The Perceptions and Experiences of Elementary Georgia Science Ambassadors: What Educational Leaders and Policymakers Need to Know

The purpose of the study was to characterize the Georgia Science Ambassadors Program (GSAP) by investigating the perceptions and experiences of elementary-level (K-5) Georgia Science Ambassadors (GSA). The GSAP was instituted to augment the leadership capacity of science educators across the state and to support the implementation of the new Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for Science. The study explored GSA’s perceptions about how the relative distribution of leadership and support has influenced their ability to lead GSE implementation. A sample of 15 elementary-level ambassadors was purposively selected for the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Data analysis was conducted within a theoretical frame of distributed instructional leadership and systems theory. A combination of provisional, structural, and values coding was used to identify emergent themes and patterns. The findings suggested that elementary-level GSA have been largely marginalized by principals. Distribution of leadership and support to the elementary science ambassadors has been sparse and inconsistent. Even in rare cases when leadership and support were distributed to ambassadors, it was oftentimes mediated by other factors, such as time constraints, conflicting priorities, and teachers’ receptivity of the GSE. Ambassadors’ perceptions and experiences generated insights and recommendations for improving the program, orchestrating similar policy endeavors, and leading the implementation of reform-based science standards. A summary and discussion of the findings include limitations of the study, suggestions for future lines of inquiry, and the theoretical, practical, and policy implications of the study

Walking Through the Method Zoo: Does Higher Education Really Meet Software Industry Demands?

Software engineering educators are continually challenged by rapidly evolving concepts, technologies, and industry demands. Due to the omnipresence of software in a digitalized society, higher education institutions (HEIs) have to educate the students such that they learn how to learn, and that they are equipped with a profound basic knowledge and with latest knowledge about modern software and system development. Since industry demands change constantly, HEIs are challenged in meeting such current and future demands in a timely manner. This paper analyzes the current state of practice in software engineering education. Specifically, we want to compare contemporary education with industrial practice to understand if frameworks, methods and practices for software and system development taught at HEIs reflect industrial practice. For this, we conducted an online survey and collected information about 67 software engineering courses. Our findings show that development approaches taught at HEIs quite closely reflect industrial practice. We also found that the choice of what process to teach is sometimes driven by the wish to make a course successful. Especially when this happens for project courses, it could be beneficial to put more emphasis on building learning sequences with other courses

Measuring Outcomes in Competence and Confidence in Clinical Skills Through the Use of Standardized Patients

Limited literature is available concerning the use of standardized patients (SPs) in physical therapy education related to outcomes which are assessed. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects SP implementation had on first year, doctor of physical therapy (DPT) student’s communication and patient interviewing skills and their confidence in those skills. Our study utilized a comparison group, repeated measures design with the collection of four survey instruments at pre-test and two posttest time points. The instruments for our study measured general self-efficacy (GSE), task-specific self-efficacy (Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC) and Froehlich Communication Competence (FroCom) and confidence (Standardized Patient Learning Outcomes Assessment Tool for Confidence (SPLOAT). Both groups completed the survey instrument packet at all three time points, however, only the experimental group received SP encounters prior to the second and final instrument collections. General linear model repeated measures analysis was utilized and the results indicated baseline differences for the GSE, SPCC and FroCom with the experimental group having higher average scores, thus making comparisons of the groups for these measures less meaningful. Significant improvements in average overall confidence scores (SPLOAT) were evident at each collection time point for the experimental group with significant main effects for time and group. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect between time and group indicating the experimental group increased in their average overall scores ranging from moderate to substantial for all time points. The experimental group performed significantly higher on the second SP encounter compared to the first. The comparison group received no SP encounters throughout the entire study, however also showed significant increases in average overall scores from the pre-test to posttest1 collections but did not indicate significance at the pre-test to posttest2 or for the posttest1 to posttest2 collections. The increases seen in both groups could be attributed to normal maturation through the curriculum and experience over time. SPLOAT score increases were evident in both groups, however only initially for the comparison group. The SP use of the experimental group supports previous research suggesting that multiple exposures to simulation activities, such as SP, aids in the confidence improvements

Rural High School Chemistry Teachers’ Views and Implementation of Inquiry-Based Laboratory Instruction as Set Forth in the Georgia Standards of Excellence

Inquiry-based instruction within science has been a growing field for decades. The foundation of inquiry is constructivism; that students must do science in order to understand it. Instruction using inquiry is something that has been written into the Next Generation Science Standards along with many state standards, like the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). Teaching inquiry within a rural public high school chemistry setting has its own set of challenges unique to the rural context. Research is needed to give those educators a voice regarding teaching inquiry. This study utilized a mixed-methods design of survey and interviews to allow these rural public high school chemistry teachers a platform to weigh in on the feasibility of teaching standards through inquiry, methods of teaching concepts that require students to plan and carry out investigations, and their access to supplies, technology, planning, and professional development required to teach an inquiry-based unit including laboratory activities. Almost two-thirds of Georgia’s rural public high schools had at least one participant who completed the survey. Participants from the survey were then chosen to complete an interview to further discuss their experiences. The survey data showed that the majority of participants used inquiry in their classrooms in some form but desired more time and resources to implement inquiry-based instruction. Methods used to integrate inquiry in the classroom and lab varied, as expected. One finding showed that many interview participants seemed to perceive students planning and carrying out investigations as reserved for wet labs. Interview data also emphasized how much time and personal funds teachers spend on their classrooms for labs and professional development. A desire for chemistry-specific professional development resonated among survey and interview participants. The findings brought forth in this dissertation can be used to inform policies regarding professional development and continued support for rural public high school teachers. Georgia Department of Education can also use the data to help meet the expressed needs of teachers in the state. Additionally, other states can use the data presented here to begin discussions about their own rural teachers and how they can best be supported to teach chemistry using inquiry-based instruction

The Effects of Simulation on Junior Level Baccalaureate Nursing Students\u27 Self-Efficacy and Intrinsic Motivation

Nursing education is experiencing a generational phenomenon with student enrollment spanning three generations. Classrooms cultures are changing today and include some Baby Boomers and large numbers of Generation X, Generation Y, and second-degree seeking students. These culturally diverse groups of students have unique sets of learning characteristics. Given the current challenges of growing student diversity, balancing budgets, and meeting faculty shortages, nursing schools are pressed to find alternative teaching methods that are not only cost and labor saving but also effective and equitable for the diverse student groups. This quantitative, experimental research design study explored the effects of the alternative teaching methods of human patient simulation (HPS) and virtual clinical excursion (VCE) on self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of 126 culturally diverse junior level nursing students. The purpose of this study was to determine if these simulation activities were motivationally effective and equitable teaching methods for students of culturally diverse generation and degree. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) group mean score of the HPS group revealed significantly higher IMI scores than the VCE group. While many HPS subscale scores were higher, VCE scores were still on the higher end of the Lickert scale. The results did not consistently confirm that any one particular cultural demographic group benefitted more or less from either HPS or VCE experience. None of the main effects were significant for any of the general self-efficacy change scores. Only one interaction was significant: simulation type/degree status for the GSE score with midlevel degree type HPS students experiencing a largely higher mean gain in GSE between the first two assessments than those in the VCE experience. Culturally competent educators may use the findings of this study to begin a dialogue regarding appropriate simulation activities for the changing culture of nursing students. Results of this study indicated that, while overall IMI scores were higher for HPS than for VCE, both types of simulation were motivationally appropriate and effective teaching methods for all types of students, regardless of cultural demographic factors. In addition, GSE scores remained relatively constant, indicating that both types of simulation were appropriate and effective for all groups in this study

Hybridized teacher education programs in NYC: A missed opportunity?

This qualitative study describes the development of hybrid teacher preparation programs that emerged as a result of a “forced” partnership between university-based and alternative teacher preparation programs in New York City. This hybrid experiment was a short-lived, yet innovative by-product of a somewhat pragmatic arrangement between Teach for America, NYC Teaching Fellows and various universities to meet state requirements for credentialization. The institutions benefited from the arrangement but noteworthy here is the documentation of how the teacher education programs informed each other and potentially created a richer educational experience for teacher candidates than either of the programs had alone. With the development of Relay, a stand-alone, alternate graduate school, the partnership, despite its early promise, was ended. With all of its challenges, this forced partnership was characterized by creative and competitive tensions, rather than what ultimately became two parallel teacher education systems largely isolated and in competition with each other.

Promoting the Social: Cultivating Character in Urban Public Charter Elementary School

The study examined the reading and character growth of elementary school students (n = 2144) in urban public charter school classrooms (n = 88), focusing on the relationship between the students’ growth and a character-focused lesson. Reading growth, as measured by in-classroom reading assessments, and character growth, as measured by self- and teacher- report surveys focused on either grit or self-control, were the outcomes of interest. The study employed a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative methods (i.e., descriptive statistics, correlations, and multi-variable linear regression) and qualitative methods (i.e., video observations, surveys, and interviews) to both describe and better understand the relationship between these outcomes. The average reading and character growth of the students in the study was notable, with students—on average—making 1.24 years of reading progress (as measured by grade level equivalency) over one school year and demonstrating character growth beyond expectation. Students in classrooms focused on the character strength of grit grew more with respect to strength of character than did their peers in classrooms focused on self-control. Also, students demonstrating higher levels of grit grew more with respect to reading than did their peers with lower levels of grit. Counter to the study’s hypothesis, the character-focused lessons were negatively (though weakly) associated with students’ character growth. Qualitative examination of a subset of the lessons indicated that (a) grit was often positioned as the more “academic” strength, while self-control was often positioned as the more “social” strength and (b) stronger lessons may have heightened students’ reference bias, such that students had a more ambitious vision of grit or self-control as a result. In interviews with a subset of the teachers in the sample, those who led their students to notably above-average character growth all had consistent, robust character education in their schools, in stark contrast to the teachers who led their students to notably below-average character growth. The study’s findings suggest that particular non-cognitive strengths—in this case, grit—are associated with desirable academic outcomes, even in young school children, and that in-classroom and school-wide character education may help to support the growth and development of these strengths

Science Methods for Teachers

This Grants Collection for Science Methods for Teachers was created under a Round Nine ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-collections/1008/thumbnail.jp