Technological/engineering design based learning (T/E DBL) provides a context in which students may utilize content knowledge and skills to develop prototype solutions to real-world problems. In science education, design based science (DBS) utilizes technological/engineering design based approaches in science education as a means for enhancing the purpose of and relevance for scientific inquiry by contextualizing it within the goal of developing a solution to a real-world problem. This study addressed the need to investigate the ways in which students utilize higher order thinking skills, demonstrated through the use of knowledge associated with declarative, schematic, and strategic cognitive demand when in engaged in DBS activities. The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships exist between engagement in DBS and changes in students' depth of understanding of the science concepts associated with the development of design solutions. Specifically, the study determined how students' abilities to demonstrate an understanding of the science concepts, required by assessments of different cognitive demand, change as they were engaged in a design-based science unit associated with heat transfer. Utilizing two assessment instruments, a pre/post-1/post-2 test and content analysis of student design portfolios based on Wells (2012) and utilizing Li's (2001) system to code student responses, the following research question was addressed: What changes in students' science concept knowledge (declarative, schematic, and strategic demand) are evidenced following engagement in design based learning activities? Although the results are not generalizable to other populations due to the limitations associated with the study, it can be concluded that design based learning activities incorporated in science courses can foster higher order thinking. Results from the study suggests that students' abilities to demonstrate their understanding of certain science concepts through higher order thinking, including utilizing concept knowledge strategically in open-ended problem solving, increased following engagement in design based learn activities. Results have implications in technological/engineering design education, in science education, and in integrative STEM education. Implications include the utility of design portfolios as both an assessment instrument and learning tool to ensure that concept knowledge is explicitly connected to and used in the design activity. / Ed. D.

I föreliggande studie söker vi, i form av en läromedelsanalys, kunskap kring hur uppgifter i åtta svenska läroböcker inom matematik för årskurs 3 karaktäriserar programmering utifrån dess kognitiva kravnivå och centrala begrepp. Den insamlade empirin analyserades kvantitativt med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. I studien tog vi hjälp utav två teoretiska ramverk – Mathematical Task Framework och Level of Demands – samt centrala begrepp inom programmering. Studiens resultat indikerar att; 1. Majoriteten av uppgifterna i läroböckerna som fokuserar på programmering ligger på en låg kognitiv kravnivå; 2. Samtliga begrepp som studien tar sin utgångspunkt i bearbetas i uppgifterna men endast åtta av 14 nämns. Studiens slutsats är att de svenska läroböcker som utgjorde underlaget för analysen håller en för låg nivå, både när det gäller begrepp och kognitiv kravnivå på uppgifterna, för att eleverna ska få möjlighet att kunna utveckla den abstrakta förståelsen som krävs för området programmering. / The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about which concepts and on which cognitive level of demand tasks in Swedish mathematical textbooks for grade 3 addresses the subject matter of programming. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a textbook analysis of eight Swedish mathematical textbooks. The collected empirical data was then quantitatively analyzed by means of a content analysis. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the Mathematical Task Framework and Level of Demands, as well as central concepts regarding programming. The results of the study indicate that; 1. The majority of tasks in the mathematical textbooks pertain to the subject matter and are on a low level of cognitive demand; 2. All central concepts regarding programming are processed in the mathematical textbooks but only eight out of 14 are mentioned. The study’s conclusion is that the tasks in Swedish mathematical textbooks that formed the basis of the analysis are deficient, both in terms of their level of cognitive demand and the prevalence of concepts pertaining to programming. We find that this is insufficient in order for students to obtain the opportunity to develop the abstract thinking necessary for understanding programming.

In the past decade, mathematics performance by all students, especially minority students in low socioeconomic schools, has shown limited improvement nationwide (NCES, 2011). Traditionally in the United States, mathematics has consisted of arithmetic and computational fluency; however, mathematics researchers widely believe that this method of instruction does not enhance the development of mathematical reasoning and ignores the research on students’ mathematical development (Blanton & Kaput, 2005; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). Recommendations by the mathematics community are to broaden and strengthen teacher content knowledge in mathematics and to provide the pedagogical tools needed by teachers to extend their students’ thinking and reasoning (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, and Orphanos, 2009; Mewborn, 2003). The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between the teachers’ levels of noticing, the levels of cognitive demand in their enacted tasks, and their levels of mathematical knowledge for teaching in two urban high-need low performing elementary schools. The 54 elementary teachers participated in a long-term mathematics professional development program aimed at developing teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching and recognizing and fostering students’ early algebraic reasoning. The data for this dissertation included teachers’ self-selected video segments, written video reflections, and mathematical knowledge for teaching levels from the second year of the professional development. Relationships were explored between mathematical knowledge for teaching, teachers’ levels of noticing, and the levels of cognitive demand represented in mathematics lessons. The findings indicated shifts in teachers’ cognitive demand of enacted tasks and noticing over the course of the second year of professional development. Correlation results indicated significant relationships between teachers’ cognitive demand, teacher noticing, participation, and teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Moreover, the results showed that the teachers in the K-3 cohort benefited more from the professional development than their 4-6 cohort counterparts when it came to mathematical knowledge for teaching, noticing, and cognitive demand levels.

No description available.

This study was prompted by an interest in the extent to which the aims of home economics education in Ireland are being served by the assessment carried out at a national level. This interest led to an empirical investigation of key stakeholders’ perceptions of the validity of home economics assessment and a critical evaluation of its impact on teaching and learning. The data collection primarily comprised interviews with a selection of teachers and other key people such as students, teacher educators and professional home economists; and a complementary analysis of curriculum and design of Junior and Leaving Certificate home economics assessments during the period 2005-2014. The analysis of interview data combined with the curriculum and assessment analyses revealed the compounding impact and washback effect of home economics assessments on student learning experience and outcomes. This impact was reflected in several areas of the findings including an evident satisfaction among the respondents with junior cycle assessment, due to the perceived appropriateness of the assessment design and operational arrangements, and dissatisfaction with curriculum and assessment arrangements at senior cycle as they were considered to be inappropriate and negatively impacting on the quality of learning achieved. The respondents candidly pointed to what they considered to be an acceptance by some teachers of unethical behaviour around the completion of journal tasks. The respondents indicated that summative assessment practices are commonly used in home economics classrooms and the findings strongly suggest that external examinations are influencing teaching methods by demanding a test-oriented pedagogy to enable students to achieve certificate points. The technical analysis of the Junior and Leaving Certificate examination questions confirmed that these external assessments predominantly promote lower-order learning and there are clear indications of a washback effect on the quality of learning achieved. There is a view that the subject's position in the curriculum is weakened due to a lack of coherence around practice, as well as a lack of advocacy and leadership in the field. There was little evidence of the impact of home economics education and many of the interviewees merely 'hoped' that home economics made a difference in the lives of students. The study also showed that there are profiling, identity and teacher agency issues impacting upon the home economics profession. While not immediately generalisable to all home economics teachers or settings in schools, this study nonetheless implies that if the views and practices of the respondents were to be replicated across the whole of the home economics education community, it would not be safe to view national assessment results as a valid indicator of learning and achievement standards in the subject. There are grounds in this work to argue that the subject's values and purposes are not supported by existing curriculum, pedagogy and assessment arrangements.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to investigate grade 11 learners’ problem solving skills and conceptual reasoning on concepts in stoichiometry. Two theoretical frameworks were used in this study namely, cognitive load theory (CLT) and typology of curriculum representation (levels of curriculum alignment). The explanatory sequential mixed method research design were applied where 410 physical sciences learners in their intact classes and eleven of their teachers participated in the study. The participants completed purposefully designed research instruments consisting of an achievement test (LAT), a teacher and a learner questionnaire (TSQ and LCQ), and a teacher lesson plan on stoichiometry-related concepts (TLP). Other instruments used include a semi-structured interview schedule (LIS), classroom observation schedule (COS) and learner work books (LWB). The study was underpinned by five research questions. Pearson correlations showed that the justifications given by learners for choosing right or wrong objective options were not due to chance and suggested a learner choosing the right objective option has the right conceptual reasoning. Findings indicate that there is a positive correlation between problem-solving skills and conceptual reasoning where conceptual reasoning statistically predicted learners’ problem-solving skills using Regression. Problem solving is an important cognitive activity in everyday and professional contexts. Therefore, it requires teachers to know where to focus their teaching and how to assess learners’ work to avoid unnecessary overloading of the working memory of learners which might affect their performance. Conceptual reasoning and problem-solving errors were made during the problem solving, for example, learners could not apply mole ratio, they were unable to do change of subject and they interchanged the meanings of chemical terms such as mole, molecule, atoms and mass. In terms of possible reasons for the errors, and how it linked to the way learners were taught, the curriculum levels were considered. Findings indicate that there is a mismatch between what is expected in stoichiometry from the CAPS curriculum termed intended curriculum and the implemented curriculum which includes teacher lesson plans, classroom observations and learner workbooks. The classroom observations schedule was designed in line with the teacher lesson plan. There were topics planned in the lessons that were not found in the learner workbooks. The analysis of the content of learners’ workbooks for topics treated under stoichiometry, revealed that 75.7% of concepts were being taught while 24.3% were not. The analysis showed that learners experienced difficulties with calculating the concept of limiting reactant. There is a mismatch between implemented and attained curriculum as well. In the TSQ, teachers indicated that the errors were due to misconceptions, misunderstanding, carelessness and misinterpretation. These were found during marking of the learner achievement test. In conclusion, this study did not find a direct link between the way the learners were taught and the errors they committed during problem solving based on the implemented (TLP, LWB and COS) and attained curriculum (LAT, LCQ, LIS and DoBE report) / Science and Technology Education / Ph. D. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)