Statement of the problem. This study was carried out to determine: (1) what advantages a laboratory-centered general chemistry course might have over the conventional laboratory course, and (2) whether improved understanding of laboratory work leads to better learning of chemistry. The four following questions were raised in connection with the study or this problem: What is the need for a laboratory-centered course? What has been done in the past to meet this need? Can students learn chemistry more effectively in a laboratory-centered course as compared to the conventional course? Is a laboratory-centered course to be preferred over the conventional course in teacher planning and programming?

In order to give the laboratory-centered course a trial run and to compare it with a lecture-centered course it seemed necessary to the author that both courses should be taught and compared. The latter gave rise to the following hypotheses: Students in a laboratory-centered general chemistry course show more favorable attitudes toward chemistry than do students in a lecture-centered course. Students in a laboratory-centered course show as good a subject-matter mastery as students in a lecture-centered course.

The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate my own practice of teaching basic multiplication facts to fourth graders. I wanted to see how focusing my instruction on strategies would help my students develop proficiency in basic multiplication facts. I chose this topic because Florida was in the process of shifting to new standards that encourage teaching for deeper meaning. I hoped this research would give my students the opportunity to make sense of multiplication on a deeper level, while giving me insight into how students learn multiplication. Through this study, I learned that students initially find multiplication to be very difficult, but they can solve basic facts with ease when using strategies. Students did become more proficient with basic multiplication facts, and they were also able to apply basic fact strategies to extended facts and other multidigit multiplication problems. There is a limited amount of research on how students acquire basic multiplication fact proficiency; however, this study offers more insight to teachers and the research community.

A handbook designed for teachers to illustrate how to utilize journaling as an effective teaching practice in the mathematics classroom. This thesis was written to illuminate educators about the powerful research and proper strategies for implementing journaling in mathematics. The handbook provides three lesson plan samples using journaling in the mathematics classroom for grades 3-5, strategies and idea for implementing journaling in mathematics, and tips and activities for mathematical journaling. The goal of this handbook is to give teachers clarity, examples, guidance, and strategies on mathematical journaling.

Sports analytics arrived in the mainstream media through the novel and film Moneyball. However, its origins date back to operations researchers following World War II. Often considered a subdiscipline of statistics, sports analytics draws from statistics but also includes concepts from data science, communication, and marketing. As a passionate fan of sports, I have pursued statistics in my undergraduate and graduate education with the dream of working in sports for my career. However, educational opportunities in sports analytics are limited nationwide, and more specifically, there is no educational opportunity at my university, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. This thesis investigates the sports analytics discipline, aiming to explain what sports analytics is, how it differs from statistics, how sports analytics is used in various organizations, what sports analysts do, and how sports analytics should be taught at the undergraduate level here at Cal Poly. To accomplish this, I have taken three online sports analytics courses, conducted interviews with professors of sports analytics and sports analysts of professional and college teams, done extensive online research and literature review, and gauged interest campus-wide in a potential sports analytics course. Ultimately, this thesis led me to conclude that sports analytics differs from statistics, and there should be a course in sports analytics at Cal Poly offered by the Statistics Department. Skills including SQL and Tableau, communication to various sports constituents, data collection and data management, machine learning methods such as classification trees and clustering, advanced statistical methods such as General Additive Models and spatial analysis, and visualization techniques are all prominent in sports analytics. Statistics students at Cal Poly do not gain a firm foundation in all of these ideas and could benefit from a course which teaches these skills. The significance of this work is that I have created a course proposal for a sports analytics course. If this course were to be adopted by the Statistics Department, students would learn essential skills to prepare them for a career in sports or any data related career. This work can advance sports analytics education and lead to the creation of other courses in the discipline down the line.

Studies by the National Association for Educational Progress found that English Language Learner (ELL) students perform poorly compared to other students on standardized mathematics exams. The research problem addressed how Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) affected the instructional practices of high school mathematics teachers. The purpose of this evaluative case study approach was to explore the extent to which the implementation of SIOP influenced mathematics instruction in a mid-sized rural high school. The conceptual framework for this study was formed by combining Krashen's i+1 nativist theory for language acquisition through comprehensible input, Long's interactionist theory for acquisition of knowledge and Bandura's teacher efficacy theory. A concurrent mixed method design was selected to draw together inferences from both qualitative and quantitative data. NVivo software was used to combine a line by line analysis of interviews with an analysis of the components on the SIOP observation checklist. Interview findings suggest that teachers expressed a favorable response to SIOP since implementation. Classroom observations confirmed the efficacy of SIOP implementation. An analysis of covariance was used to evaluate mathematics achievement data from the Measurement of Academic Progress. Quantitative findings indicated no significant increase in mean scores after the first year of SIOP implementation. The results of this study could enhance the capacity of mathematics teachers to adjust instruction appropriate for their second-language development needs. Implications for positive social change include removing language barriers so that more ELL students may continue taking advanced mathematics courses and enter rewarding math-related careers.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)'s emphasis of reading, language arts, and mathematics (RLA&M) and its de-emphasis of science has been a source of great concern among educators. Through an objectivist and constructionist framework, this study explored the unforeseen effects of the NCLB on public science education among Title I (TI) and non-Title I (NTI) students. The research questions focused on the effects of NCLB on Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores in the high-stakes subjects of reading, language arts, mathematics and the low stakes subject of science among TI and NTI 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in a north Georgia County during the 2010/2011 school year. This study also compared instructional time TI and NTI teachers dedicated to science. A causal-comparative quantitative methodology was used to analyze Georgia's public domain CRCT scores. Three independent-samples t tests showed that TI schools exhibited significantly lower Science CRCT scores than did NTI students at all grade levels (p < 0.0001). The data also showed CRCT scores in high-stakes subjects between TI and NTI students converging but science CRCT scores between TI and NTI students diverging. The self-report survey indicated no significant differences between TI and NTI teachers' instructional science time (t (107) = 1.49, p = 0.137). A teacher development project was designed to focus on improving teacher science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge through a formal introduction to the nature of science. With increasing global science competition, science is more relevant than ever, and communities need students with strong science foundations. Further study is recommended to analyze the factors associated with this science gap between TI and NTI students.

Teachers in a school district in a southeastern state are being challenged to meet the needs of students who have learning disabilities (LDs) and who require an individualized education program with a mathematics goal. The students are in danger of not passing state, district, and classroom mathematics tests, and not all the schools are meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). Funding from the federal government is denied if a school does not achieve AYP; the school personnel must then complete a school improvement plan. The purpose of this study was to explore which differentiation instructional (DI) practices inclusion teachers were using to promote math academic achievement for underperforming students with LDs in inclusion math classrooms. A grounded theory approach was used to explore inclusion teachers' perceptions on the effectiveness of DI with students with LDs in inclusion math classes. Survey and interview protocols were developed and administered to collect data. Data were open, axial, and selectively coded, and were synthesized into categories and subcategories following emerging themes and patterns. Triangulation, member-checking, and an audit trail were used to validate the findings. A theory of effective instructional practice is presented from the teachers' viewpoint. This study may impact positive social change by identifying instructional practices that allow better access to mathematics for students and thereby has the potential to impact student achievement.

This study was an investigation of mathematics instruction and professional development at a rural elementary school. The Department of Education in a southern U.S. state implemented a new curriculum in 2007 that required major changes in mathematics instruction. The problems were that teachers engaged in different levels of training and many students experienced a decline in mathematics scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The historical learning theories of Piaget and Vygotsky framed the study. The guiding questions focused on how to improve mathematics instruction through professional development for teachers. Nine elementary school educators served as purposefully selected participants. The research design was a case study that included triangulation of data from teacher interviews, a research journal, and documents such as lesson plans. Open coding and selective analysis generated 9 themes and 9 subthemes to answer the guiding questions. Findings showed that participants believed content and pedagogy should be addressed through professional development led by teachers themselves. Additional findings were that teachers valued collaboration, literature and research, observation, vertical alignment, engagement, relevance, and support. Results were used to guide the design of a mathematics professional development program (MPDP), a collection of relevant tasks, literature, and online resources geared toward improving teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge. The MPDP is immediately applicable in an elementary school setting. The implications for positive social change include better mathematics instruction that will prepare U.S. students to compete in the modern economy and world of mathematical and scientific advances.

Science content integration, or the simultaneous teaching of science with other subjects during learning activities, has been explored by multiple studies. However, due to a lack of consensus on its definition, it was difficult for educators in a local school district to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of this instructional technique. This qualitative collective case study, based on a constructivist theoretical foundation, centered on the questions of how teachers defined and used science content integration, and perceptions of impediments to its use. Participants were five teachers in a suburban elementary school. The sources of data for this study were interviews, audio recordings of lessons, and teacher documents in the form of lesson plans. Data analysis was conducted through multiple coding procedures, allowing the emergence of themes. Data analysis showed that participants' beliefs and practices differed according to age levels and developmental needs of their students. Implications for positive social change include building from this study to provide content integration-based professional development, common planning time, and suitable materials to improve teachers' capacity to integrate science content into instruction.