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This study investigates two secondary science classes using an interactive multimedia program that was designed for use in small groups to elicit and promote discussion of students pre-instructional conceptions of motion. The software was designed and constructed by the author and incorporated sixteen digital video clips, primarily focussing on projectile motion, showing difficult, expensive, time-consuming or dangerous demonstrations of mostly real-life, out-of-classroom scenarios. The program used predict-observe-explain (POE) strategy to structure the students' engagement with each scenario-the clips acting as stimuli for the sixteen POE tasks. This strategy involves students predicting the outcome of a demonstration and discussing the reasons for their prediction, observing the demonstration and finally explaining any discrepancies between their prediction and observation (White & Gunstone, 1992). The choice and sequence of the video clips, as well as the multiple-choice options available to students in the prediction phase of each task, were informed by alternative conception research and the history of science literature.This interpretive study uses constructivism as a theoretical perspective to explore three main issues relating to the use of the multimedia-supported POE tasks: firstly, the students' learning conversations during their use of the POE tasks; secondly, the use of the program as an instrument to probe students' science conceptions; and thirdly,' the affordances and constraints of the computer-mediated environment for the POE strategy. Students worked in pairs and were required to type full sentence responses that were recorded by the computer for later analysis by the researcher. In addition, the students were required to make pencil and paper drawings during some tasks. Other data sources for this mainly qualitative study included audio and ++ / video recordings of student discussions, interviews with selected students and their teachers, classroom observations, and student questionnaires.Findings suggested that students participated in meaningful small group discussions at the computer and the program acted as an efficient and convenient teaching instrument to elicit and record their conceptions of motion. Indeed, the multimedia nature of the program offered fresh and exciting opportunities that mark a new development in the use of the predict-observe-explain strategy in science education. The findings have implications for authentic technology-mediated learning in science classrooms.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ed. D.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2005. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Feb. 13, 2006). Thesis advisor: Colleen P. Gilrane. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> To prepare students to disentangle the complicated environmental, social, and economic challenges exacerbated by the previous generation and propose effective solutions, they need to be taught the necessary knowledge and skills. Education for Sustainability (EfS) is one such modality. Organizations such as the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, Shelburne Farms, and the US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development have opened the doors for EfS in the K-12 education system; however, curriculum to address these standards has not yet fully been developed. Furthermore, EfS curriculum that aligns to state and national standards needs to be written so that teachers can then use it in their courses and cultivate systems thinking skills in all learners. The primary objective of this project is to propose a high school level biology curriculum that uses an EfS lens to enhance core science content. A comparison of five EfS curricular frameworks was conducted and the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education&rsquo;s EfS Standards &amp; Performance Indicators was selected as the primary reference for the sustainability lens of the forthcoming curriculum. The proposed high school biology curriculum focuses on two Next Generation Science Standards themes: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems and Natural Selection and Evolution. This curriculum integrates many EfS themes. The dynamics of systems and change and inventing and affecting the future are the two most prominently explored EfS themes in the curriculum. </p>

<p> The goal of this study is to determine where interest in biology is created, reinforced, or diminished in education. The online, Qualtrics created survey was launched on October first, 2017 until October twenty-fifth, 2017 to students enrolled as freshmen in the biology program, undergraduate seniors in the biology program, and graduate students of the biology program. There were 197 participants in all, and they were asked to respond retrospectively to a variety of questions dealing with their background, interest, and motivation in biology. Results from the survey questions were grouped and analyzed based on six research questions of the study and the hypotheses from these were supported, partially supported, or not supported. We determined that: (1) subjects' perceptions of hands-on lab classes, field work, outdoor experiences and research all helped push college students to pursue a college biology degree; (2) subjects did not attribute their decision to study the field of biology to their family members, but did attribute their decision to other significant people in their lives with strong biological experience, degrees, or expertise; (3) subjects did not believe that other content-related, nontraditional experiences such as STEM camps, community service opportunities, and research opportunities had a positive influence on their desire to go into biology or assisted them in learning in the college biology curriculum; (4) subjects believe that college courses with hands-on activities, classes with labs, field work, outdoor labs and undergraduate research will help them to succeed or persist in their college biology degree; (5) subjects believe that biology labs positively influence their self-confidence in biology and help them better perform in science; (6) subjects do not believe the best protocols in laboratories are inquiry-based, as compared to step-by-step methods. </p><p>

abstract: Previous studies have shown that adequate content knowledge is a necessary, but not sufficient, requirement for affective teaching. While legislation requests teachers to be "highly qualified" in a subject area, such as physics, many teachers are frequently asked to teach in an area when they are not certified through a teaching license to do so. This study uses mixed methods to examine the knowledge of beginning physics teachers. Through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and concept maps, the pedagogical content knowledge, subject matter knowledge, and practices of three groups of beginning secondary physics teachers were explored. Data were analyzed qualitatively using cases and quantitatively using descriptive statistics and t-tests, the results of which were combined during the interpretation phase of the research process. The study indicated that, over the first two years of teaching, the in-field group of teachers showed stronger physics content knowledge, a consideration for student difficulties with physics topics, and a positive shift in pedagogical content knowledge impacted by working with students, as compared to the rest of the teachers in the study. This research has implications in the development of secondary physics teachers and in the field of physics education research. Specifically, this research has implications in the physics content support for beginning secondary science teachers, the novice/expert research in physics education research, and the pedagogical preparation of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty in physics. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2010

<p> Achieving and maintaining student engagement within a classroom are issues educators have dealt with since the inception of formal educational systems. The effects of seating arrangements on the classroom ecology have often been an area of concern for teachers. Recently a new trend in education called flexible seating has emerged. Flexible seating consists of a variety of alternative seating options. Proponents of flexible seating allege it creates an environment that decreases off-task behaviors which increases student outcomes through attentiveness. The purpose of this study is to understand how the effects of a flexible seating arrangement impact the ecology of the at-risk secondary classrooms, and to explore advantages and disadvantages of flexible seating in these classrooms. The study&rsquo;s findings are taken from teacher interviews and observations within two at-risk secondary classrooms. The results demonstrate flexible seating increases the democracy in the classroom creating a feeling of well- being and allows self-regulation. However, based on this study educators are advised to learn their students&rsquo; needs and remember the nature of the task should influence the seating arrangement as well. </p><p> <i><b>Key Words:</b></i> flexible seating, traditional seating, at-risk, school ecology, on-task behaviors, off-task behaviors, engagement </p><p>