<p> While inclusion of students with disabilities has been a topic of debate for decades, uncertainty still exists concerning best practices for their participation in general education contexts (Carter et al., 2016). This study was designed to investigate teachers&rsquo; experiences and perceptions with inclusion in general education science classrooms. While students with disabilities are generally included in general education science classrooms today, statistics show students with disabilities are graduating from high school unprepared to major in science-related fields or to enter the workforce in science-related careers (Brusca-Vega, Alexander, &amp; Kamin, 2014). Therefore, the content area of science was targeted for the purposes of this study. Five similar school districts in southwest Missouri were selected for this study. Middle school science and special education teachers were interviewed to obtain perceptions concerning inclusion of students with disabilities in general education science classrooms. Information gathered was compared with the literature reviewed to identify themes, ensure validity, and ascertain conclusions. After analyzing the data, it was revealed all students benefit both academically and socially when effective inclusive practices are incorporated in general education science classrooms. These benefits are dependent upon teachers&rsquo; self-efficacy and attitudes and collaboration between and among special education and general education teachers. Paraprofessional support for students with disabilities can contribute to successful inclusion in general education science classrooms.</p><p>

No description available.

<p> Place-based environmental education provides myriad physical, cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. In this study, 13 environmental educators illuminated how policy, partnerships and place shaped environmental education in pre-K&ndash;12 schools in Washington, DC. I recruited participants from the local government, nongovernmental organizations, and three public and public charter schools. Place studies and Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s ecological systems theory influenced the design of this instrumental case study. Data sources included interviews, analyses of policy documents, and observations of participants and teaching settings. Analytic memos and coding using NVivo supported data analysis. Data representation included using narratives to center participants&rsquo; voices. </p><p> Participants described iteratively expanding place-based environmental education for DC students by (a) influencing and enacting policies that promote interdisciplinary engagement with the environment, (b) expanding partnerships between non-formal and formal educators, (c) enriching students&rsquo; sense of place, and (d) promoting students&rsquo; mental and physical wellbeing alongside their academic achievement. </p><p> In DC, interconnected local, regional, and national policies, standards, and initiatives served as catalysts for new funding, opportunities, and partnerships. Among the most relevant were the local DC Healthy Schools Act of 2010, the regional Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 2014, and the national Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS); collectively, these documents addressed wellness, environmental protection, and science education &ndash; all areas relevant to environmental education. </p><p> Multi-institutional partnerships addressed policy goals and enabled teachers to access a) professional development, b) curriculum materials, and c) place-based experiences for students in gardens and on waterways. Through a DC government-funded project, non-formal educators and mentor teachers created an environmental literacy framework that aligned existing environmental education activities with NGSS. Non-formal educators collaboratively led waterway-based fieldtrips that addressed regional efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay. </p><p> Structured environmental education activities on waterways and in gardens engaged students, inspired educators, and provided links across disciplines, locations, and past experiences. Non-formal educators provided direct instruction, encouraged student inquiry, and fostered relationships with place. By contrast, few educators utilize the school building for environmental education. My findings suggest that expanding place-based environmental education requires engaging diverse stakeholders, including school custodians and others who have not traditionally been consulted as experts.</p><p>

<p> Systems thinking allows learners to look at the world as a series of interconnected parts of a whole. A debate exists in early childhood research literature about whether or not children have the capacity to hold systems thinking conceptions due to the complex thought processing needed for systems thinking. Additionally, many researchers question whether children have enough life experience or cognitive schema to participate fully in systems thinking. However, this study&rsquo;s findings indicate that young children do show signs of more complex understanding in systems thinking than what previous literature suggests a young child has the ability to do. This three part research study was conducted in a universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) classroom in a first-ring suburb of a rust-belt city in the Northeastern United States. The study was grounded in a desire to uncover young children&rsquo;s understanding of systems thinking through everyday classroom activities. Twenty students participated in this qualitative study which utilized read-aloud, water play and the interpretation and creation of graphs through associated structured and semi-structured interviews. Data from student&rsquo;s observations and interviews was transcribed, segmented, coded and analyzed. This student-centered process approach (Gotwals &amp; Alonzo, 2012) allowed for children&rsquo;s ideas to emerge naturally during the research tasks. Data was analyzed according to a three step analysis process using a real-world lens, a systems thinking skills lens, and the development of lower anchors for future learning progressions lens. Across a group of 20 preschool children there was an overarching theme that the ability to think in systems and utilize simple systems thinking tools, such as stock-flow maps, feedback loops and behavior over time graphs, was present. Since children are ready to reason using rudimentary systems thinking, then systems thinking opportunities should be incorporated into their informal and formal learning settings. The knowledge that children have the ability to comprehend basic systems thinking concepts is important to early childhood educators, curriculum developers, teacher preparation programs, professional developers, and standards &amp; policy makers.</p><p>

<p> This study examined how adult guests to the California Science Center engage with a specific conservation education topic: sustainable seafood. Sustainable seafood is a common education message delivered in informal science institutions. This study also investigated whether engaging in an activity about sustainable seafood while simultaneously viewing live fish species would have a greater impact on guests than participating in the same activity while viewing a laboratory space. </p><p> The data showed that guests who participated in a hands-on activity about sustainable seafood knew more about conservation-related topics and were more likely to adopt behaviors conducive to sustainable seafood consumption than guests who participated in a different hands-on activity. The data also showed that the settings in which guests participate in this Sustainable Seafood activity do not influence their knowledge or behavior. This indicates that this Sustainable Seafood activity is effective in educating adult guests, regardless of the setting.</p><p>

<p> Persistence and retention of college students is a great concern in American higher education. The dropout rate is even more apparent among first-generation college students, as well as those majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). More students earning STEM degrees are needed to fill the many jobs that require the skills obtained while in college. More importantly, those students who are associated with a low-socioeconomic background may use a degree to overcome poverty. Although many studies have been conducted to determine the characteristics associated with student attrition among first-generation students or STEM majors, very little information exists in terms of persistence and retention among the combined groups. The current qualitative study identified some of the characteristics associated with persistence and retention among first-generation college students who are also STEM majors. Participants were juniors or seniors enrolled at a regional 4-year institution. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to allow participants to share their personal experiences as first-generation STEM majors who continue to persist and be retained by their institution. </p><p> Tinto&rsquo;s Theory of Individual Departure (1987) was used as a framework for the investigation. This theory emphasizes personal and academic background, personal goals, disconnecting from one&rsquo;s own culture, and institutional integration as predictors of persistence. The findings of the investigation revealed that persisting first-generation STEM majors are often connected to family, but have been able to separate that connection with that of the institution. They also are goal-driven and highly motivated and have had varied pre-college academic experiences. These students are academically integrated and socially integrated in some ways, but less than their non-first-generation counterparts. They are overcoming obstacles that students from other backgrounds may not experience. They receive support from their families and institution, but have diverse academic backgrounds. The findings show that a culmination of many characteristics have enabled the participants to persist and be retained by their institution.</p><p>

<p> The current mixed method study explored the job satisfaction perceptions and retention plans of 241 secondary science teachers from seven North Texas school districts. For the current study, an email questionnaire was sent to seven districts across 83 secondary campuses, which included 51 middle schools and 32 high schools. The current study intended to find reasons why secondary science teachers continue to teach or decide to leave the profession. The participants&rsquo; perceptions and intentions to continue teaching were gathered through an online survey which gathered data across seven job satisfaction domains. Demographic and retention responses provided additional data on each participant. Through a quantitative analysis of Likert type survey responses and qualitative analysis of open-ended retention responses, the current study explored secondary science teachers&rsquo; perceptions and intentions to stay teaching. The quantitative analysis of survey data found significant differences in almost all of the job satisfaction domains for all teachers. There were also significant differences across some demographic groups as well. Through a qualitative analysis, motivation to teach was the leading predictor for retention. On the other hand, school culture and compensation were the top reasons for teachers planning to leave the classroom. </p><p>

<p> This qualitative study uses children&rsquo;s writing to explore the divide between a conception of Science as a humanistic discipline reliant on creativity, ingenuity and out of the box thinking and a persistent public perception of science and scientists as rigid and methodical. Artifacts reviewed were 506 scripts written during 2014 and 2016 by 5th graders participating in an out-of classroom, mentor supported, free-choice 10-week arts and literacy initiative. 47% (237) of these scripts were found to contain content relating to Science, Scientists, Science Education and the Nature of Science. These 237 scripts were coded for themes; characteristics of named scientist characters were tracked and analyzed. Findings included NOS understandings being expressed by representation of Science and Engineering Practices; Ingenuity being primarily linked to Engineering tasks; common portrayals of science as magical or scientists as villains; and a persistence in negative stereotypes of scientists, including a lack of gender equity amongst the named scientist characters. Findings suggest that representations of scientists in popular culture highly influence the portrayals of scientists constructed by the students. Recommendations to teachers include encouraging explicit consideration of big-picture NOS concepts such as ethics during elementary school and encouraging the replacement of documentary or educational shows with more engaging fictional media.</p><p>

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In all countries, regardless of culture and level of development, science and technology(S&T) are seen as key areas for further material development and welfare. A certain proportion of the population needs to develop S&T-related skills and competences at a high level. But also for the majority, who will not enter such careers, S&T are key subjects to master the challenges in everyday life and for full participation in democracy. In our efforts to make S&T attractive as careers and as a key subject for mastering challenges in everyday life, we need to know more about the interests, concerns and values of the learners.The study of Zimbabwean learners sought to find what students like to learn in science, their interest in science lessons, use of science principles in everyday life and what attitudes they have about the environment. Learners’ attitudes to S&T were also measured by an open ended question that sought their ideas on what they would like to research on if they were scientists.The empirical basis for this thesis is data collected with the ROSE instrument, developed by a team of international scholars in S&T education. Data used in this thesis is from twenty one secondary schools in Zimbabwe (N=734) targeting sixteen year old learners.Comparisons are made with twenty eight other countries.Factor analysis and descriptive statistics has been used to make comparisons of Zimbabwean and international trends.The Zimbabwean sample generally showed a mismatch between their expectations and realities of the science education curriculum. Results suggested that Science education was largely irrelevant to their needs and interests. Many out-of-class experiences were not explored in science classes. However, the sensitivity of learners to significant issues around their lives, such as AIDS and other diseases showed in their wish to research to cure those infected.The newly found voice of the learners will provide new insights on how to improve science education in Zimbabwe in such a way that it is able to meet the hopes, aspirations and the perceived interests, needs and priorities of the learners. Rapid developments in mundane applications of science and technology require that the curriculum negotiates a level that empowers learners to cope with a technologically driven world.For the development of capabilities to understand and use science and technology, either in daily life or study at higher levels the science education debate must periodically consider needs, views and concerns of the learners themselves among other stakeholders.

<p> From a sociocultural point of view, this qualitative case study explored how upper-level, female undergraduate engineering students perceived the possibility of or experience with stereotype threat as shaping their experiences. The study also investigated how these students explained their reasons for choosing their engineering major, the challenges they encountered in the major, and their reasons for persevering in spite of those challenges. Using Steele and Aronson&rsquo;s (1995) stereotype threat theory as a framework, and considering the documented underrepresentation of females in engineering, the study sought to examine how stereotype threat shaped the experiences of these students and if stereotype threat could be considered a valid reason for the underrepresentation. </p><p> The study was conducted at a large, four-year public university. First, students in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology completed the Participant Screening Survey. Based on responses from the survey, six female engineering students from the college were identified and invited to participate in the study. The participants came from the following majors: Electrical Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. After receiving the study consent letter and agreeing to participate, the students were involved in a 90-minute focus group meeting, a 45-minute one-on-one interview, and a 30-minute follow-up interview. </p><p> After conducting the data collection methods, the data were then transcribed, analyzed, and coded for theme development. The themes that emerged coincided with each research question. The themes highlighted the complex interactions and experiences shared by the female engineering majors. </p><p> The female students were enveloped in an environment where there existed an increased risk for activating stereotype threat. In addition, the female students described feeling pushed to prove to themselves and to others that the negative stereotype that &lsquo;females are bad at engineering&rsquo; was untrue. The findings illustrated the need for systematic changes at the university level. Intervention recommendations were provided. In regards to female underrepresentation in science fields, including engineering, stereotype threat certainly had the potential to cause the female students to question themselves, their abilities, their choice of an academic major, and subsequently remove themselves from a hostile learning or working environment. Thus, educational institutions and workplace organizations are responsible for not only educating themselves regarding stereotype threat, but also for taking steps to alleviate the pernicious effects of stereotype threat.</p><p>