As of 1999, high school teachers without majors in their subject areas number 37% of biology teachers, 59% of physical science teachers, and 60% of mathematics teachers. These discouraging statistics grow more extreme in middle schools and high poverty public high schools, especially regarding mathematics and physical sciences instruction. The statistics are especially worrisome given the strong correlation between thorough teacher subject matter preparation and higher student performance. Unfortunately, the literature is limited in terms of a direct comparison between mathematics and science majors and individuals who become mathematics and science teachers. This study was undertaken to add to the body of literature in hopes of informing universities and school districts of the characteristics of individuals who enter the mathematics and science teacher pipeline. The purpose of this study was to determine whether predictive relationships exist among the independent variables and the dependent variable, and whether certain attributes account for significant differences between mathematics and science degree earners who choose to enter the mathematics and science teacher pipeline and those who show no interest in mathematics and science teaching. This study provided a snapshot of the characteristics of both groups of individuals. The sample for this investigation came from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B: 08/09) cohort of approximately 19,000. B&B:08/09 examined information on students’ educational and work experiences after they completed a bachelor’s degree, with a special emphasis on the experiences of new elementary and secondary teachers. In the present study, the sample consisted of 2,400 individuals majoring in mathematics and science fields including mathematics and science education. The research design that was used is the analytical cross sectional design. The analytical cross sectional design investigates associations and measures differences between groups. In this study, deep descriptions were used to describe the sample. A logistic regression analysis was used to assess the degree to which the dependent (outcome) variable, teacher pipeline status, is related to the independent (predictor) variables (persistence, academic performance, selected demographics).

This collected papers dissertation focused on the argument for the need to adapt and develop a model-centered General Biology I course through the analyses of current instructional practices at a large, public, Hispanic-serving university. This dissertation included a comparison of General Biology I course sections taught in two differing formats, one is a traditional lecture with face-to-face meetings and the other is an online instruction setting. The comparison of these sections was accomplished through the use of a conceptual inventory, student attitude survey, drop-fail-withdraw (DFW) rates, and Social Network Analysis. This comparison found that there was no detectible significant difference between course type for both the conceptual understanding and formation of student-to-student networks. It was also found that there was a significant difference between course type when looking at students’ attitudes towards Biology and success in the two course types. Additionally in a second study the project used a phenomoenographic analysis of student interviews that explored the students’ use of scientific models when asked about plant cells and animal cells. It was found that during the analysis of students’ ideas that students predominantly used a single model function. The cell types of focus in the second study were two models that were identified, in a third study, through a coded analysis of faculty interviews and textbook analysis. These models are viewed as essential for students to possess an understanding of upon completion of General Biology I. The model-based course that this study argued for is based on a curricular framework initially developed for use in introductory physics courses. University Modeling Instruction courses in physics (UMI-P) have been linked to improved student conceptual understanding positive attitudinal shifts, and decreased DFW rates. UMI, however, has not been expanded for implementation within the other science disciplines. Drawing from the success of UMI within physics this dissertation focused on the argument for the need for the adaptation and development of UMI for introductory biology.

The intent of this project was to research and analyze the changes in college mathematics curricula and to establish the need for a change in the current college-preparatory mathematics program. The research indicates that colleges are emphasizing computer applications, statistics, and discrete mathematics.

Environmental education is becoming an increasingly important component of secondary science education as our society attempts to minimize the exploitations and damaging actions of humankind on the earth. Environmental education has evolved primarily from environmental consciousness in the 1960s to an environmentally active focus in the 1990s. This project examined the effectiveness of an environmental education curriculum that focuses on improving environmental behaviors and attitudes as well as knowledge. The review of the literature for this project indicates that responsible environmental behaviors are linked to four types of environmental education categories. These categories are hierarchical and include: 1) ecological concepts, 2) conceptual awareness, 3) issue investigation and evaluation, and 4) environmental action skills (Disinger, 1993). A review of environmental education curricula provides a wide variety of activities in all four of the above listed categories. Information documenting the relationship between the acquisition of environmental knowledge and behav~ural change as a result of participating in community based environmental activities is less evident. Therefore, this project attempted to investigate the relationships between participation in community-based environmental activities and tenth-grade students' knowledge and attitudes toward environmental issues. During the spring semester of 1995 forty-five tenth-grade biology students at a private urban high school were pretested to assess their initial environmental concept knowledge and their initial environmental attitudes. These students were subsequently exposed to a three-week introduction to environmental concepts and to techniques for investigating environmental issues. Students were simultaneously given a variety of issues to investigate. An additional four hours of time were required of each student to participate in a community service related to an environmental concern. They submitted a written report of their work which included background research, method of participation, results and conclusions on the effect of their project on the environment. Following these experiences, a posttest was administered to assess any change in students' environmental knowledge or attitudes. Effective environmental education encourages the active participation of students in environmental improvement. The results of this investigation could assist educators in the selection of appropriate environmental activities for use with high school students.

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the common practices of graduate students in their biophysics weekly research group meetings. I recorded notes on observations and conduct interviews with all participants of the biophysics research group for a period of eight months. I apply the theoretical framework of Communities of Practice to distinguish the cultural norms of the group that cultivate physics expert practices. Results indicate that physics expertise is specific to a topic or subfield and it is established through effectively publishing research in the larger biophysics research community. The participant biophysics research group follows a learning trajectory for its students to contribute to research and learn to communicate their research in the larger biophysics community. In this learning trajectory students develop expert member competencies to learn to communicate their research and to learn the standards and trends of research in the larger research community. Findings from this dissertation expand the model of physics expertise beyond the cognitive realm and add the social and cultural nature of physics expertise development. This research also addresses ways to increase physics graduate student success towards their PhD. and decrease the 48% attrition rate of physics graduate students. Cultivating effective research experiences that give graduate students agency and autonomy beyond their research groups gives students the motivation to finish graduate school and establish their physics expertise.

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