The significance of students being able to express and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in all content areas has always been important especially in the sciences. Students under the Next Generation Science Standards will be required to participate in science discourse through a variety of approaches. This study examined student engagement and student demonstration of content knowledge in inclusive science classrooms through a quasiexperimental research design which included four case study participants with a learning disability. The researcher also evaluated student content knowledge through the implementation of Universal Design for Learning-Expression (UDL-E) through a non-replicated control group design. Data were collected through a variety of sources including: researcher observations, review of student academic records, interviews, surveys, UDL-E products, and pre-test and posttest scores. Researcher observations spanned over a 10 week period and were coded and analyzed quantitatively. Findings from a Repeated ANOVA demonstrated no statistical significance, however based on interviews with students; findings show that the students did enjoy exploring the opportunity to express their knowledge using the Expression principle of Universal Design for Learning. Student time-on-task did remain equally as high during UDL-E and students’ inattentive behaviors decreased.

I Skollagen framgår det att skolan ska ta hänsyn till elevers olika behov, samt att barn och elever ska ges stöd och stimulans så att de utvecklas så långt som möjligt. Trots det finns det inte mycket forskning om hur en sådan lärmiljö kan skapas eller utformas. Mot bakgrund av detta genomfördes denna studie med syfte att undersöka hur några lärare i mellanstadiet organiserar undervisningen samt den fysiska miljön för att skapa förutsättningar för lärande. Frågeställningar togs fram med inspiration från TEACCH- modellen som handlar om att skapa förutsägbarhet och förståelse för sammanhang genom en tydliggörande pedagogik. De tre frågeställningarna var: Hur är den fysiska miljön organiserad?, Hur är den tydliggörande arbets- och aktivitetsordningen organiserad? och Hur ser organiseringen av undervisningen ut? Sex stycken lärare observerades under ett eller två lektionstillfällen vardera utifrån ett observationsschema som utgick från de tre frågeställningarna. Utöver observationerna skickades en enkät ut som 28 lärare deltog i. Enkätens frågor utgick, liksom observationerna, från de tre frågeställningarna. Resultatet analyserades sedan utifrån det teoretiska ramverket och förhållningssättet Universal Design for Learning. Studien visar att en tillgänglig lärmiljö skapas i olika utsträckning, samt att lärarna inte fullt ut skapar en tillgänglig lärmiljö och därmed inte uppväger skillnader mellan elevernas olika förutsättningar. Hinder för att lärarna inte fullt ut skapar en tillgänglig lärmiljö kan relateras till olika nivåer av yttre kontroll, såsom fysiska och organisatoriska begränsningar. Utifrån resultatet kunde slutsatsen dras att tydliggörande och tillgänglig undervisning behöver utvecklas som forskningsfält då forskning ännu inte har klargjort hur och på vilket sätt enskilda faktorer inom tydliggörande pedagogik påverkar lärande. I den specialpedagogiska praktiken skulle lärarnas arbete kunna försvåras på grund av komplexiteten och oenigheten inom den vetenskapliga forskningen om vad som specifikt främjar lärande samt hur olika faktorer påverkar lärmiljön.

Preparing undergraduate students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to be a national priority. This project analyzed the effects of virtual metacognitive academic coaching between graduate student coaches and undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders at a large, four-year university. The project team analyzed the persistence of the undergraduate students in their major, as well as the graduate students’ abilities to transfer the coaching experiences to K-12 settings. A mixed-methods design evaluated qualitative (i.e. student/coaches’ surveys and interviews) outcomes for undergraduate STEM majors and for graduate students. The goal of this project is to develop iteratively a model of scalable supports that can be utilized to support undergraduates with disabilities in STEM majors’ at large universities such as UCF. Graduate student coaches paired with undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders (n=26) worked collaboratively throughout one semester to developed strategies that supported the success of the undergraduate students’ coursework. Both coaches and students provided examples of positive effects of the academic coaching process that supported student course work and created experiences that the graduate students could use in a K-12 setting.

The research presented in this study investigates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher self-efficacy with delivering design-based learning to elementary students and identifies what resources and support teachers need to administer online or blended learning delivery of design-based learning with elementary students in the current environment. The population was elementary teachers teaching STEM content and this study included a sample of four elementary STEM teachers teaching in rural and suburban communities. Each participating teacher completed the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM) (Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, 2012) to reveal their overall self-efficacy with delivering STEM content, followed by participating in a semi-structured interview consisting of queries targeting both research questions. This qualitative analysis revealed a temporary decrease in teachers' self-efficacy at the beginning of the shift to a virtual environment. A lack of student access to resources at home, the teachers' lack of control and support for the student in a synchronous manner, and a change in STEM education as a priority were revealed as contributors to this temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy. To remediate this, teachers reported condensing activities and the Engineering Design Process to accommodate the virtual environment for a traditionally hands-on instructional strategy. Teachers cited fellow educator support, previous coursework, additional time, and access to teacher resources as resources and support that would be beneficial in the current environment. / Doctor of Philosophy / The research presented in this study investigates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher self-efficacy, or confidence, in using an instructional approach to STEM education with elementary students and identifies what resources and support teachers need to use this instructional strategy online or in blended learning settings, a combination of both online and in-person education. The instructional strategy, design-based learning, allows students to use design-thinking to apply the knowledge they are learning to a construct (Doppelt et al., 2008). This study included a sample of four elementary STEM teachers teaching in rural and suburban communities. Each participating teacher completed the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM) (Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, 2012) to reveal their overall self-efficacy with delivering STEM content, followed by participating in an interview. Prominent topics, or themes, revealed from the interviews revealed a temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy at the beginning of the shift to a virtual environment at the beginning of the global pandemic. A lack of student access to resources at home, the teachers' lack of control and support for the student in a real-time manner, and a change in STEM education as a priority were revealed as contributors to this temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy. To address this, the teachers reported condensing activities and the Engineering Design Process to accommodate the virtual environment for a traditionally hands-on instructional strategy. Teachers cited fellow educator support, previous coursework, additional time, and access to teacher resources as resources and support that would be beneficial in the current education system.

The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase "opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills" (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students' STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students' premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM. / Ph. D. / The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase “opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills” (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students’ STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students’ premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been identified as a contemporary instructional model for promoting inclusion and equitable opportunities for diverse and struggling learners. However, research regarding teachers' perceptions of UDL and its effective implementation is limited, making planning, implementing, and providing professional development difficult for administrators. Guided by the constructivist views of Vygotsky and Piaget, this qualitative case study was designed to understand teachers' knowledge and perceptions of how UDL can be used to promote equitable inclusive instruction, implementation barriers, educational applications for UDL, and perceived needs to implement UDL. Participants were teachers who had implemented UDL from a public charter school serving only students in Grades 3-11 with low incidence disabilities; 20 participated in an online survey, 7 participated in an individual interview, and 3 participated in a group interview. Data were coded and analyzed for common themes. Participants expressed resistance to change, negative impressions of UDL, and disability bias. Recommendations for administrators included strategies for implementation of UDL, periodic collection of teachers' perceptions of UDL for formative purposes, modeling UDL for teachers, monitoring teachers' lesson plans, and classroom observations. This study contributes to social change by identifying teachers' perceptions of their own knowledge, needs, and barriers to implementation of UDL in order assist administrators in effectively preparing them for delivery of instructional services to enhance learning for all diverse and struggling students.

Multiple approaches have been used in U.S. community colleges to address the learning needs of postsecondary students who are underprepared in basic skills math. The purpose of this exploratory interview study was to gain a deeper understanding of community college basic skills math learning through instructors' lived experiences using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach and its technology tool, a computerized pen. The conceptual framework for this study used Knowles's adult learning and Kolb's experiential learning theories with UDL principles. The central research questions investigated the professional development and teaching experiences of community college basic skills math instructors in their basic skills math curriculum in the California Community College system using a Smartpen. Interviews were conducted with 4 instructors, 2 of whom also participated in the 2011-2012 community college pilot project of the approach. The analysis consisted of coding and theme development in relation to the experiential learning process and the instructors' andragogy practices. This study identified 4 themes for use in understanding the instructors' experiences teaching with a Smartpen: instructor preparation, technology use and savvy, student needs, and instructor flexibility/adaptability. The study findings are of interest to community college basic math skills instructors, who can use these findings to inform their teaching preparation and teaching approaches, improving pedagogy and helping their students successfully complete their math courses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students in an implementation of &ldquo / Learning by Design&rdquo / method through a web based learning environment. The information gathered from the students enrolled in the undergraduate course / &ldquo / Foundations of Distance Education&rdquo / in 2009 Summer School and 2009-2010 Fall Semesters was evaluated. The course was given in blended form, i.e. face to face lessons and online instructional activities were performed together. In the web based part of the course, several educational modules of an open source learning management system (LMS), such as quizzes, forums, lesson pages, wiki pages, mail interface etc. were used. The students were responsible for implementing an educational course site on the LMS platform, using the course curriculum applications. Within the scope of this thesis, the perceptions of the students about course-related projects, and online and classroom activities were investigated through interviews and questionnaires. The academic development of students was also considered in the study. Additionally, several informal interviews were also done with the instructor of the course in order to investigate his perceptions about the conduct of the course. Questionnaire results have been analyzed quantitatively and face to face interview results have been analyzed qualitatively. Both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that the students&rsquo / perceptions about how the course was conducted and the learning by design activities were generally positive. Especially the project work, which was assigned as a requisite of the learning by design method, was pointed out as a positive factor in students&#039 / learning of the subject matter both in the questionnaires and in the face to face interviews. Another important finding of the interview and questionnaire results was that the communication between the instructor and the students contributed positively to not only learning the course content but the quality of the projects as well. As an outcome of this study, many important factors, which lead to successful results in implementation of learning by design method in a web based environment, have been identified. These results are presented in detail in the &#039 / Discussion and Recommendations&#039 / section.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:17:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 113752.pdf: 24488142 bytes, checksum: 1e3529af4d6bbcb726d1aa2a4cfe471d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this study was to evaluate which ergonomic solutions, based on the concepts of usability, accessibility and universal design for learning can be suitable for the development of interfaces for inclusive learning, following the needs of individuals with visual impairment and / or hearing and reporting users experience of designers and students of e-learning. The practical experiment of the study was divided into two phases. Phase 1 involved the execution of analytical evaluation, based on these concepts, a course extension course distance titled " The person with disabilities in the school context," sponsored by the Laboratory of Inclusive Education (Ledi), linked to the Center of Distance Learning (CEAD) in the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC) developed in virtual environment MOODLE®. Based on the nonconformities found in the interface, was developed a prototype of the same interface (B) proposing usability features and digital accessibility. In phase 2 was conducted an usability evaluation and analysis of user experience, through metrics runtime of tasks and number of errors during the interaction with the interfaces for that, using a questionnaire based on the concepts of GOMS method. The analysis of overall satisfaction was measured using a questionnaire formulated based on the method QUIS. The questionnaire contained 21 questions, built looking to meet user satisfaction. Each question could be answered using a grid with a scale of 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Participants were four visually impaired (DV) , 3 users with hearing loss (HL), to verify that the interface could be read by these groups of people , 5 designers ( DE) that offered solutions and pointed out possible inconsistencies in the interfaces and 3 students who attended the course (AL), which sought to understand the users who usually attend distance learning courses. The subjects showed positive and negative points that found interacting with the interfaces. The results indicate that non-conformities had the point of view of usability and accessibility in interface A. Some of these points were changed by inserting accessibility features in the prototype interface ( B ) . These enhancements are designed so that they can be applied by teachers and designers to contribute to improving the access of people, including those with disabilities, to distance education. / O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar quais soluções ergonômicas, fundamentadas nos conceitos de usabilidade, acessibilidade e desenho universal para aprendizagem podem ser adequadas para o desenvolvimento de interfaces de aprendizagem inclusivas, seguindo as necessidades de indivíduos com deficiência visual e/ou auditiva e o relato de experiências de uso de designers e alunos da educação à distância. O experimento prático da pesquisa foi dividido em duas fases. A fase 1 englobou a execução de avaliação analítica, fundamentada nestes conceitos, de um curso do curso de extensão à distância intitulado A pessoa com deficiência física no contexto escolar , promovido pelo Laboratório de Educação Inclusiva (LEdI), vinculado ao Centro de Ensino à distância (CEAD) da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC) desenvolvido em ambiente virtual MOODLE®. Tendo por base as inconformidades encontradas na interface A, desenvolveu-se um protótipo da mesma interface (B) propondo recursos de usabilidade e acessibilidade digital. Na fase 2, executou-se avaliação de usabilidade e análise de experiência de usuário, por meio das métricas tempo de execução das tarefas e número de erros cometidos durante a interação com as interfaces, para isso, utilizando um questionário construído com base nos conceitos do método GOMS. A análise da satisfação global foi mensurada utilizando questionário formulado com base no método QUIS. Este questionário continha 21 perguntas, construídas procurando conhecer a satisfação do usuário. Cada pergunta podia ser respondida usando uma grade com escala de 1 (discordo completamente) a 7(concordo plenamente). Participaram do estudo 4 portadores de deficiência visual (DV), 3 portadores de deficiência auditiva (DA), para verificar se a interface poderia ser lida por estes grupos de pessoas, 5 designers (DE) que ofereceram soluções e apontaram possíveis inconsistencias nas interfaces e 3 alunos que participaram do curso (AL), onde buscou-se entender os usuários que normalmente frequentam cursos à distância. Os sujeitos da pesquisa apontaram pontos positivos e negativos que encontraram interagindo com as interfaces. Os resultados encontrados apontaram que haviam inconformidades do ponto de vista da usabilidade e da acessibilidade na interface A. Alguns destes pontos foram alterados inserindo recursos de acessibilidade no protótipo (interface B). Tais melhorias foram projetadas de modo que possam ser aplicadas por professores e designers visando contribuir para melhorar o acesso das pessoas, inclusive as que possuem deficiência, à educação à distância.

This study aims to apply a design theoretical perspective on museum educators in a natural sciencemuseum to see which didactic choices they make. This study proceeds from the following questions: How is the scientific content of the exhibition orchestrated? Which semiotic resources do the museum educators uses? How do the museum tutors reason for their didactic choices? The study is based on seven observations of five different museum educators teaching seven different classes in the younger ages in one specific exhibition. It is also based on one interview with three of the museum educators. The design theory of learning, which is the theory that this study is analysed through, is mostly based on the studies by Staffan Selander and Gunther Kress (2010). The result of the investigation shows, in short, that the scientific content is orchestrated like a journey through time where different sceneries represent the geological ages of the earth. The museum educators uses a combination of multiple semiotic resources. The interview showed what the museum educators wanted to be the key words in their teaching: understanding, curiosity, desire, to arouse interest and willingness to take on the science glasses and ask yourself questions like 'How can you know that?' and 'How can you find out?'.