<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between student access to a computer at home and academic achievement. The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dataset was probed using the National Data Explorer (NDE) to investigate correlations in the subsets of SES, Parental Education, Race, and Gender as it relates to access of a home computer and improved performance scores for U.S. public school grade 12 science students. A causal-comparative approach was employed seeking clarity on the relationship between home access and performance scores. The influence of home access cannot overcome the challenges students of lower SES face. The achievement gap, or a second digital divide, for underprivileged classes of students, including minorities does not appear to contract via student access to a home computer. Nonetheless, in tests for significance, statistically significant improvement in science performance scores was reported for those having access to a computer at home compared to those not having access. Additionally, regression models reported evidence of correlations between and among subsets of controls for the demographic factors gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Variability in these correlations was high; suggesting influence from unobserved factors may have more impact upon the dependent variable. Having access to a computer at home increases performance scores for grade 12 general science students of all races, genders and socioeconomic levels. However, the performance gap is roughly equivalent to the existing performance gap of the national average for science scores, suggesting little influence from access to a computer on academic achievement. The variability of scores reported in the regression analysis models reflects a moderate to low effect, suggesting an absence of causation. These statistical results are accurate and confirm the literature review, whereby having access to a computer at home and the predictor variables were found to have a significant impact on performance scores, although the data presented suggest computer access at home is less influential upon performance scores than poverty and its correlates.</p>

Thesis (M.S. in Pub. Pol.)--School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by Juan Rogers. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-84).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." In Curriculum Studies, under the direction of John A. Weaver. ETD. Electronic version approved: May 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 386-402) and appendices.

Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, Dept. of Sociology, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 233-248.

<p> Abstract databases are essential for literature reviews, and in turn for the scientific process. Research into user interface designs and their impact on scientific article discovery is limited. The following study details the process of building a new abstract database and explores several user interface design elements that should be tested in the future. </p><p> The initial goal of this study was to test the feasibility of building a new abstract database. Using Crossref metadata, we concluded that the cost to produce parsing code for the entire data set proved prohibitive for a volunteer team. The legal, production, and design elements necessary to build a new abstract database are discussed in detail. This study should serve as a baseline for future abstract database testing.</p><p>

<p> An online curriculum about biological evolution was designed according to the <i>Promoting Evidentiary Reasoning and Self-regulation Online</i> (PERSON) theoretical framework. PERSON is an attempt to develop online science instruction focused on supporting evidentiary reasoning and self-regulation. An efficacy study was conducted with 80 suburban high school biology students using a design-based research approach to develop a curriculum to promote biological evolution understandings, evidentiary reasoning, and self-regulation. Data sources and instruments included (1) the Biological Evolution Assessment Measurement (BEAM); (2) the modified <i>Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire</i> (MSLQ); (3) discussion forum posts; (4) formative assessments of evidence based reasoning; (5) <i> Prediction, Monitoring, and Reflection</i> forms (PMR); (6) the <i> Online Instruction Questionnaire</i>; and (7) field notes. Findings revealed that BEAM posttest scores were significantly greater than pretest scores for items designed to measure biological evolution content knowledge and evidentiary reasoning. Students tracked in a lower level biology course showed improvement in biological evolution understandings and evidentiary reasoning. It was found that performance on daily evidentiary reasoning tasks strongly predicted BEAM posttest scores. However, findings revealed that students did not meet local standards for performance on items designed to measure evidentiary reasoning. Students expressed a variety of opinions about their learning experiences with the online curriculum. Some students expressed a definite preference for traditional learning environments, while others expressed a definite preference for online learning. Self-regulatory ability did not significantly predict BEAM gain scores. Further, self-regulatory ability was not demonstrably improved as a result of this intervention. Implications for designing science instruction in asynchronous online learning environments to support evidentiary reasoning and self-regulation are discussed.</p>

This thesis investigates the changing forms and roles of science, technology, and expert knowledge in agricultural development in Zambia from 1945 to the present day. The main focus is on the changing ideologies, polices, and technologies that different development agencies have used to transform agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, and the persistent concerns about rural hunger and low agricultural productivity. My central argument is that contests over expert knowledge and technology have played a key role in the formulation and implementation of agricultural development policies in colonial Northern Rhodesia and then independent Zambia. Another argument is intertwined with this, namely that a historical approach is essential to understanding the origins, operation, and outcomes of development policies. The argument is developed in five chronologically sequenced case studies of particularly significant and innovative agricultural development projects, technologies, and research programmes. These studies in part stand alone, each filling a gap in the history of development in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa more generally. By focusing upon common issues and questions through the studies, however, I explore broader themes in the history of development knowledge and practice, and the history of science and technology. I have framed my approach in two linked areas. The first concerns development experts, those who are responsible for creating new knowledge about peasant society and deploying new technologies and programmes to transform it. The thesis investigates how and why it is that certain people and institutions gain influence and acquire the status of 'development experts', and how the category of 'development expert' is subject to historical change. My main argument in this area is that development experts were more divided than is commonly acknowledged in histories of development which rely upon a more abstract and unitary notion of expertise. The second area of focus concerns how these 'divided experts' attempt to manage the peasantry's integration with capitalist social relations through the manipulation of the 'productive forces': technologies, production techniques, environmental resources, and methods of organising labour. My argument here is that technology has been used as a disruptive force; development programs have revolved around the introduction of new technologies as a means of reworking socio-ecological relations.

The availability and sophistication of visual display images, such as simulations, for use in science classrooms has increased exponentially however, it can be difficult for teachers to use these images to encourage and engage active student thinking. There is a need to describe flexible discussion strategies that use visual media to engage active thinking. This mixed methods study analyzes teacher behavior in lessons using visual media about the particulate model of matter that were taught by three experienced middle school teachers. Each teacher taught one half of their students with lessons using static overheads and taught the other half with lessons using a projected dynamic simulation. The quantitative analysis of pre-post data found significant gain differences between the two image mode conditions, suggesting that the students who were assigned to the simulation condition learned more than students who were assigned to the overhead condition. Open coding was used to identify a set of eight image-based teaching strategies that teachers were using with visual displays. Fixed codes for this set of image-based discussion strategies were then developed and used to analyze video and transcripts of whole class discussions from 12 lessons. The image-based discussion strategies were refined over time in a set of three in-depth 2x2 comparative case studies of two teachers teaching one lesson topic with two image display modes. The comparative case study data suggest that the simulation mode may have offered greater affordances than the overhead mode for planning and enacting discussions. The 12 discussions were also coded for overall teacher student interaction patterns, such as presentation, IRE, and IRF. When teachers moved during a lesson from using no image to using either image mode, some teachers were observed asking more questions when the image was displayed while others asked many fewer questions. The changes in teacher student interaction patterns suggest that teachers vary on whether they consider the displayed image as a "tool-for-telling" and a "tool-for-asking." The study attempts to provide new descriptions of strategies teachers use to orchestrate image-based discussions designed to promote student engagement and reasoning in lessons with conceptual goals.

No description available.

<p> Over the last two decades, online education has become a popular concept in universities as well as K-12 education. This generation of students has grown up using technology and has shown interest in incorporating technology into their learning. The idea of using technology in the classroom to enhance student learning and create higher achievement has become necessary for administrators, teachers, and policymakers. Although online education is a popular topic, there has been minimal research on the effectiveness of online and blended learning strategies compared to the student learning in a traditional K-12 classroom setting. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in standardized test scores from the Biology End of Course exam when at-risk students completed the course using three different educational models: online format, blended learning, and traditional face-to-face learning. Data was collected from over 1,000 students over a five year time period. Correlation analyzed data from standardized tests scores of eighth grade students was used to define students as &ldquo;at-risk&rdquo; for failing high school courses. </p><p> The results indicated a high correlation between eighth grade standardized test scores and Biology End of Course exam scores. These students were deemed &ldquo;at-risk&rdquo; for failing high school courses. Standardized test scores were measured for the at-risk students when those students completed Biology in the different models of learning. Results indicated significant differences existed among the learning models. Students had the highest test scores when completing Biology in the traditional face-to-face model. Further evaluation of subgroup populations indicated statistical differences in learning models for African-American populations, female students, and for male students. </p>