Several positive student academic outcomes are associated with women's college attendance, yet little is known about how women's college students make meaning of classroom practices, experiences, and interactions. The purpose of this study, a qualitative research endeavor in the hermeneutic phenomenological tradition, was to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the lived classroom experience at a women's college and the meaning women's college students made from their everyday lived classroom experiences. The sample consisted of 10 participants at a single women's college in the southern region of the United States who had completed at least 60 credit hours at the institution and were enrolled as full-time residential students. Data were collected through a series of three interviews conducted with participants and reflection essays authored by participants. Study participants described the women's college classroom environment as a place where professors encouraged student participation in classroom discussions and where students could voice ideas, experiences, and uncertainties in an accepting space. The women's college students in this study indicated they received individual reaffirmation and intellectual validation from professors and peers, and over time became more likely to take risks with their thinking, aloud, in the classroom environment. Study participants made meaning from their classroom experience by actively reflecting on how these experiences fostered personal growth, comparing lived experiences to preconceptions, and imagining how their undergraduate experience would have been different had they chosen to attend a coeducational college. / Ph. D.

In this dissertation, the focus was on the classroom climate of engineering students in the context of either their community college or their four-year university. Previous research on the classroom climate for STEM majors suggests that women and minorities may experience a "chilly climate" and find the classroom unwelcoming; this negative climate may in turn have an impact on a student's success or persistence in attaining a degree. The purpose of this study was to examine engineering students' perceptions of their classroom climate and how these perceptions are related to fundamental skills in engineering. Data from a 2009 National Science Foundation sponsored project, Prototype to Production: Processes and Conditions for Preparing the Engineer of 2020 (P2P), which contains information from students in 31 four-year colleges and 15 pre-engineering community college programs, were examined. After establishing measures for classroom climate and fundamental skills related to engineering through an exploratory factor analysis, results indicated that university students had higher perceptions of their fundamental engineering skills as compared to community college students. Community college engineering students, on the other hand, perceived their classroom climates as warmer than university engineering students. In order to explore differences in student perceptions by individual characteristics and by institution, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used. Results indicated that for both community college and university engineering students, a warmer perception of classroom climate was associated with a higher perception of fundamental engineering skills. For the community college data, there was significant but low variation between schools, suggesting that student level characteristics may explain more of the variation. At the individual level, the interaction terms for gender and race were significant, indicating that the association between gender and perceptions of fundamental engineering skills depends on race. For the university students, only gender was significant, with male students reporting higher perceptions of their fundamental engineering skills. Almost all of the engineering disciplines were significant, which led to an additional HLM analysis with engineering program as the highest nested unit. Results from this model indicated that the highest percentage of variation in fundamental skills in engineering was at the program level. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was, given the elimination of a Type I barrier, to investigate how teachers utilized the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and what barriers teachers perceive to be present that may inhibit technology are barriers technology integration in the classroom. This qualitative study was designed based on the naturalistic inquiry approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Through purposeful sampling, this study took place in a suburban school division within the U.S. that has eliminated a Type I barrier, technology access to secondary teachers and students. The site was chosen due to the abundance of technology available to teachers and secondary students within the school division. Ten secondary teachers that participated were in various stages of their profession and years of service within the school division and represented various secondary schools within the division. The findings suggest that teachers fail to fully implement all of the ISTE NETS when it comes to integration in the classroom. Insufficient time to plan and prepare for activities that would integrate technology into the classroom was among the external factors most of the participants listed as to why their instruction did not always utilize technology. Although the division has eliminated a major barrier through its one-to-one laptop initiative, the findings indicated further external, Type I barriers existed. Results of this study suggest the key elements to the barriers that inhibit integration continue to be Type II barriers, teacher beliefs towards technology and teacher-centered pedagogy. / Ed. D.

This study adds to the literature on the persisting gender gap in STEM by examining the participation trends of women and men undergraduate students in the physics classroom. Specifically, this study builds on the existing literature of proportions in group interaction originally theorized by Kanter (1977) and investigates the turn-taking behaviors of women and men in classes that differ in their relative levels of gender representation. This study posed four hypotheses: That women will average less oral participation in the physics classroom than men, that more highly skewed classes will result in greater differences in men's and women's participation, that there will be an observable tipping point in women's participation, and that women's average participation will go up with the proportion of women in the classroom. These hypotheses were tested in 10 physics classrooms over the course of one class period each. The student-initiated turns during these class periods were coded by individual turn-taker. These data were analyzed to determine differences between men and women students' turn-taking behaviors in the physics classroom in relation to the proportion of women and men in the classroom. Findings indicate that women did average less participation than men in the physics classroom. However, the data do not point to a consistent relationship between increases in proportions of women in the physics class and increases in women's participation in the class. / Master of Science / This study looked to understand the differences in women's and men's in-class volunteered participation in the college physics classroom. Specifically, this study builds on the existing literature on the effects of group gender proportion in interaction, or how the proportion of women to men in a group shapes women's interactions, originally developed by Kanter (1977) and investigates the turn-taking behaviors, or how speech in conversation is initiated, of women and men in classes that differ in their gender compositions. This study had four hypotheses: 1) That women will have less volunteered participation in the physics classroom than men 2) That more highly skewed classes, or classes with high proportions of men and low proportions of women, will result in greater differences in men's and women's participation 3) That there will be an observable tipping point, a point when an increase in women in the classroom will cause an increase in women's participation 4) That women's participation will go up with the number of women in the classroom. These hypotheses were tested in 10 physics classrooms over the course of one class period each. The voluntary, student-initiated participation during these class periods were looked at by individual student. The information gathered was analyzed to understand if there were differences between men and women students' amount of participation in the physics classroom in relation to the composition of women and men in the classroom. The study found that women did average less participation than men in the physics classroom. However, the information gathered did not point to a relationship between the increases in the proportion of women in the physics class and increases in women's participation in the class.

The work emphasizes that the roots of inequality find fertile breeding grounds on the educational systems and focuses on classroom aiming to understand possible sources of inequality among mates because it is an environment where students interact, sharing much time together. In detail, I investigate how hierarchies, networks of friends, and classroom peers influence students’ motivations, aspirations, academic competences, behaviors, and educational choices. In chapter I of this work, I outline a theoretical framework arguing that classroom inequality is a result of varying characteristics of the interacting actors such as their gender, age, ethnic origin, socioeconomic background as well as academic competencies. The classroom sorting of students with specific characteristics broadly depends on formal and informal institutional rules. To shed light on these patterns of educational systems, I rely on three distinct concepts, such as inequality, diversity, and sorting. In chapter II of this work, I test whether teachers’ grading is an inequality-enhancing factor in Italy. Previous contributions suggest that teacher’s grading is biased by preferences and stereotypes. My idea is that teachers’ grading standards might produce a hierarchy among students, even among equally able students. This hierarchy, in turn, could have a pervasive influence on students’ perception of their own competencies, thereby influencing their academic achievement, motivation, and self-stigma. In chapter III, I investigate the extent to which extent smoking and drinking friends lead to emulate the same behavior in a critical age like the adolescence. Unhealthy habits dramatically affect life expectancy, above all, when rooted in the early stage of individual development. In addition, I analyze if non-reciprocal friendship matters more or not as a driver of the behavior emulation because adolescents desire to be accepted. In final chapter IV, I test to what extent the presence of students with a migration background affects several outcomes in classrooms, including students’ attitudes and anti-social behavior. Italy is dealing with a dramatic increase of immigrant students since the late ‘80s, but a series of data suggest that the school is not well equipped for this challenge. Overall, the thesis aims to contribute to important theoretical debates in the sociology and economics of education, such as the role of relative positions in the social environment (chapter II), peer effects in critical developmental stages (chapter III), and the social integration in heterogeneous contexts (chapter IV). However, it aims also to inform policymakers on possible side effects of current widespread educational practices such as grading on a curve (chapter II), the actual role of peers in the spreading of unhealthy behaviors among adolescents (chapter III), and the need of imposing interventions devoted to optimizing classrooms compositions (chapter IV).

No description available.

The majority of the research on grading practices thus far examines teachers' perceived grading practices through Likert-type surveys and vignettes regarding generic students. This study is unique because it proposes a more systematic method of qualitative inquiry to examine how teachers perceive grading on an individual student basis by asking questions regarding specific student performance/behavior on a sample of graded course tasks. No available study has focused on individual students in such a way. The overarching focus of the study is to examine actual students' data in relationship to their respective teacher's beliefs and practices.The purpose of this study is to examine the degree to which four sources of evidence: (1) course descriptions and policies (teacher); (2) grading beliefs (vignettes); (3) perceived grading practices (Likert-scale); (4) student characteristics (student) converge from a qualitative perspective.Fifteen high school teachers from four school districts completed an online grading questionnaire. The Wiley Grading Questionnaire (WGQ) consists of two main parts: (1) course policies and student characteristics; and (2) general grading beliefs. Part I requires teachers' gradebooks and syllabi. Part II measures teacher beliefs and perceived grading practices using Brookhart's (1993) grading vignettes, a 19-item 6-point Likert-scale survey adapted from McMillan (2001), and a combination of open-ended and forced-choice items on the WGQ.Teachers considered non-achievement variables more in their grading decisions in response to the vignettes than they reported in the other sources of evidence. Non-achievement factor considerations were more evident in the effort scenarios; namely a low-ability/low-achiever bias. The vignettes provided the highest level of abstraction, but they largely categorized teachers as either excluding non-achievement factors or including them for certain types of students, usually the low ability or low achiever. Further descriptions and implications are discussed.

This study is scientifically aimed at the problematic question of the present situation regarding the climate in the Bible Education classroom in secondary schools. A possible cause of the problems experienced with Bible Education and the negative view prevalent with regard to the subject, can be ascribed to the prevailing climate in the Bible Education classroom in the secondary school. An empirical study was conducted by means of a structured questionnaire distributed to the Bible Education teachers and a stratified sample of ten pupils per class at four Afrikaanse secondary schools. The four schools were chosen at random and served as test sample. According to the answers of the respondents, it became clear that the present classroom climate puts a very high premium on rules and control in the classroom. Therefore it would appear as if a lot of work needs to be done concerning the mutual relationship between teacher and pupil for the effective improvement of the climate in the classroom. / Skripsie (MEd (Didaktiese Opvoedkunde))--PU vir CHO, 1995

E-lectures (recorded lectures) is a modern way of giving lectures to students while freeing time for teachers to do other activities like having workshops where students get to work actively on solving problems. There is a large body of studies that show the positive effects of e-lectures on students' performance, activating them in teacher led work in the classroom as well as enabling them to re-watch a lecture. However, even though the technology and knowledge on how to use e-lectures seems to be available, the use of e-lectures has not been broadly adopted. There may be many reasons for why this is the case and this qualitative study aims to give insight into the teachers attitude towards e-lectures. This study is based on eight interviews with teachers mainly from the department of informatics and one from the department of physics. The result shows that the teachers have an open attitude towards e-lectures and other alternative learning methods. However, the opinion on how much e-lectures can contribute to students' learning varies and might be due to the lack of knowledge or experience. There is also no consensus regarding how well made the e-lectures should be and some respondents feel that high expectations might refrain teachers from pursuing e-lectures.

In recent years many teachers and students have begun having good access to digital technology in their classrooms, and in the context of Sweden the majority of secondary schools are known as one-to-one schools, with students having their own computer or tablet. However, the mere presence of technology in the classroom is not a guarantee for improved teaching and learning. In fact, there is a challenge involved with integrating technology in the classroom and many teachers need support. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the knowledge about support for teachers integrating digital technology, especially a classroom response system (CRS), in the mathematics classroom. This is done by focusing on frameworks for CRS task design and technology integration. The thesis consists of two papers and a kappa. Both papers use data from a design research project including interventions in two cases. Paper I focuses on the development of design principles and task types for CRS tasks in a multiple-choice format aiming to engineer mathematical classroom discussions. The study generated three design principles, six task types, and 31 empirically evaluated tasks. The empirical evaluation shows that teachers consider the evaluated CRS tasks useful for engineering mathematical classroom discussions. Paper II focuses on exploring the potential of Ruthven’s (2009) SFCP framework as tool for analyzing empirical data in order to conceptualize and analyze teachers’ reasoning about critical aspects of technology integration in the mathematics classroom. The results show that the SFCP framework can be useful for capturing teachers’ reasoning about critical aspects of technology integration, but also that the framework does not capture teachers’ reasoning about students’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the framework would benefit from taking into consideration students’ attitudes and behaviors, as these features are a challenge teachers need to deal with when integrating technology in the classroom. This thesis kappa, building on earlier research as well as the results and methods of its own papers, ends with an elaborated discussion on the challenges and support for teachers wanting to integrate CRS in their mathematics classroom. / Lärare och elever har idag god tillgång till digital teknik i klassrummen. I Sverige är numera majoriteten av högstadie- och gymnasieskolorna en-till-en skolor där alla elever har en egen dator eller surfplatta. Blotta närvaron av digital teknik i klassrummen är inte en garanti för förbättrad undervisning och ökat lärande. I själva verket så är det en utmaning att integrera digital teknik i klassrummet och många lärare behöver stöd för att lyckas med detta. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att bidra till kunskap om stöd för lärare som integrerar digitala verktyg i matematikklassrummet. Detta görs dels genom att fokusera på ramverk för att konstruera matematikuppgifter till digitala responssystem och dels genom att undersöka ett ramverk för teknikintegrering i undervisningen. Uppsatsen består av två artiklar och en kappa. Båda artiklarna använder data från ett designforskningsprojekt bestående av interventioner i två separat fall. Artikel I fokuserar på utvecklingen av designprinciper och uppgiftstyper för flervalsuppgifter till digitala responssystem. Uppgifterna syftar till att initiera och fördjupa matematiska diskussioner i klassrummet. Studien genererade tre designprinciper, sex uppgiftstyper och 31 empiriskt utvärderade flervalsuppgifter som kan användas för att välja, värdera och konstruera uppgifter till responssystem. Den empiriska utvärderingen visar att lärarna anser att de testade uppgifterna och uppgiftstyperna är användbara för att initiera matematiska klassrumsdiskussioner. Artikel II fokuserar på att undersöka potentialen av Ruthvens (2009) ramverk ”Structuring Features of Classroom Practice” (SFCP), som ett analytiskt verktyg för att begreppsliggöra och analysera lärares resonemang om kritiska aspekter vid teknikintegrering i matematikklassrummet. Resultatet visar att ramverket är användbart för att fånga lärares resonemang om kritiska aspekter vid teknikintegrering i undervisningen, men också att ramverket inte fångade lärares resonemang om elevers attityder och uppförande. Studien föreslår att ramverket kan utvecklas och förbättras genom att även ta hänsyn till elevernas attityder och uppförande, eftersom detta är kritiska aspekter som lärare behöver hantera när de integrerar teknik i klassrummet. Med utgångspunkt från tidigare forskning och resultaten i artiklarna avslutas uppsatsens kappa med en utvecklad diskussion om utmaningar och stöd för lärare som integrerar digitala responssystem i matematikklassrummet.