Keynote speaker
Lawrence B. Flick
Reform or Revolution? Undergraduate Science Education in Diverse Contexts of Learning
Dean, College of Education, and Professor, Science and Mathematics Education in Partnership with College of Science, Oregon State University
Science education at all levels is embedded in large systems that are being challenged by the rapid growth of information technologies. While the existence of these technologies depends in part on university science education, delivering that education is slow to respond to the implications of that technology. Governance and reward structures draw faculty away from engagement with undergraduates even as science education is promoted as an essential for all students. Research is building our knowledge about effective teaching and learning both in and outside the classroom, yet inertia of the system threatens to dampen or swallow innovation. We are experiencing a revolution in the contexts of learning that may bring a full-scale cultural change in the way faculty interact with students to promote understanding in science.
Keynote speaker
David Hammer
The Challenges and Possibilities of Meaningful Assessment in Large Lecture Introductory Physics
David Hammer, Professor, Departments of Education and Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University
Much of the difficulty in assessing student learning, in undergraduate science or earlier, is that assessment is part of what students should be learning to do. The practices of science are all about assessing the quality of ideas about the natural world, both at the level of the community knowledge (“can we conclude there is a Higgs boson?”) and at the level of individual understanding (“have I sufficiently understood Dr. X’s counter-argument?”). Unfortunately, testing in schools often encourages students to assess knowledge and understanding by authority.
In this talk, I discuss research regarding the need for practices of assessment more closely aligned with the discipline. I will also discuss my own practices as an instructor, in large-lecture introductory physics courses in working toward meaningful assessment, both of students and by students. I cannot remotely claim to have “solved the problem,” but I can suggest possibilities.
Keynote speaker
John Dantzler
Researching Reform: Designing Studies to Understand the Impact of Reform Methods in Undergraduate Science Classrooms
John Dantzler, Educational Research, The University of Alabama
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Strand 1 Panel 1
Barbra Burke, Barbra Hoeling, Michael Page, and Edward Walton
An Ambitious Plan in Undergraduate Science STEM Education
B Burke, B Hoeling, M Page, E Walton, Cal Polytechnic State University - Pomona
Cal Poly’s STEM program is working to increase the graduation rate of STEM majors through enhanced teaching of STEM courses, and providing early discipline involvement opportunities. The California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has an enrollment of twenty thousand students, with over two thousand majors in the College of Science, and close to five thousand majors in the College of Engineering. More than 24 ethnicities and cultures are represented. For First-Time-Freshmen who enter Cal Poly Pomona in STEM disciplines, only 28.7% persist and graduate as STEM majors within six years. One study of students who left STEM indicated that there were no significant identifiable differences between students that explain why one group chose to leave SME disciplines while the others remain. High rates of student attrition seemed to be based on students’ perception of the quality and character of education in Science Math and Engineering courses, and less on students’ academic abilities. This five-year STEM program is now in its second year. Our panel will share the work, the results, the issues, and plans to affect undergraduate STEM teaching reform enhancements.
We will report results of our research and development activities in:
1. General college physics course redesign efforts
2. General College chemistry enhancements
3. Efforts to engage students in their major disciplines early in their college career
4. Concerns and Issues that challenge implementation of STEM teaching enhancements
5. Design of effective first-year experiences
6. Plans to enable implementation and sustain reform enhancements
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Strand 1 Panel 2
Paul Adams, Germaine Taggart, Zdeslav Hrepic
Beginnings to New Horizons
Paul Adams, Fort Hays State University; Germaine Taggart, Fort Hays State University, Zdeslav Hrepic, Columbus State University
Fort Hays State University became part of the NASA-NOVA network in 1997 with its effort A Model of Integrated Science and Mathematics Instruction for Preservice K-9 Teachers. This work was followed-up with another NASA-NOVA effort in 1999, Implementation and Integration of Inquiry-Based Science and Mathematics Learning for the Preparation of K-12 Teachers. These original efforts led to the modification of five courses – two in physics, one in mathematics, one in education, and one in chemistry. While the specific course adaptations done fifteen years ago have been replaced or modified as the original faculty have retired or moved on to other positions, the impact of this effort is still present on the campus with the remaining faculty team and at other institutions for the faculty that have left Fort Hays State University. The panel session will examine how these initial efforts were used to engage faculty members in improving undergraduate education beyond the original NASA-NOVA team in improving undergraduate education, serve as a hot bed for collaboration and course development that led to two NSF grants, changes in faculty teaching and assessment styles, publications related to our work, continuing development of new courses (four at present), and improvement in teaching undergraduate science teaching and undergraduate research at Fort Hays State University (KS) and Columbus University (GA).
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Strand 2
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Corinne H. Lardy and Cheryl Mason
Impact of reformed courses on the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of preservice and inservice elementary teachers
Corinne H. Lardy and Cheryl Mason, San Diego State University
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of reformed undergraduate science courses developed through NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA) on preservice and inservice elementary teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, this study examines subsequent relationships among participating inservice elementary teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, beliefs about their own and ideal science teaching practices, and observed science teaching practices. Eighty-five elementary teachers, 38 university faculty, and 190 undergraduate students from across the United States participated in this study. Data were collected during intensive on-site visits using the Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP), semi-structured interviews, and the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI-A). From the data set, eight case studies of inservice elementary teachers were examined in closer detail. Results indicate that participants’ levels of science teaching self-efficacy beliefs were both positively and negatively impacted by the reformed courses. Participants reported that they gained more confidence in their ability to teach science effectively from courses that (a) explicitly connected the science content to the teaching of that content, (b) gave students opportunities to teach the content to others, and (c) sparked students’ interest in the content. Reformed courses may have influenced some individuals to have lower levels of self-efficacy by making them realize how much they do not know about science teaching. A clear relationship was not evident between science teaching self-efficacy and reformed science teaching; teachers with high STEBI scores were just as likely to be observed teaching in a reformed manner as teachers with low levels of self-efficacy. However, interviews and observations revealed additional possible relationships between self-efficacy and teaching and how levels of efficacy beliefs manifested themselves in different ways with different teachers. This study demonstrates the importance of using qualitative data to support quantitative data when studying self-efficacy beliefs of teachers and mechanisms for increasing efficacy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------Kadir Demir
Promoting Conceptual Change Through Course Design: Supporting the Physics Content Development of Pre-Service Teachers
Will Stoll; Kadir Demir; Brett Criswell, Department of Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology, Georgia State University
The focus of this paper is the development of a unique physics course at Georgia State University to produce pre-service secondary science teachers who have the capability of facilitating deep conceptual understanding in high-school physics students – a course which has been developed through the true collaborative efforts of faculty from the College of Arts & Sciences and from the College of Education, and which gives appropriately-apportioned attention to both physics content and physics pedagogy. A brief overview of the development process of the course will be highlighted starting as an ad hoc effort of ‘guest lectures’ in a physics class highlighting the research promoting conceptual change to its current form as a formalized course that purposefully weaves together the physics content with the discussion of models of teaching for conceptual change. The unique curriculum incorporated which purposefully focuses on the concept acquisition of the physics principles of mechanics, heat transfer, and waves within the context of conceptual change teaching strategies [e.g. Clement’s (1993) work on bridging analogies, diSessa’s (1993) p-prims model and Slotta’s and Chi’s (2006) ontological misclassification framework] will be presented. In addition, the nature of the collaboration behind the physics and science education faculty will be detailed highlighting the conceptual change occurring through the process. This overview of the course is presented as the groundwork for a proposed study to examine the initial implementation of the course this summer.
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Mike Odell
Alignment of High School and College STEM Curricula
Mike Odell, University of Texas at Tyler
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Hosi Karzai
IMPACT’s Role in Improving undergraduate STEM Education at Purdue University
H. Karsai, D. Attaro, C. Bristol, J. Campbell, T. Doan, F. Dooley, M. Latour, G. Weaver, C. Weil, D. Whittaker and R. Lindell, IMPACT, Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation, Purdue University
IMPACT, Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation, is a Provost-led initiative at Purdue University designed to fund research-based course redesign throughout the university. Unlike other university transformation projects that focus on individual courses or departments, Purdue’s initiative focuses on transforming courses across the campus. The goals of the Purdue IMPACT program are to 1) Focus the campus culture on student-centered pedagogy and student successes; 2) Enable faculty-led course redesign with campus-wide resources; 3) Network faculty through Faculty Learning Communities; 4) Base course redesign on best practices and sound research; 5) Grow and sustain IMPACT by adding new IMPACT faculty fellows annually and 6) Assess and disseminate results to benefit future courses and students. To accomplish these goals, cohorts of faculty have been recruited to participate in weekly workshops and to work in a partnership with a development team to transform their courses. To date, two cohorts of faculty have completed this process. Of the 30 courses currently undergoing transformation, 20 have been in STEM fields. In this talk I will give an overview of the IMPACT process and discuss how this innovative program has helped transform several of Purdue’s large enrollment STEM courses.
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Rebecca Lindell
A Research-Based Transformation of Purdue’s Modern Mechanics Course
R. Lindell, J. Doyle, M. Kagan, J. Steckloff, A. Szewciw, M. Haugen and A. Hirsch, Department of Physics Purdue University
Purdue’s introductory calculus-based physics course, Modern Mechanics, utilizes the Matter and Interaction curriculum by Chabay and Sherwood. Incorporating the results of modern physics, this text presents an alternative approach to presenting the physics content, specifically utilizing a few fundamental principles to explain modern mechanics. In addition, students learn how to visualize physics using computational modeling. We have spent the last year researching ways to transform how we teach this course by utilizing many of the approaches developed by Physics Education Research (PER) and other education researchers. Specific interest was spent on how to make this course more interactive and integrated. In this talk we will present the learning theory behind our research-based model for this transformed course as well as examples of the materials we have developed/ adapted for use with this talk. In addition, we will present our solutions to the four key issues that must be addressed by any transformed course: Development, Implementation, Evaluation and Sustainability.
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Josephine Taylor
Cooking From Scratch: Development of Inquiry Based Activities for the General Microbiology Laboratory
Josephine Taylor, Stephen C. Wagner, and Sarah Canterberry, Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX
Undergraduate students rarely gain direct exposure to vital tools used in microbiology. This paper reports on a series of laboratory exercises developed to engage general microbiology students in hands-on, investigative activities involving research techniques. After training on brightfield microscopes, the class met in the electron microscopy center where they learned about preparing specimens for viewing and how to operate both scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The students then worked in teams to interpret electron micrographs of bacteria and fungi. Pre/post testing revealed that all 17 students improved in their level of knowledge as a result of the activity. The mean test score rose from 44% to 70%; the range of improvement was from 10 – 36%, with a mean value of 26%. In a lab on bacterial transformation, students focused on the work of Lydia Villa-Komaroff, a pioneering Hispanic biotechnologist. In 1978 she was the first to transform bacteria to produce human insulin. Students used procedures similar to those developed by Villa-Komaroff and her colleagues to transform Escherchia coli to express Green Fluorescent Protein. Student pre- and post-test data for this approach are currently being analyzed and will be reported in this paper. Our results indicate that the time it took to develop and conduct these “cooking from scratch” activities was well spent. Students were effectively engaged through active learning, improved in their content knowledge, and gained appreciation for the research techniques. In the future we plan to expand the number of laboratory exercises where we employ this type of approach.
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Kathleen Hill
Identifying shifts in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): Outcomes of a “Scientific Teaching” course for biology graduate teaching assistants at a large research university
Kathleen Hill, Arizona State University
In the fall of 2011, the School of Life Sciences (SoLS) at Arizona State University launched an “Innovative TA” program in an effort to support preparing future biology faculty in effective undergraduate science teaching. The program was designed such that selected biology graduate students were provided with opportunities to design and implement curriculum that makes use of innovative teaching strategies. During the spring of 2012, “Innovative TAs” participated in a semester-long course designed to provide opportunities for graduate TAs explore effective teaching strategies. The initial course offering was considered as a pilot study leading to a larger research project to be conducted in the following academic year. Evidence provided in TA responses and work products during the pilot study supports a positive shift in the graduate students’ pedagogical knowledge. Future plans for the TA training include maintaining a similar course design while integrating the use of technology and supporting the implementation of effective teaching strategies within different contexts. A mixed-methods study will be conducted during the 2012-2013 academic year with data collection designed to document and explore changes in PCK among graduate biology TAs following the training program.
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Peter Holden
Combating ‘One and Done’: Maximizing the Impact of an Undergraduate Science Course
Peter Holden, Graduate Program in Instructional Design, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA and The Design Bureau, Sharon, Massachusetts, USA
A significant number of undergraduate students not majoring in science limit their college science exposure to one course due to negative feelings and anxieties about science. This decision is often reinforced by programmatic constraints and overloaded general education requirements that squeeze science from the curriculum. When the students in question aspire to careers in education, this ‘one and done’ phenomenon is particularly problematic. To address the situation as manifest at Wheelock College, I created and taught an inquiry-based, earth science-themed course for undergraduate students with the goal of efficiently addressing fundamental aspects of science, student attitudes and student learning. The overarching learning goals of the course include:
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Gene Byrd
An Online Undergraduate Astronomy Lab Course
Gene Byrd, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama
An online undergraduate astronomy lab course taught since the start of 2009 will be described. This is a companion to an online “lecture” astronomy course. Compared to the lecture course, it was more of a challenge to create an online lab course. However, it turns out that astronomy is well suited for this format. The core curriculum learner objectives adopted by our Department of Physics and Astronomy were used in writing the course. In the context of these, specific active objectives were written for each of twelve lab exercises. This course emphasizes non-virtual observations and experiments when possible. To identify objects for observation and photography, students use a “classic” Edmund Scientific Co. paper “star wheel” and/or the free Stellarium PC planetarium software. Posted images from digital cameras and phones facilitate submitting, sharing and grading observations. A lens and tube kit is used to explore optics and the functions of a telescope. A simple but steady home-made mounting has been developed for the assembled telescope. With their camera, the star maps and the kit telescope, the students are expected to observe and photograph the Moon, planets and bright stars. More ambitious students try for star clusters and galaxies. Beyond imaging, with their cameras and a diffraction grating, students can photograph, identify and submit spectra of different sources. A “pin-hole” protractor is used for table-top angular size vs distance and stellar parallax experiments. Students submit for grading prose answers, data calculations, drawings and photos in an “observational notebook”. In addition, class discussion among students, open book multiple choice assessments and, lastly, a closed book proctored multiple choice final exam are used in grading. A grant from the University of Alabama College of Continuing Students supported the author’s preparation of this course.
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Omolola Adedokun
How do Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences Compare to Other Models?
Omolola Adedokun, Ann Bessenbacher, Loran Parker, Amy Childress, Lisa Kirkham, Dorothy Teegarden & Wilella Burgess
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been shown to be effective in recruiting, retaining and graduating students, especially underrepresented minorities, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors. A variety of URE program models exist across American colleges and universities. Despite the wide range of URE models, current URE research and evaluation rarely considers differences in models when examining student experiences and outcomes in research programs. The goal of the current paper is to compare the impact of URE structure on student outcomes.
The study uses a nonequivalent pre-post control group design to compare program outcomes among four models of URE participation: summer term, single academic semester, two academic semesters, and full academic year. The analyses revealed no significant group differences in program outcomes between summer and single semester participants. However, compared to the summer group, students that participated for two academic semesters reported higher gains in awareness of available research career opportunities and writing research papers for publications. Similarly, participants in yearlong experiences reported higher gains than the summer participants in research skills, understanding of research procedures, and awareness of available research career opportunities and awareness of specialized research career options. The limitations of the study and implications for undergraduate STEM education are discussed.
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Maya Patel
Learning Inquiry and Nature of Science through Undergraduate Research: Mentoring Matters
Maya Patel, Biology Department, Ithaca College
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have the potential to involve students in authentic, cutting-edge scientific inquiry. While research has shown that UREs can be effective in recruiting and retaining students and increasing students’ confidence to do research, the literature on science-learning through undergraduate research is scant. My research investigated what students learned about the practice of scientific inquiry and the natures of scientific knowledge (NOS) and inquiry (NOSI) through participation in summer UREs in cutting edge biotechnology laboratories. I also explored the types of research projects and intern-mentor transactions taking place in the UREs to explain students’ learning outcomes. I employed a mixed-methods approach involving a pre-post assessment of gains and an exploratory investigation of the laboratory research situations. In general, interns’ independent practice of inquiry was of the most basic skills, though their guided practice included many of the more advanced inquiry skills important in developing scientific thinking. While few interns made gains in understandings about NOS, many made gains in understandings about NOSI. NOSI gains were associated with greater autonomy and independent practice of advanced inquiry skills. The exploratory investigation found that mentors played a critical role in determining the type of research project and in driving the intern-mentor transaction. These in turn, contributed to intern’s learning outcomes. For example, multifaceted research projects (both observational and hypothesis-driven) provided more opportunities to practice advanced aspects of inquiry. Interns engaged in more indeterminate projects, where methods were less prescribed and outcomes less predictable, generally made greater gains in understandings about NOSI.
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Paul Adams
A Curriculum Experiment in Climate Change Education Using an Integrated Approach of Content Knowledge Instruction and Student-Driven Research, Year 2
Paul Adams, Fort Hays State University
One of the greatest challenges facing the world is climate change. Coupled with this challenge is an under-informed population that has not received a rigorous education about climate change other than what is available through the media. Fort Hays State University is in a second year of piloting a course on climate change targeted to students early in their academic careers. The course is modeled after our past work (NSF DUE-0088818) of integrating content knowledge instruction and student-driven research where there was a positive correlation between student research engagement and student knowledge gains. The second pilot offering utilizes a mix of inquiry-based instruction, problem-based learning, and student-driven research to educate and engage the students in understanding climate change. The course was collaboratively developed by a geoscientist and science educator. The course model is unique in that 50% of the course is dedicated to developing core knowledge and technical skills (e.g. global climate change, critical analysis, writing, data acquisition, data representation, and research design), and 50% to conducting a research project using available data sets from federal agencies and research groups. A key element of the course is a focus on data sets to make climate change relevant to the students. The impacts of course changes from the first offering to the second offering significantly improved student performance in research and understanding of climate change concepts. The course design has potential to improve student understanding and research skills in undergraduate students at other institutions.
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Lin Ding
Teaching Undergraduate Physics through a Research-based Clicker Methodology
Lin Ding, Physics Department, The Ohio State University
Abstract: Student personal response systems, also known as clickers, have been widely used in undergraduate science classrooms to engage students in active learning. In physics, a number of clicker resources that target students’ conceptual understanding are available. These materials typically are individual questions that are discretely designed and used, with each addressing a distinct concept. Differing from the traditional materials, a new clicker methodology is developed and tested in our studies based on the theory of contextualized learning. Specifically, we have created coherent sequences of clicker questions; within each sequence 3-4 seemingly disparate questions are systematically crafted to address the same underlying key concept but are embedded into different contexts. Through consistent exposure to these sequences, students are trained to flexibly seek and apply learned core concepts across diverse situations; thus effectively reducing their difficulties associated with context-dependent learning. Following this sequence-based clicker methodology, we have created, validated, and implemented ~150 question sequences, sufficient in number to cover the entire introductory physics. Empirical results from real classroom implementation and testing show our clicker materials have significantly increased students’ conceptual understanding--measured by concept inventories--as well as enhanced their learning interest.
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Dana Byrd
You can learn a lot about teaching undergraduates from preschoolers
Dana Byrd,Texas A&M University at Kingsville and Gene Byrd, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama
Research on student learning and teaching requires a rigorously defined and well-tested task. The “Tower of London” puzzle is a well-tested problem-solving task requiring multi-step planning toward a solution. Also, enthusiastic participants with few confounding factors are needed. Four and five year-old preschoolers are starting multistep reasoning and provide good subjects. The Tower of London task with increased levels of complexity has been used up through older adults for cognitive ability testing. One important well-substantiated finding of the preschooler research studies is that talking about future moves (rather than just making moves) greatly improves children’s performance on the task. We will discuss future strategies for on-line and regular undergraduate courses inspired by these results. We have already carried out a preliminary modification of a University of Alabama on-line introductory astronomy course taking into account these results. The primary task is answering a closed-book multiple choice exam on subject matter presented by lectures and text readings. The course has a large set of specific learning objectives used in writing the lectures and exam questions. Previously, students simply answered the multiple choice questions after the lectures and readings. In a preliminary application of the above studies, short answer or brief essay questions were added to the course each related to the course learning objectives. The students were encouraged to prepare and submit as an extra credit assignment their answers to these questions. This would correspond to the preschoolers’ “talking to themselves” about steps in the task. We will compare the multiple choice final exam scores of class sections prior to and after this writing assignment was included.
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He Qinghua (Peter)
Bridging Gaps between Research and Education in Biofuel Technologies
Rong Zhang, Auburn University, Frank Armstead, Tuskegee University, Q. Peter He, Tuskegee University, and Jin Wang, Auburn University
There are very limited biofuels courses or programs devoted to engineering undergraduate education. This lack of engineering biofuels education was also noted in, which concluded that there is a large void of biorenewable curricula in U.S. colleges and universities. One specific evidence of such shortage is that, during the ten years between 1998-2007, among thousands of papers presented at the national American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conferences (http://www.asee.org), only 25 papers were related to biofuels education. Contrary to the lack of efforts in biofuels education for engineering undergraduates, there are enormous specialized research centers on biofuels technologies established in the past few years, especially in the chemical engineering field. These research centers mainly focus on advanced research and graduate/post-graduate education in engineering. The research results generated from these centers are usually published on scientific journals, which involve high levels of technical knowledge and complexities that only specialized scientists can understand. As a result, the available biofuels educational materials are quite dispersed and no single comprehensive literature source on biofuels processes exists that is suitable for engineering undergraduate education. Consequently, there is a significant gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education in engineering. In this work, we will first discuss the need of biofuels education in engineering and the gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education. Then we will talk about why among different engineering majors, chemical engineering is in a unique position to address this educational need. Existing efforts will be reviewed and their drawbacks will be discussed. Finally we will present our proposed solutions that address different learning styles. We will also discuss how the proposed solutions enhance students’ active learning and engagement.
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Strand 3
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Horowitz
Improving Student Outcomes in Organic Chemistry Through Action Research
Gail Horowitz, and Laura A. Rabin, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Action research conducted in an Organic Chemistry classroom at a large, urban, public university has demonstrated that encouraging academic help seeking behavior (a type of self-regulated learning) improves student outcomes especially for students who enter the course with weaker Chemistry backgrounds. Implications for other science courses and for similar student populations (first generation to attend college) will be discussed.
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Penny Gilmer
Learning through Action Research While Teaching Undergraduate Science
Penny Gilmer, Florida State University
Using cultural historical activity theory as the theoretical framework, I conducted action research in an upper division undergraduate biochemistry class, focused on improved student interest and learning using collaborative groups and technology. Each collaborative team developed ten web sites on major themes taught in first semester biochemistry and presented three of these sites in class. The factors that enhanced the students’ interest and learning of biochemistry included communities, tools, and division of labor, while the rules within the university tended to diminish interest and learning. Using ethnographic, autobiographical, fictional, and metalogic lenses, I learned from the action research to improve my teaching. I contacted students I could find ten years after the course and found ways the experimental course influenced them.
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Strand 4
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Mike Odell
Brief Overview of the NASA/NOVA Faculty Professional Development Program – 1995-2006
Mike Odell, University of Texas at Tyler
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Dennis Sunal
National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science: 2006-2012 – What Was Learned
Dennis Sunal, Cynthia Sunal, Donna Turner, Erika M. Steele, The University of Alabama;Cheryl L. Mason, Corrinne Lardy, San Diego State University; Dean Zollman, Kansas State University;Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar, Winona State University; Sytil Murphy; Shephard University
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Donna Turner
Investigating the Impact of Professional Development on the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of University Faculty
Donna Turner, The University of Alabama
This study explored the long-term impact of a ten year professional development project geared towards science education reform on the pedagogical content knowledge of university faculty that participated in this project. On-site case studies were completed with 35 faculty instructors teaching entry-level undergraduate science courses at 19 higher education institutions. The sample was selected from a national population of diverse colleges and universities that had undergone reform in one or more of their undergraduate science courses. The data collection protocol involved classroom observations, interviews, semi-structured interviews, and field notes from multiple instruments and sources. Data were collected during on-site visits from university faculty instructors and their undergraduate students. Quantitative and qualitative analysis identified variations in faculty instructors’ PCK regarding their intended and enacted teaching goals, instruction, and rationale for teaching a specific science concept in observed science lessons. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data revealed significant pedagogical differences between faculty who participated in the NASA/NOVA professional development project and those who did not. Moreover, the following characteristics regarding the pedagogical content knowledge of faculty instructors who participated in the NASA/NOVA project emerged: (1) content knowledge regarding the science concept taught and observed during instruction; (2) orientations consistent with reform instruction advocated by the National Science Education Standards for effective science teaching; (3) purposeful selection of activities that best engender student understanding of specific science concepts; and (4) reflective practitioner.
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Erika Steele
The Impact of Science Education Reform on Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment
Erika Steele, The University of Alabama
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Mojgan Mattloob
Students’ Reasoning and the Level of Interactivity in Science Content Courses
Dean A. Zollman, Kansas State University, Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar, Winona State University
Sytil Murphy, Shepherd University
As part of a study of the NSEUS national study, we investigated the quality of students’ reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses were measured to be interactive. First, we devised written content exam questions, which were open ended and required students to apply recently learned concepts in a new context. All the questions developed were based on a common template that required students to recognize and generalize the relevant facts or concepts and apply them. To evaluate students’ answers, we developed a rubric based on Bloom’s taxonomy as revised and expanded by Anderson et al. Along with analyzing students’ reasoning, we visited 20 universities, observed the courses and used the RTOP to determine their level of interactivity. Statistical analyses indicate some relationship between the students’ reasoning on the exams and the level of interaction in the class.
Keywords: interactivity, reasoning, pre-service
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Corinne Lardy
Impact of reformed courses on the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of preservice and inservice elementary teachers
Corinne Lardy and Cheryl L. Mason, San Diego State University
Lawrence B. Flick
Reform or Revolution? Undergraduate Science Education in Diverse Contexts of Learning
Dean, College of Education, and Professor, Science and Mathematics Education in Partnership with College of Science, Oregon State University
Science education at all levels is embedded in large systems that are being challenged by the rapid growth of information technologies. While the existence of these technologies depends in part on university science education, delivering that education is slow to respond to the implications of that technology. Governance and reward structures draw faculty away from engagement with undergraduates even as science education is promoted as an essential for all students. Research is building our knowledge about effective teaching and learning both in and outside the classroom, yet inertia of the system threatens to dampen or swallow innovation. We are experiencing a revolution in the contexts of learning that may bring a full-scale cultural change in the way faculty interact with students to promote understanding in science.
Keynote speaker
David Hammer
The Challenges and Possibilities of Meaningful Assessment in Large Lecture Introductory Physics
David Hammer, Professor, Departments of Education and Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University
Much of the difficulty in assessing student learning, in undergraduate science or earlier, is that assessment is part of what students should be learning to do. The practices of science are all about assessing the quality of ideas about the natural world, both at the level of the community knowledge (“can we conclude there is a Higgs boson?”) and at the level of individual understanding (“have I sufficiently understood Dr. X’s counter-argument?”). Unfortunately, testing in schools often encourages students to assess knowledge and understanding by authority.
In this talk, I discuss research regarding the need for practices of assessment more closely aligned with the discipline. I will also discuss my own practices as an instructor, in large-lecture introductory physics courses in working toward meaningful assessment, both of students and by students. I cannot remotely claim to have “solved the problem,” but I can suggest possibilities.
Keynote speaker
John Dantzler
Researching Reform: Designing Studies to Understand the Impact of Reform Methods in Undergraduate Science Classrooms
John Dantzler, Educational Research, The University of Alabama
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Strand 1 Panel 1
Barbra Burke, Barbra Hoeling, Michael Page, and Edward Walton
An Ambitious Plan in Undergraduate Science STEM Education
B Burke, B Hoeling, M Page, E Walton, Cal Polytechnic State University - Pomona
Cal Poly’s STEM program is working to increase the graduation rate of STEM majors through enhanced teaching of STEM courses, and providing early discipline involvement opportunities. The California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has an enrollment of twenty thousand students, with over two thousand majors in the College of Science, and close to five thousand majors in the College of Engineering. More than 24 ethnicities and cultures are represented. For First-Time-Freshmen who enter Cal Poly Pomona in STEM disciplines, only 28.7% persist and graduate as STEM majors within six years. One study of students who left STEM indicated that there were no significant identifiable differences between students that explain why one group chose to leave SME disciplines while the others remain. High rates of student attrition seemed to be based on students’ perception of the quality and character of education in Science Math and Engineering courses, and less on students’ academic abilities. This five-year STEM program is now in its second year. Our panel will share the work, the results, the issues, and plans to affect undergraduate STEM teaching reform enhancements.
We will report results of our research and development activities in:
1. General college physics course redesign efforts
2. General College chemistry enhancements
3. Efforts to engage students in their major disciplines early in their college career
4. Concerns and Issues that challenge implementation of STEM teaching enhancements
5. Design of effective first-year experiences
6. Plans to enable implementation and sustain reform enhancements
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Strand 1 Panel 2
Paul Adams, Germaine Taggart, Zdeslav Hrepic
Beginnings to New Horizons
Paul Adams, Fort Hays State University; Germaine Taggart, Fort Hays State University, Zdeslav Hrepic, Columbus State University
Fort Hays State University became part of the NASA-NOVA network in 1997 with its effort A Model of Integrated Science and Mathematics Instruction for Preservice K-9 Teachers. This work was followed-up with another NASA-NOVA effort in 1999, Implementation and Integration of Inquiry-Based Science and Mathematics Learning for the Preparation of K-12 Teachers. These original efforts led to the modification of five courses – two in physics, one in mathematics, one in education, and one in chemistry. While the specific course adaptations done fifteen years ago have been replaced or modified as the original faculty have retired or moved on to other positions, the impact of this effort is still present on the campus with the remaining faculty team and at other institutions for the faculty that have left Fort Hays State University. The panel session will examine how these initial efforts were used to engage faculty members in improving undergraduate education beyond the original NASA-NOVA team in improving undergraduate education, serve as a hot bed for collaboration and course development that led to two NSF grants, changes in faculty teaching and assessment styles, publications related to our work, continuing development of new courses (four at present), and improvement in teaching undergraduate science teaching and undergraduate research at Fort Hays State University (KS) and Columbus University (GA).
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Strand 2
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Corinne H. Lardy and Cheryl Mason
Impact of reformed courses on the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of preservice and inservice elementary teachers
Corinne H. Lardy and Cheryl Mason, San Diego State University
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of reformed undergraduate science courses developed through NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA) on preservice and inservice elementary teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, this study examines subsequent relationships among participating inservice elementary teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, beliefs about their own and ideal science teaching practices, and observed science teaching practices. Eighty-five elementary teachers, 38 university faculty, and 190 undergraduate students from across the United States participated in this study. Data were collected during intensive on-site visits using the Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP), semi-structured interviews, and the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI-A). From the data set, eight case studies of inservice elementary teachers were examined in closer detail. Results indicate that participants’ levels of science teaching self-efficacy beliefs were both positively and negatively impacted by the reformed courses. Participants reported that they gained more confidence in their ability to teach science effectively from courses that (a) explicitly connected the science content to the teaching of that content, (b) gave students opportunities to teach the content to others, and (c) sparked students’ interest in the content. Reformed courses may have influenced some individuals to have lower levels of self-efficacy by making them realize how much they do not know about science teaching. A clear relationship was not evident between science teaching self-efficacy and reformed science teaching; teachers with high STEBI scores were just as likely to be observed teaching in a reformed manner as teachers with low levels of self-efficacy. However, interviews and observations revealed additional possible relationships between self-efficacy and teaching and how levels of efficacy beliefs manifested themselves in different ways with different teachers. This study demonstrates the importance of using qualitative data to support quantitative data when studying self-efficacy beliefs of teachers and mechanisms for increasing efficacy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------Kadir Demir
Promoting Conceptual Change Through Course Design: Supporting the Physics Content Development of Pre-Service Teachers
Will Stoll; Kadir Demir; Brett Criswell, Department of Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology, Georgia State University
The focus of this paper is the development of a unique physics course at Georgia State University to produce pre-service secondary science teachers who have the capability of facilitating deep conceptual understanding in high-school physics students – a course which has been developed through the true collaborative efforts of faculty from the College of Arts & Sciences and from the College of Education, and which gives appropriately-apportioned attention to both physics content and physics pedagogy. A brief overview of the development process of the course will be highlighted starting as an ad hoc effort of ‘guest lectures’ in a physics class highlighting the research promoting conceptual change to its current form as a formalized course that purposefully weaves together the physics content with the discussion of models of teaching for conceptual change. The unique curriculum incorporated which purposefully focuses on the concept acquisition of the physics principles of mechanics, heat transfer, and waves within the context of conceptual change teaching strategies [e.g. Clement’s (1993) work on bridging analogies, diSessa’s (1993) p-prims model and Slotta’s and Chi’s (2006) ontological misclassification framework] will be presented. In addition, the nature of the collaboration behind the physics and science education faculty will be detailed highlighting the conceptual change occurring through the process. This overview of the course is presented as the groundwork for a proposed study to examine the initial implementation of the course this summer.
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Mike Odell
Alignment of High School and College STEM Curricula
Mike Odell, University of Texas at Tyler
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Hosi Karzai
IMPACT’s Role in Improving undergraduate STEM Education at Purdue University
H. Karsai, D. Attaro, C. Bristol, J. Campbell, T. Doan, F. Dooley, M. Latour, G. Weaver, C. Weil, D. Whittaker and R. Lindell, IMPACT, Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation, Purdue University
IMPACT, Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation, is a Provost-led initiative at Purdue University designed to fund research-based course redesign throughout the university. Unlike other university transformation projects that focus on individual courses or departments, Purdue’s initiative focuses on transforming courses across the campus. The goals of the Purdue IMPACT program are to 1) Focus the campus culture on student-centered pedagogy and student successes; 2) Enable faculty-led course redesign with campus-wide resources; 3) Network faculty through Faculty Learning Communities; 4) Base course redesign on best practices and sound research; 5) Grow and sustain IMPACT by adding new IMPACT faculty fellows annually and 6) Assess and disseminate results to benefit future courses and students. To accomplish these goals, cohorts of faculty have been recruited to participate in weekly workshops and to work in a partnership with a development team to transform their courses. To date, two cohorts of faculty have completed this process. Of the 30 courses currently undergoing transformation, 20 have been in STEM fields. In this talk I will give an overview of the IMPACT process and discuss how this innovative program has helped transform several of Purdue’s large enrollment STEM courses.
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Rebecca Lindell
A Research-Based Transformation of Purdue’s Modern Mechanics Course
R. Lindell, J. Doyle, M. Kagan, J. Steckloff, A. Szewciw, M. Haugen and A. Hirsch, Department of Physics Purdue University
Purdue’s introductory calculus-based physics course, Modern Mechanics, utilizes the Matter and Interaction curriculum by Chabay and Sherwood. Incorporating the results of modern physics, this text presents an alternative approach to presenting the physics content, specifically utilizing a few fundamental principles to explain modern mechanics. In addition, students learn how to visualize physics using computational modeling. We have spent the last year researching ways to transform how we teach this course by utilizing many of the approaches developed by Physics Education Research (PER) and other education researchers. Specific interest was spent on how to make this course more interactive and integrated. In this talk we will present the learning theory behind our research-based model for this transformed course as well as examples of the materials we have developed/ adapted for use with this talk. In addition, we will present our solutions to the four key issues that must be addressed by any transformed course: Development, Implementation, Evaluation and Sustainability.
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Josephine Taylor
Cooking From Scratch: Development of Inquiry Based Activities for the General Microbiology Laboratory
Josephine Taylor, Stephen C. Wagner, and Sarah Canterberry, Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX
Undergraduate students rarely gain direct exposure to vital tools used in microbiology. This paper reports on a series of laboratory exercises developed to engage general microbiology students in hands-on, investigative activities involving research techniques. After training on brightfield microscopes, the class met in the electron microscopy center where they learned about preparing specimens for viewing and how to operate both scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The students then worked in teams to interpret electron micrographs of bacteria and fungi. Pre/post testing revealed that all 17 students improved in their level of knowledge as a result of the activity. The mean test score rose from 44% to 70%; the range of improvement was from 10 – 36%, with a mean value of 26%. In a lab on bacterial transformation, students focused on the work of Lydia Villa-Komaroff, a pioneering Hispanic biotechnologist. In 1978 she was the first to transform bacteria to produce human insulin. Students used procedures similar to those developed by Villa-Komaroff and her colleagues to transform Escherchia coli to express Green Fluorescent Protein. Student pre- and post-test data for this approach are currently being analyzed and will be reported in this paper. Our results indicate that the time it took to develop and conduct these “cooking from scratch” activities was well spent. Students were effectively engaged through active learning, improved in their content knowledge, and gained appreciation for the research techniques. In the future we plan to expand the number of laboratory exercises where we employ this type of approach.
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Kathleen Hill
Identifying shifts in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): Outcomes of a “Scientific Teaching” course for biology graduate teaching assistants at a large research university
Kathleen Hill, Arizona State University
In the fall of 2011, the School of Life Sciences (SoLS) at Arizona State University launched an “Innovative TA” program in an effort to support preparing future biology faculty in effective undergraduate science teaching. The program was designed such that selected biology graduate students were provided with opportunities to design and implement curriculum that makes use of innovative teaching strategies. During the spring of 2012, “Innovative TAs” participated in a semester-long course designed to provide opportunities for graduate TAs explore effective teaching strategies. The initial course offering was considered as a pilot study leading to a larger research project to be conducted in the following academic year. Evidence provided in TA responses and work products during the pilot study supports a positive shift in the graduate students’ pedagogical knowledge. Future plans for the TA training include maintaining a similar course design while integrating the use of technology and supporting the implementation of effective teaching strategies within different contexts. A mixed-methods study will be conducted during the 2012-2013 academic year with data collection designed to document and explore changes in PCK among graduate biology TAs following the training program.
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Peter Holden
Combating ‘One and Done’: Maximizing the Impact of an Undergraduate Science Course
Peter Holden, Graduate Program in Instructional Design, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA and The Design Bureau, Sharon, Massachusetts, USA
A significant number of undergraduate students not majoring in science limit their college science exposure to one course due to negative feelings and anxieties about science. This decision is often reinforced by programmatic constraints and overloaded general education requirements that squeeze science from the curriculum. When the students in question aspire to careers in education, this ‘one and done’ phenomenon is particularly problematic. To address the situation as manifest at Wheelock College, I created and taught an inquiry-based, earth science-themed course for undergraduate students with the goal of efficiently addressing fundamental aspects of science, student attitudes and student learning. The overarching learning goals of the course include:
- Reducing anxieties and negative attitudes about science.
- Assimilation of science content knowledge.
- Improving student understanding of the nature and process of science.
- Facilitating student understanding of connections between science and other forms of inquiry.
- Developing metacognitive awareness and functioning among students.
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Gene Byrd
An Online Undergraduate Astronomy Lab Course
Gene Byrd, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama
An online undergraduate astronomy lab course taught since the start of 2009 will be described. This is a companion to an online “lecture” astronomy course. Compared to the lecture course, it was more of a challenge to create an online lab course. However, it turns out that astronomy is well suited for this format. The core curriculum learner objectives adopted by our Department of Physics and Astronomy were used in writing the course. In the context of these, specific active objectives were written for each of twelve lab exercises. This course emphasizes non-virtual observations and experiments when possible. To identify objects for observation and photography, students use a “classic” Edmund Scientific Co. paper “star wheel” and/or the free Stellarium PC planetarium software. Posted images from digital cameras and phones facilitate submitting, sharing and grading observations. A lens and tube kit is used to explore optics and the functions of a telescope. A simple but steady home-made mounting has been developed for the assembled telescope. With their camera, the star maps and the kit telescope, the students are expected to observe and photograph the Moon, planets and bright stars. More ambitious students try for star clusters and galaxies. Beyond imaging, with their cameras and a diffraction grating, students can photograph, identify and submit spectra of different sources. A “pin-hole” protractor is used for table-top angular size vs distance and stellar parallax experiments. Students submit for grading prose answers, data calculations, drawings and photos in an “observational notebook”. In addition, class discussion among students, open book multiple choice assessments and, lastly, a closed book proctored multiple choice final exam are used in grading. A grant from the University of Alabama College of Continuing Students supported the author’s preparation of this course.
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Omolola Adedokun
How do Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences Compare to Other Models?
Omolola Adedokun, Ann Bessenbacher, Loran Parker, Amy Childress, Lisa Kirkham, Dorothy Teegarden & Wilella Burgess
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been shown to be effective in recruiting, retaining and graduating students, especially underrepresented minorities, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors. A variety of URE program models exist across American colleges and universities. Despite the wide range of URE models, current URE research and evaluation rarely considers differences in models when examining student experiences and outcomes in research programs. The goal of the current paper is to compare the impact of URE structure on student outcomes.
The study uses a nonequivalent pre-post control group design to compare program outcomes among four models of URE participation: summer term, single academic semester, two academic semesters, and full academic year. The analyses revealed no significant group differences in program outcomes between summer and single semester participants. However, compared to the summer group, students that participated for two academic semesters reported higher gains in awareness of available research career opportunities and writing research papers for publications. Similarly, participants in yearlong experiences reported higher gains than the summer participants in research skills, understanding of research procedures, and awareness of available research career opportunities and awareness of specialized research career options. The limitations of the study and implications for undergraduate STEM education are discussed.
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Maya Patel
Learning Inquiry and Nature of Science through Undergraduate Research: Mentoring Matters
Maya Patel, Biology Department, Ithaca College
Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have the potential to involve students in authentic, cutting-edge scientific inquiry. While research has shown that UREs can be effective in recruiting and retaining students and increasing students’ confidence to do research, the literature on science-learning through undergraduate research is scant. My research investigated what students learned about the practice of scientific inquiry and the natures of scientific knowledge (NOS) and inquiry (NOSI) through participation in summer UREs in cutting edge biotechnology laboratories. I also explored the types of research projects and intern-mentor transactions taking place in the UREs to explain students’ learning outcomes. I employed a mixed-methods approach involving a pre-post assessment of gains and an exploratory investigation of the laboratory research situations. In general, interns’ independent practice of inquiry was of the most basic skills, though their guided practice included many of the more advanced inquiry skills important in developing scientific thinking. While few interns made gains in understandings about NOS, many made gains in understandings about NOSI. NOSI gains were associated with greater autonomy and independent practice of advanced inquiry skills. The exploratory investigation found that mentors played a critical role in determining the type of research project and in driving the intern-mentor transaction. These in turn, contributed to intern’s learning outcomes. For example, multifaceted research projects (both observational and hypothesis-driven) provided more opportunities to practice advanced aspects of inquiry. Interns engaged in more indeterminate projects, where methods were less prescribed and outcomes less predictable, generally made greater gains in understandings about NOSI.
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Paul Adams
A Curriculum Experiment in Climate Change Education Using an Integrated Approach of Content Knowledge Instruction and Student-Driven Research, Year 2
Paul Adams, Fort Hays State University
One of the greatest challenges facing the world is climate change. Coupled with this challenge is an under-informed population that has not received a rigorous education about climate change other than what is available through the media. Fort Hays State University is in a second year of piloting a course on climate change targeted to students early in their academic careers. The course is modeled after our past work (NSF DUE-0088818) of integrating content knowledge instruction and student-driven research where there was a positive correlation between student research engagement and student knowledge gains. The second pilot offering utilizes a mix of inquiry-based instruction, problem-based learning, and student-driven research to educate and engage the students in understanding climate change. The course was collaboratively developed by a geoscientist and science educator. The course model is unique in that 50% of the course is dedicated to developing core knowledge and technical skills (e.g. global climate change, critical analysis, writing, data acquisition, data representation, and research design), and 50% to conducting a research project using available data sets from federal agencies and research groups. A key element of the course is a focus on data sets to make climate change relevant to the students. The impacts of course changes from the first offering to the second offering significantly improved student performance in research and understanding of climate change concepts. The course design has potential to improve student understanding and research skills in undergraduate students at other institutions.
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Lin Ding
Teaching Undergraduate Physics through a Research-based Clicker Methodology
Lin Ding, Physics Department, The Ohio State University
Abstract: Student personal response systems, also known as clickers, have been widely used in undergraduate science classrooms to engage students in active learning. In physics, a number of clicker resources that target students’ conceptual understanding are available. These materials typically are individual questions that are discretely designed and used, with each addressing a distinct concept. Differing from the traditional materials, a new clicker methodology is developed and tested in our studies based on the theory of contextualized learning. Specifically, we have created coherent sequences of clicker questions; within each sequence 3-4 seemingly disparate questions are systematically crafted to address the same underlying key concept but are embedded into different contexts. Through consistent exposure to these sequences, students are trained to flexibly seek and apply learned core concepts across diverse situations; thus effectively reducing their difficulties associated with context-dependent learning. Following this sequence-based clicker methodology, we have created, validated, and implemented ~150 question sequences, sufficient in number to cover the entire introductory physics. Empirical results from real classroom implementation and testing show our clicker materials have significantly increased students’ conceptual understanding--measured by concept inventories--as well as enhanced their learning interest.
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Dana Byrd
You can learn a lot about teaching undergraduates from preschoolers
Dana Byrd,Texas A&M University at Kingsville and Gene Byrd, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama
Research on student learning and teaching requires a rigorously defined and well-tested task. The “Tower of London” puzzle is a well-tested problem-solving task requiring multi-step planning toward a solution. Also, enthusiastic participants with few confounding factors are needed. Four and five year-old preschoolers are starting multistep reasoning and provide good subjects. The Tower of London task with increased levels of complexity has been used up through older adults for cognitive ability testing. One important well-substantiated finding of the preschooler research studies is that talking about future moves (rather than just making moves) greatly improves children’s performance on the task. We will discuss future strategies for on-line and regular undergraduate courses inspired by these results. We have already carried out a preliminary modification of a University of Alabama on-line introductory astronomy course taking into account these results. The primary task is answering a closed-book multiple choice exam on subject matter presented by lectures and text readings. The course has a large set of specific learning objectives used in writing the lectures and exam questions. Previously, students simply answered the multiple choice questions after the lectures and readings. In a preliminary application of the above studies, short answer or brief essay questions were added to the course each related to the course learning objectives. The students were encouraged to prepare and submit as an extra credit assignment their answers to these questions. This would correspond to the preschoolers’ “talking to themselves” about steps in the task. We will compare the multiple choice final exam scores of class sections prior to and after this writing assignment was included.
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He Qinghua (Peter)
Bridging Gaps between Research and Education in Biofuel Technologies
Rong Zhang, Auburn University, Frank Armstead, Tuskegee University, Q. Peter He, Tuskegee University, and Jin Wang, Auburn University
There are very limited biofuels courses or programs devoted to engineering undergraduate education. This lack of engineering biofuels education was also noted in, which concluded that there is a large void of biorenewable curricula in U.S. colleges and universities. One specific evidence of such shortage is that, during the ten years between 1998-2007, among thousands of papers presented at the national American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conferences (http://www.asee.org), only 25 papers were related to biofuels education. Contrary to the lack of efforts in biofuels education for engineering undergraduates, there are enormous specialized research centers on biofuels technologies established in the past few years, especially in the chemical engineering field. These research centers mainly focus on advanced research and graduate/post-graduate education in engineering. The research results generated from these centers are usually published on scientific journals, which involve high levels of technical knowledge and complexities that only specialized scientists can understand. As a result, the available biofuels educational materials are quite dispersed and no single comprehensive literature source on biofuels processes exists that is suitable for engineering undergraduate education. Consequently, there is a significant gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education in engineering. In this work, we will first discuss the need of biofuels education in engineering and the gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education. Then we will talk about why among different engineering majors, chemical engineering is in a unique position to address this educational need. Existing efforts will be reviewed and their drawbacks will be discussed. Finally we will present our proposed solutions that address different learning styles. We will also discuss how the proposed solutions enhance students’ active learning and engagement.
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Strand 3
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Horowitz
Improving Student Outcomes in Organic Chemistry Through Action Research
Gail Horowitz, and Laura A. Rabin, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Action research conducted in an Organic Chemistry classroom at a large, urban, public university has demonstrated that encouraging academic help seeking behavior (a type of self-regulated learning) improves student outcomes especially for students who enter the course with weaker Chemistry backgrounds. Implications for other science courses and for similar student populations (first generation to attend college) will be discussed.
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Penny Gilmer
Learning through Action Research While Teaching Undergraduate Science
Penny Gilmer, Florida State University
Using cultural historical activity theory as the theoretical framework, I conducted action research in an upper division undergraduate biochemistry class, focused on improved student interest and learning using collaborative groups and technology. Each collaborative team developed ten web sites on major themes taught in first semester biochemistry and presented three of these sites in class. The factors that enhanced the students’ interest and learning of biochemistry included communities, tools, and division of labor, while the rules within the university tended to diminish interest and learning. Using ethnographic, autobiographical, fictional, and metalogic lenses, I learned from the action research to improve my teaching. I contacted students I could find ten years after the course and found ways the experimental course influenced them.
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Strand 4
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Mike Odell
Brief Overview of the NASA/NOVA Faculty Professional Development Program – 1995-2006
Mike Odell, University of Texas at Tyler
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Dennis Sunal
National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science: 2006-2012 – What Was Learned
Dennis Sunal, Cynthia Sunal, Donna Turner, Erika M. Steele, The University of Alabama;Cheryl L. Mason, Corrinne Lardy, San Diego State University; Dean Zollman, Kansas State University;Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar, Winona State University; Sytil Murphy; Shephard University
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Donna Turner
Investigating the Impact of Professional Development on the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of University Faculty
Donna Turner, The University of Alabama
This study explored the long-term impact of a ten year professional development project geared towards science education reform on the pedagogical content knowledge of university faculty that participated in this project. On-site case studies were completed with 35 faculty instructors teaching entry-level undergraduate science courses at 19 higher education institutions. The sample was selected from a national population of diverse colleges and universities that had undergone reform in one or more of their undergraduate science courses. The data collection protocol involved classroom observations, interviews, semi-structured interviews, and field notes from multiple instruments and sources. Data were collected during on-site visits from university faculty instructors and their undergraduate students. Quantitative and qualitative analysis identified variations in faculty instructors’ PCK regarding their intended and enacted teaching goals, instruction, and rationale for teaching a specific science concept in observed science lessons. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data revealed significant pedagogical differences between faculty who participated in the NASA/NOVA professional development project and those who did not. Moreover, the following characteristics regarding the pedagogical content knowledge of faculty instructors who participated in the NASA/NOVA project emerged: (1) content knowledge regarding the science concept taught and observed during instruction; (2) orientations consistent with reform instruction advocated by the National Science Education Standards for effective science teaching; (3) purposeful selection of activities that best engender student understanding of specific science concepts; and (4) reflective practitioner.
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Erika Steele
The Impact of Science Education Reform on Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment
Erika Steele, The University of Alabama
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Mojgan Mattloob
Students’ Reasoning and the Level of Interactivity in Science Content Courses
Dean A. Zollman, Kansas State University, Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar, Winona State University
Sytil Murphy, Shepherd University
As part of a study of the NSEUS national study, we investigated the quality of students’ reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses were measured to be interactive. First, we devised written content exam questions, which were open ended and required students to apply recently learned concepts in a new context. All the questions developed were based on a common template that required students to recognize and generalize the relevant facts or concepts and apply them. To evaluate students’ answers, we developed a rubric based on Bloom’s taxonomy as revised and expanded by Anderson et al. Along with analyzing students’ reasoning, we visited 20 universities, observed the courses and used the RTOP to determine their level of interactivity. Statistical analyses indicate some relationship between the students’ reasoning on the exams and the level of interaction in the class.
Keywords: interactivity, reasoning, pre-service
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Corinne Lardy
Impact of reformed courses on the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of preservice and inservice elementary teachers
Corinne Lardy and Cheryl L. Mason, San Diego State University