The Role of Coherent Research-Based Curricular Unit in Mediating Students’ Integrated Vision of Human Impact on the Environment

[EN] The ongoing development of the high school ecology curricular unit presented in this proposal is a response to the new tide of educational reforms in the United States. This curricular unit represents an attempt to frame K-12 science curriculum around three dimensions: crosscutting concepts, disciplinary core ideas and scientific practices recently released in the report on a Framework for New K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012). Integration of three dimensions into the development of agriculture-related curricular unit reflects complexity and logic inherent in science education facilitating deeper conceptual understanding. The development of this curricular unit takes place under the initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project and explores the efficacy of the agriculture-related unit on students’ integrated vision of the human impact on natural systems. Research project seeks to recognize the characteristics that identify research-based curriculum (Clements, 2007). The interdisciplinary nature of this project has the potential to investigate how close adherence to features identifying research-based curriculum can support the development of coherent curricular unit mediating students’ integrated vision of environmental issues. Mediation results of this nature have larger implications on future efficacy studies of curriculum intervention.Ghalichi, N.; Roehrig, G. (2017). The Role of Coherent Research-Based Curricular Unit in Mediating Students’ Integrated Vision of Human Impact on the Environment. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 965-973. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.5489OCS96597

Environmental Topics in Physics by Inquiry Course: Integration Models Used by Physics Teachers

As we approach the second quarter of the twenty-first century, one may predict the environment will be among the dominant themes in political and educational discourse. This study investigates how three physics teachers integrated environmental topics and issues in their classroom. Data collection methods including field notes taken from observations, teachers’ interviews, and a collection of artifacts and documents were used. The data were coded, analyzed, and organized into categories utilizing Fogarty’s models of curriculum integration. Findings of this study indicate teachers acknowledge the importance of teaching environmental issues in their classrooms; however, implementing and utilizing effective integration strategies and models continues to present a challenge

Gender Equity in STEM Education: The Case of an Egyptian Girls’ School

This chapter explored gender equity in STEM education within the context of an Egyptian STEM school for girls. An intrinsic case study design was used to explore the experiences of girls in STEM from a socio-cultural perspective within a critical theory framework. The participants were STEM school graduates currently enrolled in engineering tracks in higher education institutions in the United States. Though STEM fields, especially engineering, are stereotyped as male dominated fields, Egyptian girls at a Cairo single sex STEM school pursued further studies in STEM fields. Findings show that gender gaps in STEM fields in Egypt and girls’ education and work decisions were deeply influenced by their childhood background, family education level, socioeconomic status, and idiosyncratic factors like self-efficacy and resistance. At the school level, teachers’ support, challenging STEM curriculum, dynamic formative assessment, student-centered pedagogies, female friendly teaching approaches, and a positive school environment played a great role in developing Egyptian female students’ potential to pursue STEM fields in higher education institutions

Native American Students’ Understandings of Geologic Time Scale: 4-8th Grade Students’ Understandings of Earth's Geologic History

AbstractGeologic time scales is very important concept for understanding earth system events such as global climate change. However, understanding of geologic time scale in a relationship with human history is very difficult because of relatively short period of human existence in earth history. This study shows that Native American elementary students understand geological and historical event based on relative order of earth history. They understand Earth's geological event as a sequential series. More importantly, they understand human history based on their own culture and history

Driven by Beliefs: Understanding Challenges Physical Science Teachers Face When Integrating Engineering and Physics

It is difficult to ignore the increased use of technological innovations in today’s world, which has led to various calls for the integration of engineering into K-12 science standards. The need to understand how engineering is currently being brought to science classrooms is apparent and necessary in order to address these calls for integration. This multiphase, mixed-methods study investigated the classroom practices and beliefs of high school physical science teachers following an intensive professional development on physics and engineering integration. Classroom observations showed that teachers new to incorporating engineering into their physical science classrooms often struggled to maintain focus on physics concepts, focusing instead on the development of the ‘‘soft skills’’ needed by engineers, such as teamwork or communication. Interviews and surveys further revealed the beliefs of these teachers when considering integrating engineering into physics lessons. Teachers placed student engagement and enjoyment high on their priority list when considering integrating engineering into their classroom. In addition to this somewhat driving force, three main components were identified as important when considering engineering in physical science classrooms: providing hands-on experiences for students, allowing students to apply physics concepts, and developing general problem solving skills that students can take to the ‘‘real-world.’’ While teachers identified both physics and engineering goals for their students, they realized that their students learned more about how to be an engineer. Results from this study provide insight on obstacles current science teachers face as they begin to add engineering to their classrooms. Overall, teachers are motivated to bring engineering to their classrooms as a result of student enjoyment of engineering activities. This may drive the creation of teacher goals for students and determine how emphasis is placed on different goals during these engineering design challenges. Implications for this study include ascertaining knowledge about teacher beliefs prior to professional development, fostering discussions about what integration looks like in the classroom, and modeling the creation of instructional goals that include both physics and engineering content

Using a Self-Determination Theory Approach to Understand Student Perceptions of Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based laboratory activities, as a part of science curricula, have been advocated to increase students’ learning outcomes and improve students’ learning experiences, but students sometimes struggle with open-inquiry activities. This study aims to investigate students’ perceptions of inquiry-based learning in a set of laboratory activities, specifically from a psychological (i.e., Self-Determination Theory) perspective. Students’ ratings of the level of inquiry in these activities indicate that students’ perceptions of inquiry align with the instructor-intended amount of inquiry in each exercise. Students’ written responses, explaining their ratings, indicate that students’ perceptions of the amount of inquiry in a given lab exercise relate to their feeling of freedom (or autonomy), competence, and relatedness (or support), during the inquiry-based learning activities. The results imply that instructors implementing inquiry-based learning activities should consider student motivation, and Self-Determination Theory can be a useful diagnostic tool during teaching development

Using a self-determination theory approach to understand student perceptions of inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based laboratory activities, as a part of science curricula, have been advocated to increase students’ learning outcomes and improve students’ learning experiences, but students sometimes struggle with open-inquiry activities. This study aims to investigate students’ perceptions of inquiry-based learning in a set of laboratory activities, specifically from a psychological (i.e., Self-Determination Theory) perspective. Students’ ratings of the level of inquiry in these activities indicate that students’ perceptions of inquiry align with the instructor-intended amount of inquiry in each exercise. Students’ written responses, explaining their ratings, indicate that students’ perceptions of the amount of inquiry in a given lab exercise relate to their feeling of freedom (or autonomy), competence, and relatedness (or support), during the inquiry-based learning activities. The results imply that instructors implementing inquiry-based learning activities should consider student motivation, and Self-Determination Theory can be a useful diagnostic tool during teaching development.publishedVersio

A High-Quality Professional Development for Teachers of Grades 3–6 for Implementing Engineering into Classrooms

With the increasing emphasis on integrating engineering into K-12 classrooms to help meet the needs of our complex and multidisciplinary society, there is an urgent need to investigate teachers\u27 engineering-focused professional development experiences as they relate to teacher learning, implementation, and student achievement. This study addresses this need by examining the effects of a professional development program focused on engineering integration, and how teachers chose to implement engineering in their classrooms as a result of the professional development. 198 teachers in grades 3–6 from 43 schools in 17 districts participated in a yearlong professional development program designed to help integrate the new state science standards, with a focus on engineering, into their teaching. Posters including lesson plans and student artifacts were used to assess teachers\u27 engineering practices and the implementation in their classrooms. Results indicated that the majority of the teachers who participated in the professional development were able to effectively implement engineering design lessons in their classrooms suggesting that the teachers\u27 success in implementing engineering lessons in their classroom was closely related to the structure of the professional development program