This study investigated what judges looked for in an experimental science fair project and how the judges conducted a judging conversation. Audio-recordings of three judges' conversations with the same student and an in depth interview with each judge provided the data base for this study. This data base provided insight into the judging task and revealed aspects that these judges felt were important in evaluating a science fair project. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M. Ed.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998. / Bibliography: leaves 95-102.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-59). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

The problem addressed in this study was to determine what students, parents, and teachers perceive to be the main reason a school has a science fair, and whether they believe science fairs accomplish their goals. Attitudes toward competition, awarding of prizes, voluntary versus required participation, and alternatives to science fairs were also examined and compared among the groups.

This study explores the use of wiki in supporting a science project undertaken in a Hong Kong secondary school through a mixed method approach involving triangulation of questionnaire survey, interviews, and analysis of students? wikis. The findings showed positive results on students? motivations, enjoyments, effort input, and perceived value. More important, the results highlighted the fact that satisfaction of students? perceived needs from teacher?s autonomy support improves their attributes, attitudes, and expectations of learning outcomes in general. The researcher identifies a discrepancy between students? expectations and their actual achievements of the learning outcomes. Specifically, students think in a higher order and construct knowledge at a wider level when comparing with what they have expected whereas their expectations of generic skills development significantly outweighed what they have actually achieved. To bridge this discrepancy, the researcher suggested that (a) flexibly balancing the structure and freedom of wiki, (b) carefully planning the project duration, (c) scaffolding in wiki project, (d) carefully choosing of the project topics, (e) explicitly emphasizing the learning outcomes, and (f) raising students? information literacy are all essential. The findings also indicated the exists of limitations in this small scale study and thus further investigations on the pedagogical challenges of integrating wiki in science project learning are required. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

The success of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in supporting science literacy can be challenged when students encounter obstacles in the absence of proper support. This research is intended to evaluate the effectiveness of an Oregon public school district's regional science fair coaching program in promoting inquiry skills and positive attitudes toward science in participating high school students. The purpose of this study was to better understand students' perception of program support, obstacles or barriers faced by students, and potential benefits of IBL facilitated by the science fair program. Data included responses to informal and semi-structured interviews, an anonymous survey, a Skills assessment of final project displays, and an in-depth case study on three students' experiences. Results suggest that the science fair program can properly engage participants in authentic IBL. However, when assessing the participant's final project displays, I found that previous fair experience did not significantly increase mean scores as identified by the official Oregon Department of Education (ODE) scoring guides. Based on results from the case study, it is suggested that participants' low science self-concept, poor understanding of inquiry skills, and inability to engage in reflective discourse may reduce students' abilities to truly benefit. Recommendations to address this discrepancy include identifying specific needs of students through a pre–fair survey to develop more targeted support, and providing new opportunities to develop skills associated with science-self concept, understanding of inquiry and reflective discourse. In addition, results suggest that students would benefit from more financial support in the form of grants, and more connections with knowledgeable mentors.

Including small or large project courses is widely recognized as important in preparing computer science students for a professional career. Typical examples are the capstone courses, which often are seen as the jewel in the crown since this is where students will bring their previous knowledge and skills together to show mastery of their craft. These courses are, however, quite complex with often contradictory ideas about how to actually run them in order to reach the learning objectives. This thesis deals with the contrast between students’ experiences and teachers’ expectations of such courses. The research presented in this thesis contributes to the field of knowledge of computer science project courses by investigating processes that are of importance in relation to the desired practices that the students’ should experience. A method is developed, based on the theory of communities of practice and an identification of key features in project work, for evaluating project courses in terms of setting up a learning environment suitable for its learning objectives. The method is focused on capturing the students’ experiences, which then are mapped onto desirable outcomes, as seen from the teachers’ point of view and expressed in terms of communities of practice theory. The result of the analysis is stories capturing the strengths and deficiencies that can be observed in computer science project courses. Key findings are that rewarding learning environments are not automatically created by following the project model; unclear goals and priorities, for example the choice between focusing on the result of the project or the learning process, can confound, or hinder, the learning outcome. Students may experience a difficult choice between using the project course as a way to become more specialized in a particular area or to develop skills that broaden their knowledge. The method developed throughout the thesis is a result in itself, allowing academics and institutions to reason systematically about the aims and learning outcomes of project coursework. The strength of the method lies in the insight gained from combining the concept of communities of practice with a series of studies that identify key features of project courses, in order to reveal and explain why students’ experience processes and learning outcomes in particular ways.

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Acompanha produto: O compartilhamento... / Esta pesquisa delineia algumas possibilidades de conexão entre o conhecimento didático e o conhecimento científico por meio de um projeto de divulgação científica. A pesquisa aconteceu no Instituto Carlos Chagas – Fiocruz/PR, onde foi realizado, no ano de 2015, o seu primeiro programa de divulgação científica com o ambicioso objetivo de levar vivências científicas à escola. A partir da análise da primeira edição do projeto, desenvolveu-se um material didático para a segunda edição, que ocorreu em 2017. A análise foi essencialmente qualitativa, baseada nos relatos de pesquisadores e de alunos, a partir da qual se identificou as principais expectativas e significados contidos nesse evento didático. A teoria que embasou a produção do material didático é a de D. Bob Gowin, da Universidade de Cornell, que prevê uma tríade: alunos, professores e material didático em interação para o compartilhamento de significados. Os dados analisados permitem indicar que a transposição didática se mostra como a principal dificuldade na divulgação científica, seguida de outros obstáculos percebidos pelos pesquisadores, como a falta de interesse e de conhecimento prévio dos alunos. O material didático desenvolvido tem, portanto, a proposição de ser potencialmente significativo, assumindo o intento de expressar o saber no contexto característico da divulgação científica. Como produto desta pesquisa, foi elaborado um guia que apresenta os resultados e as orientações para que outros pesquisadores possam ter referenciais que os auxiliem a fazer a primeira etapa da transposição didática (saber científico para saber a ensinar) e formular materiais didáticos para a divulgação científica. / This research outlined some possibilities of connection between didactic knowledge and scientific knowledge through a scientific dissemination project. The research was carried out at Instituto Carlos Chagas - Fiocruz-PR, where it was held in 2015, its first scientific dissemination program with the ambitious goal of bringing science experiences to school. From the analysis of the first edition of the project, a didactic material was developed for the second edition, which occurred in 2017. The analysis was essentially qualitative, based on the reports of researchers and students, from which the main expectations and meanings, that were part of this didactic event, were identified. The theory behind the production of the didactic material is the theory of Gowin, which foresees a triad: students, teachers and the didactic material in interaction in order to share meanings. The analyzed data allow us to indicate that the didactic transposition is shown as the main difficulty in the scientific dissemination, besides others perceived by the researchers, such as the lack of interest shown by the students and their lack of prior knowledge. The developed didactic material, therefore, has the proposition of being potentially significant, assuming its purpose as an expression of knowledge, in the context of scientific dissemination. As a product of this research, a guide that presents the results and orientations has been prepared, so that other researchers can have references that may help them to do the first step of didactic transposition and to formulate didactic materials for scientific divulgation.

Acompanha produto: O compartilhamento... / Esta pesquisa delineia algumas possibilidades de conexão entre o conhecimento didático e o conhecimento científico por meio de um projeto de divulgação científica. A pesquisa aconteceu no Instituto Carlos Chagas – Fiocruz/PR, onde foi realizado, no ano de 2015, o seu primeiro programa de divulgação científica com o ambicioso objetivo de levar vivências científicas à escola. A partir da análise da primeira edição do projeto, desenvolveu-se um material didático para a segunda edição, que ocorreu em 2017. A análise foi essencialmente qualitativa, baseada nos relatos de pesquisadores e de alunos, a partir da qual se identificou as principais expectativas e significados contidos nesse evento didático. A teoria que embasou a produção do material didático é a de D. Bob Gowin, da Universidade de Cornell, que prevê uma tríade: alunos, professores e material didático em interação para o compartilhamento de significados. Os dados analisados permitem indicar que a transposição didática se mostra como a principal dificuldade na divulgação científica, seguida de outros obstáculos percebidos pelos pesquisadores, como a falta de interesse e de conhecimento prévio dos alunos. O material didático desenvolvido tem, portanto, a proposição de ser potencialmente significativo, assumindo o intento de expressar o saber no contexto característico da divulgação científica. Como produto desta pesquisa, foi elaborado um guia que apresenta os resultados e as orientações para que outros pesquisadores possam ter referenciais que os auxiliem a fazer a primeira etapa da transposição didática (saber científico para saber a ensinar) e formular materiais didáticos para a divulgação científica. / This research outlined some possibilities of connection between didactic knowledge and scientific knowledge through a scientific dissemination project. The research was carried out at Instituto Carlos Chagas - Fiocruz-PR, where it was held in 2015, its first scientific dissemination program with the ambitious goal of bringing science experiences to school. From the analysis of the first edition of the project, a didactic material was developed for the second edition, which occurred in 2017. The analysis was essentially qualitative, based on the reports of researchers and students, from which the main expectations and meanings, that were part of this didactic event, were identified. The theory behind the production of the didactic material is the theory of Gowin, which foresees a triad: students, teachers and the didactic material in interaction in order to share meanings. The analyzed data allow us to indicate that the didactic transposition is shown as the main difficulty in the scientific dissemination, besides others perceived by the researchers, such as the lack of interest shown by the students and their lack of prior knowledge. The developed didactic material, therefore, has the proposition of being potentially significant, assuming its purpose as an expression of knowledge, in the context of scientific dissemination. As a product of this research, a guide that presents the results and orientations has been prepared, so that other researchers can have references that may help them to do the first step of didactic transposition and to formulate didactic materials for scientific divulgation.