision and making sense of and persevering in solving problems. In both the classroom and in interviews, she shows the importance of making sense of problems and persevering in solving them and of attending to precision. In the second manuscript, I explore Jaane and Kayla’s different experiences. Janae was positioned more positively and faces limited resistance in maintaining a positive mathematics identity. Kayla, on the other hand, regularly rejected and renegotiated the positions offered to her as she aimed for success and a positive mathematics identity. Kayla’s growth mindset and negotiation of positions offered to her in the classroom were critical factors in how she maintained a positive mathematics identity.

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