Misconceptions in chemistry : a comparative study of Samoa and New Zealand high schools to identify their different origins and approaches to eliminate and correct them : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The report describes a comparative study of students' misconceptions. It does so by investigating year 13 students' conceptual understanding of the structure bonding and related properties of diamond and graphite. The aims of the case study are to elicit, identify, and compare the different origins and develop appropriate strategies to promote correct conceptual understanding of chemistry concepts. The study involved sixty students, and three chemistry teachers from two different schools; one from Palmerston North, New Zealand and the other from Apia, Samoa. Open-ended question strategy was used to elicit the students' misconceptions, followed by interview and classroom observations of a sample of students. Analyses of the responses to the open question, interviews, students' artifacts and classroom observations, revealed the origins of the students' misconceptions about the structure, bonding and related properties of diamond and graphite

Creative writing: An elective course for high school students

This thesis project outlines a course in creative writing designed for students in grades 9-12. The course is an elective and is expected to be taken in addition to general English classes taken as a graduation requirement. The course is designed as a genre study on an immersion principle, which requires that students focus their attention on the characteristics that make up various genres through both reading and writing in those genres. Students are introduced to the overall workshop format of the class and to the procedure of conferencing on and revising drafts through the basic study of the genres of fiction and poetry. They then move on to genres that are less frequently taught in the English curriculum: graphic literature, drama, and multigenre presentations. Throughout the course, students are required to keep reflective journals that document their awareness ofthe process of writing, revising, and editing. They will be responsible for producing final drafts in genre study, one working portfolio, one showcase portfolio, and at least one submission to the class publication to be distributed to the community through the sale of monthly issues and subscriptions. This elective course is founded in the research of current classes and methods of teaching immersion, workshops, and writing in secondary education. It offers students the opportunity to explore unfamiliar genres through reading and writing, and it provides them with a creative forum in which they can be published in an authentic achievement

Teaching Languages to Adolescent Learners

Engaging and accessible, this book illustrates the principles of instructed language learning by presenting real life, practical examples from teachers. It illustrates best practice from high school classrooms, highlighting the needs of the adolescent language learner and making the case that adolescence is a prime time for language learning

Relating to students through young adult literature

No passionate reader, or lifetime reader, goes around reading books that they hate. They are what they enjoy. No single book can meet the individual likes and dislikes of each student. So why can students not read what they choose, and still learn? Based on the works of Donald Gallo, an interview with Jennifer Bueler, and the writers own personal experience with children and literacy, strictly as giving students choice in what they read. Choosing and evaluating books is part of reading, and it is part of teaching reading. Young Adult Literature (YAL) should not be excluded from student choice, it should encourage, especially among students who are struggling with reading, or finding enjoyment in reading. YAL is a great way to teach students many important aspects of reading, including character development, imagery, poetic language, citing text, plot development, irony, philosophical issues and much more. YAL deals with issues as relevant as rape, race, The Holocaust, justice, coming of age, personal growth and more. With YAL teachers are able to teach both important English concepts and instill genuine appreciation for literature

The effectiveness of electronic whiteboards and powerpoint lessons in the mathematics classroom

A popular method of teaching in today’s k-12 classroom is standardizing lessons on Microsoft office’s PowerPoint. Another tool which is starting to become more common in classrooms is electronic white boards, which are similar to smart boards. Attempting to discover the most effective way to teach in the math classroom, I investigated these techniques at a local school

Mathematical problem-solving strategies and group dynamics of a small group of high school students

The goal of this experiment was to find out how a small group of students at Annapolis High School would respond to a series of 3-4 problems per week. The problems required both knowledge of commonly covered secondary level problem-solving strategies and an understanding of where the strategies could be applied. The students worked individually on problem sets during the first four weeks and had a break for two weeks. They were allowed to work as a group on the last set which was comprised of previously worked problems which had been difficult for all of the students

In-class physical activity, cognitive load, and energy-balance knowledge in high school physical education

One primary goal of physical education is to educate K-12 students to become physically literate individuals who value lifelong physical activity participation (SHAPE America, 2014). Physical literacy is based on the monism perspective which acknowledges physical activity participation as a mind-body integrated embodiment experience. To achieve physical literacy, the scientific knowledge about physical activity has been brought to the center of physical education to provide mindful, meaningful, and motivational learning experiences (Ennis, 2017). It has become necessary to delineate the relationship between cognitive and physical engagement as experienced by the learner as part of the monist embodiment process. Cognitive load theory (CLT) explains cognitive effort’s impact on learning behavior which can serve as a conceptual guide to inform us in making curricular and instructional decisions. Guided by CLT and built on my previous research (Deng et al., 2020), the purpose of this study is to clarify the role of cognitive load embedded in physical education learning experiences. Specifically, this study determines the impact of cognitive load on 9th grade high school students’ knowledge acquisition and in-class physical activity in a concept-based physical education curriculum. The dissertation study addresses four research questions: (a) Did the cognitive load impact 9th graders’ cognitive architecture about caloric-balance and healthful living concepts? (b) Did school SES-related class environmental factors influence 9th graders’ knowledge gain in a concept-based physical education context? (c) Did the cognitive load affect 9th graders’ in-class physical activity? And (d) did the cognitive-physical integrated learning experiences moderate by the students’ gender and race? The approach to addressing the questions was a secondary data analysis on a representative set of existing data collected in the Science of Essential Balance (SEB) project. Data from a stratified random sample of students (N = 150) who learned the entire SEB curriculum and completed all assessments were analyzed. A path analysis was used to address the first, second, and third research questions, while Hayes’ PROCESS v3.5.3 macro analysis was conducted to address the third and fourth research questions. Results showed that the reasoning tasks had direct positive effects on students’ knowledge gain (path coefficient i-Diet and i-Exercise =.34, p .05). The Free and Reduced-Price Meal rates and student/teacher ratio did not have significant effects on students’ knowledge gain (p &gt; .05). In addition, gender and race did not significantly moderate the association between cognitive learning tasks and in-class physical activity (p &gt; .05). These results indicate the low cognitive load tasks, such as descriptive learning tasks, serve as necessary building blocks for completing high cognitive load tasks. The high cognitive load tasks, such as reasoning learning tasks, effectively contribute to students’ knowledge acquisition and in-class physical activity. Based on the monism perspective, the concept-based physical education curriculum was able to elicit high level cognitive and physical engagement to help students understand and perform physical activity holistically as an embodiment process. The cognitive learning tasks seem to be effective in balancing and integrating cognitive and physical demands in learning, which could assist physical literacy development. The findings further suggest the power of the concept-based physical education curriculum in overcoming potential barriers of low socioeconomic status and large class- sizes to provide productive learning opportunities to all students. [This abstract may have been edited to remove characters that will not display in this system. Please see the PDF for the full abstract.]]]> 2021 Physical education and training $x Study and teaching (Secondary) Movement education$x Study and teaching (Secondary) Cognitive learning English http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Deng_uncg_0154D_13379.pdf oai:libres.uncg.edu/37040 2022-01-28T13:55:50Z UNCG Multisystem NC DOCKS at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Snyder, Audrey <![CDATA[A 25-year-old male arrives to the ED with a complaint of right lower extremity deformity with swelling, pain, discoloration, and numbness, stating he fell 15 feet from a balcony and landed directly on his leg. Initial evaluation of his lower extremity reveals absent pulses, loss of color and sensation, and 4+ pitting edema. An initial radiograph of the extremity shows a compound fracture of the tibia and fibular distal heads with diffuse edema and soft tissue trauma. Compartment pressures below the fracture read to 40 mmHg. Based on these findings, what is the most appropriate first intervention