Sample records for schools introductory addresses
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Addressing the Problem of Service Teaching Introductory Economics Subjects
Barrett, Steven
2005-01-01
Enrolments in undergraduate economics programs have been falling constantly since the early 1990s. This trend coincides with the increasing popularity of business and management degrees. Consequently, the major activity of many, if not most economics departments and schools in Australia is service teaching of introductory economics to first year…
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Characterizing, modeling, and addressing gender disparities in introductory college physics
Kost-Smith, Lauren Elizabeth
2011-12-01
The underrepresentation and underperformance of females in physics has been well documented and has long concerned policy-makers, educators, and the physics community. In this thesis, we focus on gender disparities in the first- and second-semester introductory, calculus-based physics courses at the University of Colorado. Success in these courses is critical for future study and careers in physics (and other sciences). Using data gathered from roughly 10,000 undergraduate students, we identify and model gender differences in the introductory physics courses in three areas: student performance, retention, and psychological factors. We observe gender differences on several measures in the introductory physics courses: females are less likely to take a high school physics course than males and have lower standardized mathematics test scores; males outscore females on both pre- and post-course conceptual physics surveys and in-class exams; and males have more expert-like attitudes and beliefs about physics than females. These background differences of males and females account for 60% to 70% of the gender gap that we observe on a post-course survey of conceptual physics understanding. In analyzing underlying psychological factors of learning, we find that female students report lower self-confidence related to succeeding in the introductory courses (self-efficacy) and are less likely to report seeing themselves as a "physics person". Students' self-efficacy beliefs are significant predictors of their performance, even when measures of physics and mathematics background are controlled, and account for an additional 10% of the gender gap. Informed by results from these studies, we implemented and tested a psychological, self-affirmation intervention aimed at enhancing female students' performance in Physics 1. Self-affirmation reduced the gender gap in performance on both in-class exams and the post-course conceptual physics survey. Further, the benefit of the self
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Loehr, John Francis
The issue of student preparation for college study in science has been an ongoing concern for both college-bound students and educators of various levels. This study uses a national sample of college students enrolled in introductory biology courses to address the relationship between high school biology preparation and subsequent introductory college biology performance. Multi-Level Modeling was used to investigate the relationship between students' high school science and mathematics experiences and college biology performance. This analysis controls for student demographic and educational background factors along with factors associated with the college or university attended. The results indicated that high school course-taking and science instructional experiences have the largest impact on student achievement in the first introductory college biology course. In particular, enrollment in courses, such as high school Calculus and Advanced Placement (AP) Biology, along with biology course content that focuses on developing a deep understanding of the topics is found to be positively associated with student achievement in introductory college biology. On the other hand, experiencing high numbers of laboratory activities, demonstrations, and independent projects along with higher levels of laboratory freedom are associated with negative achievement. These findings are relevant to high school biology teachers, college students, their parents, and educators looking beyond the goal of high school graduation.
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Success in Introductory College Physics: The Role of High School Preparation.
Sadler, Philip M.; Tai, Robert H.
2001-01-01
Examines the extent to which a high school physics course prepares students for college physics success. In this study of 1,933 introductory college physics students, demographic and schooling factors account for a large fraction of the variation in college physics grades at 18 colleges and universities from around the nation. (Author/SAH)
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Carter, Brooke
2014-01-01
This study explores how students’ grades in introductory college physics are influenced by the pedagogy used in their high school physics classes. The success of college science professors is often judged on the basis of the success of their students. This disregards the 18+ years of experiences with which students come into their physics classroom. This study aims to answer the question of what pedagogy best prepares students for introductory college physics. This quantitative study analyzes...
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Writing Chemistry Jingles as an Introductory Activity in a High School Chemistry Class
Heid, Peter F.
2011-01-01
Starting the school year in an introductory high school chemistry class can be a challenge. The topic and approach is new to the students; many of the early chapters in the texts can be a bit tedious; and for many students the activities are uninspiring. My goal in the first few weeks of school is to hook the students on chemistry by getting them…
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Hazari, Zahra Sana
The attrition of females studying physics after high school is a concern to the science education community. Most undergraduate science programs require introductory physics coursework. Thus, success in introductory physics is necessary for students to progress to higher levels of science study. Success also influences attitudes; if females are well-prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study using multilevel modeling focused on determining factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that influenced female and male performance in introductory university physics. The study controlled for some university/course level characteristics as well as student demographic and academic background characteristics. The data consisted of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory physics courses within 35 universities across the US. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially influenced female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects, cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believed that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that had a similar influence on female and male performance. Positively related to performance were: covering fewer topics for longer periods of time, the history of physics as a recurring topic, physics-related videos, and test/quiz questions that involved calculations and/or were drawn from standardized tests. Negatively related to performance were: student-designed projects, reading/discussing labs the day before performing them, microcomputer based laboratories, discussion after demonstrations, and family
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Hazari, Zahra
2006-12-01
The attrition of females studying physics after high school has been a continuing concern for the physics education community. If females are well prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory college physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study uses HLM to identify factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that predict female and male performance in introductory college physics. The study includes controls for student demographic and academic background characteristics, and the final dataset consists of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory college physics classes. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially predict female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believe that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that similarly predict female and male performance. The results paint a dynamic picture of the factors from high school physics and the affective domain that influence the future physics performance of females and males. The implication is that there are many aspects to the teaching of physics in high school that, although widely used and thought to be effective, need reform in their implementation in order to be fully beneficial to females and/or males in college.
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Lecturers' Perspectives on How Introductory Economic Courses Address Sustainability
Green, Tom L.
2015-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore sustainability commitments' potential implications for the curriculum of introductory economics courses. Universities have signed the Talloires Declaration, committing themselves to promoting students' environmental literacy and ecological citizenship, thereby creating pressure to integrate…
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De Pedro, Kris Tunac; Jackson, Christopher; Campbell, Erin; Gilley, Jade; Ciarelli, Brock
2016-01-01
The Lawrence King murder and other tragedies surrounding transgender youth have prompted a national discussion about the need for schools to be more supportive and inclusive of transgender students. In this multi-authored reflection, the authors describe a series of three introductory activities in an undergraduate educational studies course aimed…
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Loehr, John F.; Almarode, John T.; Tai, Robert H.; Sadler, Philip M.
2012-01-01
In a climate where increasing numbers of students are encouraged to pursue post-secondary education, the level of preparedness students have for college-level coursework is not far from the minds of all educators, especially high school teachers. Specifically within the biological sciences, introductory biology classes often serve as the…
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Fredrick, L. Denise
The focus of this study was to investigate college students' perception of high school and college introductory science learning experiences related to persistence in science as a major area of study in college. The study included students' perceptions of the following areas of science education: (1) teacher interpersonal relationship with students, (2) teacher personality styles, (3) teacher knowledge of the content, (4) instructional methods, and (5) science course content. A survey research design was employed in the investigative study to collect and analyze data. One hundred ninety two students participated in the research study. A survey instrument entitled Science Education Perception Survey was used to collect data. The researcher sought to reject or support three null hypotheses as related to participants' perceptions of high school and college introductory science education experiences. Using binomial regression analysis, this study analyzed differences between students persisting in science and students not persisting in science as a major. The quantitative research indicated that significant differences exist between persistence in science as a major and high school science teacher traits and college introductory science instructional methods. Although these variables were found to be significant predictors, the percent variance was low and should be considered closely before concluded these as strong predictors of persistence. Major findings of the qualitative component indicated that students perceived that: (a) interest in high school science course content and high school science teacher personality and interpersonal relationships had the greatest effect on students' choice of major area of study; (b) interest in college introductory science course content had the greatest effect on students' choice of major area of study; (c) students recalled laboratory activities and overall good teaching as most meaningful to their high school science
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A Readability Analysis of Selected Introductory Economics.
Gallagher, Daniel J.; Thompson, G. Rodney
1981-01-01
To aid secondary school and college level economics teachers as they select textbooks for introductory economics courses, this article recounts how teachers can use the Flesch Reading Ease Test to measure readability. Data are presented on application of the Flesch Reading Ease Test to 15 introductory economics textbooks. (Author/DB)
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CAS Introductory Course in Italy
2008-01-01
The CERN Accelerator School’s introductory course is a great success. This year the CERN Accelerator School held its "Introduction to Accelerator Physics" course in Frascati, Italy, from 2-14 November in collaboration with the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and the INFN Frascati National Laboratory. The Introductory level course is particularly important since, for the majority of participants, it is the first opportunity to discover the various aspects of accelerator physics. For this school the programme had been significantly revised in order to take into account the new trends currently being developed in the field, thus putting more emphasis on linacs, synchrotron light sources and free-electron lasers. The school was a resounding success with 115 participants of more than 23 nationalities. Feedback from the students praised the expertise of the lecturers, the high standard of the lectures as well as the excellent organizati...
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School Law Update...Preventive School Law.
Jones, Thomas N., Ed.; Semler, Darel P., Ed.
A wide variety of contemporary legal issues are addressed in the 15 separate papers that make up this volume. The introductory chapter by William C. Bednar, Jr. provides a broad-based rationale for "Preventive School Law." Chapters 2 and 3, both by Gerald A. Caplan, review "Current Issues in Reduction-in-Force" and "First Amendment Claims by…
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Effectiveness of Tutorials for Introductory Physics in Argentinean high schools
Benegas, J.; Flores, J. Sirur
2014-06-01
This longitudinal study reports the results of a replication of Tutorials in Introductory Physics in high schools of a Latin-American country. The main objective of this study was to examine the suitability of Tutorials for local science education reform. Conceptual learning of simple resistive electric circuits was determined by the application of the single-response multiple-choice test "Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test" (DIRECT) to high school classes taught with Tutorials and traditional instruction. The study included state and privately run schools of different socioeconomic profiles, without formal laboratory space and equipment, in classes of mixed-gender and female-only students, taught by novice and experienced instructors. Results systematically show that student learning is significantly higher in the Tutorials classes compared with traditional teaching for all of the studied conditions. The results also show that long-term learning (one year after instruction) in the Tutorials classes is highly satisfactory, very similar to the performance of the samples of college students used to develop the test DIRECT. On the contrary, students following traditional instruction returned one year after instruction to the poor performance (students attending seven universities in Spain and four Latin-American countries. Some replication and adaptation problems and difficulties of this experience are noted, as well as recommendations for successful use of Tutorials in high schools of similar educational systems.
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Ivanjek, L.; Shaffer, P. S.; McDermott, L. C.; Planinic, M.; Veza, D.
2015-02-01
This is the second of two closely related articles (Paper I and Paper II) that together illustrate how research in physics education has helped guide the design of instruction that has proved effective in improving student understanding of atomic spectroscopy. Most of the more than 1000 students who participated in this four-year investigation were science majors enrolled in the introductory calculus-based physics course at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, WA, USA. The others included graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants at UW and physics majors in introductory and advanced physics courses at the University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. About half of the latter group were preservice high school physics teachers. Paper I describes how several conceptual and reasoning difficulties were identified among university students as they tried to relate a discrete line spectrum to the energy levels of atoms in a light source. This second article (Paper II) illustrates how findings from this research informed the development of a tutorial that led to improvement in student understanding of atomic emission spectra.
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Effectiveness of Tutorials for Introductory Physics in Argentinean high schools
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J. Benegas
2014-03-01
Full Text Available This longitudinal study reports the results of a replication of Tutorials in Introductory Physics in high schools of a Latin-American country. The main objective of this study was to examine the suitability of Tutorials for local science education reform. Conceptual learning of simple resistive electric circuits was determined by the application of the single-response multiple-choice test “Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test” (DIRECT to high school classes taught with Tutorials and traditional instruction. The study included state and privately run schools of different socioeconomic profiles, without formal laboratory space and equipment, in classes of mixed-gender and female-only students, taught by novice and experienced instructors. Results systematically show that student learning is significantly higher in the Tutorials classes compared with traditional teaching for all of the studied conditions. The results also show that long-term learning (one year after instruction in the Tutorials classes is highly satisfactory, very similar to the performance of the samples of college students used to develop the test DIRECT. On the contrary, students following traditional instruction returned one year after instruction to the poor performance (<20% shown before instruction, a result compatible with the very low level of conceptual knowledge of basic physics recently determined by a systematic study of first-year students attending seven universities in Spain and four Latin-American countries. Some replication and adaptation problems and difficulties of this experience are noted, as well as recommendations for successful use of Tutorials in high schools of similar educational systems.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2001-01-01
This CD is multimedia presentation of programme safety upgrading of Bohunice V1 NPP. This chapter consist of introductory commentary and 4 introductory speeches (video records): (1) Introductory speech of Vincent Pillar, Board chairman and director general of Slovak electric, Plc. (SE); (2) Introductory speech of Stefan Schmidt, director of SE - Bohunice Nuclear power plants; (3) Introductory speech of Jan Korec, Board chairman and director general of VUJE Trnava, Inc. - Engineering, Design and Research Organisation, Trnava; Introductory speech of Dietrich Kuschel, Senior vice-president of FRAMATOME ANP Project and Engineering
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Teaching Electrostatics and Entropy in Introductory Physics
Reeves, Mark
Entropy changes underlie the physics that dominates biological interactions. Indeed, introductory biology courses often begin with an exploration of the qualities of water that are important to living systems. However, one idea that is not explicitly addressed in most introductory physics or biology courses is important contribution of the entropy in driving fundamental biological processes towards equilibrium. I will present material developed to teach electrostatic screening in solutions and the function of nerve cells where entropic effects act to counterbalance electrostatic attraction. These ideas are taught in an introductory, calculus-based physics course to biomedical engineers using SCALEUP pedagogy. Results of student mastering of complex problems that cross disciplinary boundaries between biology and physics, as well as the challenges that they face in learning this material will be presented.
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Emotion Instruction in Journalism Courses: An Analysis of Introductory News Writing Textbooks
Hopper, K. Megan; Huxford, John
2017-01-01
This study explores how introductory news writing textbooks address issues surrounding emotional labor and its consequences, both for journalists and for those they interview. Eighteen of the highest-selling introductory news-writing textbooks were selected for qualitative analysis. Results showed the term and concept of emotional labor--the…
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President's Inaugural Address: We Call It School Nursing
Mattey, Beth
2015-01-01
The incoming President of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) traditionally outlines the theme for their presidency during their inaugural address. This address is given by incoming President of the NASN, Beth Mattey, who discusses previous themes that supported the mission of NASN, but changed every two years with each new president.…
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Holschuh, Jodi Lynn
This study had two main purposes: to address measurement concerns about assessing students' epistemological beliefs and to explore the relationship between epistemological beliefs and deep and surface strategy use in an introductory biology classroom. The following research questions guided the study: (a) Are epistemological beliefs multidimensional? (b) Are the measures of epistemological beliefs correlated? (c) Are the measures of strategy use correlated? (d) Are epistemological beliefs correlated with deep and surface strategy use? (e) How much of the unique variance in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, grade point average (GPA), and course grade is accounted for by epistemological beliefs and strategy use? (f) To what extent does the content analysis of the open-ended questionnaire data support or refute the role of mature epistemological beliefs? and (g) To what extent does the content analysis of the open-ended questionnaire data support or refute the role of deep strategies? Participants (N = 518) were recruited from two sections of an introductory biology course. All participants completed five assessments including the Epistemological Questionnaire, the Epistemological Scenario, the Self-Regulated Learning Inventory, two strategy checklists, and an open-ended questionnaire. The factor analysis, which was used to answer the first question, indicated no clear loading of the hypothesized dimensions underlying epistemological beliefs as measured by the Epistemological Questionnaire. However, the factor analysis of the Epistemological Scenario indicated four factors underlying epistemological beliefs (i.e., certain knowledge, innate ability, quick learning, and simple knowledge). In addition, the correlation analyses, which were used to answer the second, third, and fourth questions, indicated a significant relationship between epistemological beliefs and strategy use. The multiple regression commonality analysis, which was used to answer the fifth
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Schools That Work--A Recommitment to Public Education.
Jones, Steven R., Ed.
1980-01-01
This is the report of a conference held in March 1980, for the purposes of sharing, among black educators, experiences with successful education programs and devising strategies for improving ineffective schools. The introductory addresses by Shirley Chisholm and Augustus F. Hawkins are summarized, as are the presentations of John Algee, Mary…
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Addressing Mental Health Needs in Our Schools: Supporting the Role of School Counselors
Collins, Traci P.
2014-01-01
School counselors are a well-positioned resource to reach the significant number of children and adolescents with mental health problems. In this special school counseling issue of "The Professional Counselor," some articles focus on systemic, top-down advocacy efforts as the point of intervention for addressing child and adolescent…
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Addressing Student Burnout: What Medical Schools Can Learn From Business Schools.
Pathipati, Akhilesh S; Cassel, Christine K
2018-03-13
Although they enter school with enthusiasm for a career in medicine, medical students in the United States subsequently report high levels of burnout and disillusionment. As medical school leaders consider how to address this problem, they can look to business schools as one source of inspiration. In this Commentary, the authors argue-based on their collective experience in both medical and business education-that medical schools can draw three lessons from business schools that can help reinvigorate students. First, medical schools should offer more opportunities and dedicated time for creative work. Engaging with diverse challenges promotes intellectual curiosity and can help students maintain perspective. Second, schools should provide more explicit training in resiliency and the management of stressful situations. Many business programs include formal training in how to cope with conflict and how to make high-stakes decisions whereas medical students are typically expected to learn those skills on the job. Finally, medical schools should provide better guidance on practical career considerations like income, lifestyle, and financial skills. Whether in medicine or business, students benefit from open discussions about their personal and professional goals. Medical schools must ensure students have an outlet for those conversations.
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School nurses can address existing gaps in school-age sleep research.
Willgerodt, Mayumi A; Kieckhefer, Gail M
2013-06-01
Sleep has been linked to a host of physical, behavioral, and emotional outcomes, and research has documented that youth across the globe are experiencing inadequate sleep. Despite this knowledge, however, very little research has been conducted on school-age children; much of the extant research has focused on infants, toddlers, preschoolers, adolescents, and adults. School-age children exhibit increasing independence around health-related behaviors, which provide health professionals the opportunity to educate and promote healthy sleep behaviors. This commentary extends previous research reviews by identifying the current gaps in sleep research, highlighting future directions needed in sleep research, and explaining why school nurses are best suited to address this growing public health issue.
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Teachers' Views about Multiple Strategies in Middle and High School Mathematics
Lynch, Kathleen; Star, Jon R.
2014-01-01
Despite extensive scholarship about the importance of teaching mathematics with multiple strategies in the elementary grades, there has been relatively little discussion of this practice in the middle and high school levels or in the context of introductory algebra. This article begins our exploration of this practice by addressing the following…
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Santiago, Marisol Mercado
Culturally responsive teaching has been argued to be effective in the education of Indigenous youth. This approach emphasizes the legitimacy of a group's cultural heritage, helps to associate abstract academic knowledge with the group's sociocultural context, seeks to incorporate a variety of strategies to engage students who have different learning styles, and strives to integrate multicultural information in the educational contents, among other considerations. In this work, I explore the outcomes of a culturally responsive introductory engineering short course that I developed and taught to Tibetan students at Tibetan Children's Village of Selakui (in Uttarakhand, India). Based on my ethnographic research in Tibetan communities in northern India, I examine two research questions: (a) What are the processes to develop and implement a pre-college culturally responsive introductory engineering course? and (b) How do Tibetan culture and Buddhism influence the engineering design and teamwork of the pre-college Tibetan students who took the course? I designed then taught the course that featured elementary lectures on sustainability, introductory engineering design, energy alternatives, and manufacturing engineering. The course also included a pre-college engineering design project through which Tibetan high school students investigated a problem at the school and designed a possible solution to it. Drawing from postcolonial studies, engineering studies, engineering and social justice, Buddhist studies, and Tibetan studies, I provide an analysis of my findings. Based on my findings, I conclude that my culturally responsive approach of teaching was an effective method to help students feel that their cultural background was respected and included in a pre-college engineering course; however, some students felt resistance toward the teaching approach. In addition, the culturally relevant content that connected with their ways of living in their school, Tibetan
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Teaching Introductory Weather and Climate Using Popular Movies
Yow, Donald M.
2014-01-01
Addressing the need for an introductory atmospheric science course for nonscience majors, a course was developed that provides a general understanding of atmospheric processes by examining how meteorological events are portrayed in movies. The course also uses films to study the causes of, impacts associated with, and potential adaptations to…
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Jakeman, A.J.; Hamilton, S.H.; Athanasiadis, I.N.; Pierce, S.A.
2015-01-01
Introductory Overview articles are designed to provide introductory level background to key themes and topics that caters to the eclectic readership of EMS. It is envisaged that these articles will help to break down barriers to shared understanding and dialogue within multidisciplinary teams, and
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School Nurses' Perceived Prevalence and Competence to Address Student Mental Health Problems
Stephan, Sharon H.; Connors, Elizabeth H.
2013-01-01
Due to under-identification of student mental health problems and limited specialty mental health providers in schools, school nurses are often faced with identifying and addressing student mental health needs. This exploratory study assessed prevalence and types of student mental health problems encountered by school nurses, as well as their…
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Introductory Raman spectroscopy
Ferraro, John R
2012-01-01
Praise for Introductory Raman Spectroscopy Highlights basic theory, which is treated in an introductory fashion Presents state-of-the-art instrumentation Discusses new applications of Raman spectroscopy in industry and research.
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Using Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" in Introductory Geography Courses.
Hathaway, James
1993-01-01
Describes use of Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe's novel, "Things Fall Apart," in an introductory geography course at the secondary school or college level. Provides a summary of the book's story, which deals with the impact of colonialism and Christianity on the culture of eastern Nigeria. Includes recommended instructional strategies…
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Introductory Graduate Research Courses: An Examination of the Knowledge Base.
Mundfrom, Daniel J.; Shaw, Dale G.; Thomas, Ann; Young, Suzanne; Moore, Alan D.
This study addresses the question, "What should graduate students know about research and statistics after completing an initial course?" Individuals who teach such courses at various Carnegie classifications of institutions were surveyed about the specific characteristics of an introductory graduate research course at their own institutions to…
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Papadakis, Stamatios; Kalogiannakis, Michail; Orfanakis, Vasileios; Zaranis, Nicholas
2017-01-01
Teaching programming is a complex task. The task is even more challenging for introductory modules. There is an ongoing debate in the teaching community over the best approach to teaching introductory programming. Visual block-based programming environments allow school students to create their own programs in ways that are more accessible than in…
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A Model for Teaching an Introductory Programming Course Using ADRI
Malik, Sohail Iqbal; Coldwell-Neilson, Jo
2017-01-01
High failure and drop-out rates from introductory programming courses continue to be of significant concern to computer science disciplines despite extensive research attempting to address the issue. In this study, we include the three entities of the didactic triangle, instructors, students and curriculum, to explore the learning difficulties…
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A "Mindful Rational Living" Approach for Addressing HIV in the School Setting
Chenneville, Tiffany; St. John Walsh, Audra
2016-01-01
This paper describes a "mindful rational living" approach, which incorporates mindfulness techniques with rational emotive behavioral therapy strategies for addressing HIV in the school setting. The utility of this approach for attending to the physical, mental, and psychosocial aspects of school-based HIV prevention and treatment will…
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A One-Year Introductory Robotics Curriculum for Computer Science Upperclassmen
Correll, N.; Wing, R.; Coleman, D.
2013-01-01
This paper describes a one-year introductory robotics course sequence focusing on computational aspects of robotics for third- and fourth-year students. The key challenges this curriculum addresses are "scalability," i.e., how to teach a robotics class with a limited amount of hardware to a large audience, "student assessment,"…
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Evolving Roles For Teaching Assistants In Introductory Courses
Dunbar, R. W.; Egger, A. E.; Schwartz, J. K.
2008-12-01
As we bring new research-based learning approaches, curricular innovations, and student engagement practices into the introductory science classroom, expectations of teaching assistants (TAs) should have, and have, changed. Similarly, the 21st century teaching assistant has different expectations of us. Maintaining relevance in this context means bringing TAs into an integrated teaching team that supports effective learning for students and provides structured professional development opportunities for TAs. A number of support efforts on our campus, with counterparts at many other universities, seek to optimize the instructional impact of faculty and teaching assistants, thus opening the door to enhanced student engagement (e.g. the quality of effort students put forth, their persistence in science and/or engineering courses, and their perception of scientific relevance in everyday life). Among these efforts, School of Earth Sciences course development TAs work 1:1 in advance of the term with introductory course faculty to design exercises and course materials that meet clearly articulated student learning goals or pedagogical challenges. Throughout the process, TAs are mentored by the faculty as well as science pedagogy experts. Initially funded by a major teaching award, the School is now moving to institutionalize this successful program which has broadened the definition of the TA role. Another area of optimization, reflecting Shulman's concept of pedagogical content knowledge, is our campus mandate that TA development take place within a departmental, as well as general, context. Both Chemistry and Physics expect introductory course TAs to lead interactive, guided-inquiry or tutorial-style sections. Integrating these sections with lecture and positively reinforcing course goals requires TA buy-in and a set of pedagogical facilitation skills cultivated through course-specific training and active mentoring while teaching. To better support the mentoring process
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National Forum: How Schools and Parents Can Work Together to Address Bullying
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2012
2012-01-01
On 31 July 2012 the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Peter Garrett convened the "National Forum: How schools and parents can work together to address bullying" at Parliament House. The Forum brought together principals, parents groups, young people, as well as experts in education, child welfare, psychology and…
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Beyond the Dialectics and Polemics: Canadian Catholic Schools Addressing LGBT Youth Issues
Liboro, Renato M.; Travers, Robb; St. John, Alex
2015-01-01
In 2012, Canadian media coverage on Bill 13--an Ontario legislative proposal to require all publicly funded schools to support Gay-Straight Alliances as a means of addressing issues concerning bullied lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students--instigated a divisive exchange among representatives of the Ontario Catholic school sector.…
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CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Veerasamy, N
2008-07-01
Full Text Available . It seeks to offer a better introductory understanding to the field of network warfare. This paper addresses the requirements for a network warfare capability and will look at the high-level approach, constraints, focus areas, levels, techniques...
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Fast, Gail Ann; Gray, Lorali; Miles-Koehler, Mona
2013-01-01
While all schools in Washington State have had to deal with shrinking financial resources, small, rural school districts, with fewer than 2,000 students, face unique circumstances that further challenge their ability to meet rising student health needs. This article will explore how small districts utilize the services of the Washington State School Nurse Corps (SNC), an innovative program that supports student health and safety while reducing barriers to learning. Through direct registered nursing services and regional nurse administrative consultation and technical assistance, the SNC strengthens rural school districts' capacity to provide a safe and healthy learning environment. In addition, we will examine current research that links health and learning to discover how the SNC model is successful in addressing health risks as barriers to learning. Lastly, as resources continue to dwindle, partnerships between schools, the SNC, and state and local health and education organizations will be critical in maintaining health services and learning support to small, rural schools.
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Strategies to address learner aggression in rural South African secondary schools
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gunam D. Singh
2013-11-01
Full Text Available Managing learner aggression in the school system is central to learners’ academic performance and holistic development. In order to manage learner aggression, it is important to understand the contributory factors and the forms of learner aggression. This article reports on an investigation of factors contributing to learner aggression in rural secondary schools in the Empangeni district of KwaZulu-Natal in order to identify the forms of learner aggression and to establish strategies to manage such aggression in these secondary schools. A qualitative research design was adopted to investigate the phenomenon through an interview process with participants from five rural secondary schools. The findings showed that the factors contributing to learner aggression include family factors, environmental factors and school-related factors whilst the most common forms of learner aggression in schools are verbal aggression, physical aggression and bullying. The article concludes with the role that the school, parents and the Department of Education can play in addressing learner aggression in schools.
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Analysis of the Impact of Introductory Physics on Engineering Students at Texas A&M University
Perry, Jonathan; Bassichis, William
Introductory physics forms a major part of the foundational knowledge of engineering majors, independent of discipline and institution. While the content of introductory physics courses is consistent from institution to institution, the manner in which it is taught can vary greatly due to professor, textbook, instructional method, and overall course design. This work attempts to examine variations in student success, as measured by overall academic performance in an engineering major, and matriculation rates, based on the type of introductory physics a student took while enrolled in an engineering degree at Texas A&M University. Specific options for introductory physics at Texas A&M University include two calculus based physics courses, one traditional (UP), and one more mathematically rigorous (DP), transfer credit, and high school (AP or dual) credit. In order to examine the impact of introductory physics on a student's degree progression, data mining analyses are performed on a data set of relatively comprehensive academic records for all students enrolled as an engineering major for a minimum of one academic term. Student data has been collected for years of entering freshman beginning in 1990 and ending in 2010. Correlations will be examined between freshman level courses, including introductory physics, and follow on engineering courses, matriculation rates, and time to graduation.
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Food Preparation and Service. An Introductory Course for Food Services Careers.
Douma, Elaine L.
Intended for use in a comprehensive senior high school, this curriculum guide for an introductory laboratory course focuses on the development of abilities, attitudes, and personal qualities which would lead to job success at the entry level in the food service industry, including in the areas of cooking, waitressing, supermarkets, and similar…
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Instructional Practices in Introductory Geoscience Courses: Results of a National Faculty Survey
MacDonald, R.; Manduca, C. A.; Mogk, D. W.; Tewksbury, B. J.
2004-12-01
The NAGT professional development program "On the Cutting Edge" recently surveyed 7000 geoscience faculty in the United States to develop a snapshot of current instructional practices in undergraduate geoscience courses, faculty strategies for learning new content and new teaching approaches, and faculty involvement in the geoscience education community. Over 2200 faculty responded to the survey which was conducted by the American Institute of Physics. Results for introductory courses (814 responses) indicate that lecture is the most common teaching strategy used in courses of all sizes. Many faculty incorporate some interactive activities in their courses. Most commonly, they use questioning, demonstrations, discussions, and in-class exercises. Less common, but not rare, are small group discussion or think-pair-share and classroom debates or role-playing. Activities involving problem solving, using quantitative skills, working with data and primarily literature, and structured collaboration are incorporated by many faculty in introductory courses, suggesting efforts to teach the process of science. Activities in which students address a problem of national or local interest, analyze their own data, or address problems of their own design are less common but not rare. Field experiences are common but not ubiquitous for students in introductory courses. A wide variety of assessment strategies are used in introductory courses of all sizes, including exams, quizzes, problem sets, papers, oral presentations, and portfolios. While papers are used for assessment more extensively in small classes, a significant number of faculty use papers in large classes (greater than 81 students). A majority of faculty use rubrics in grading. Faculty report that in the past two years, approximately one-third have made changes in the content of their introductory courses while just under half have changed the teaching methods they use. While faculty learn about both new content and
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Jones, S. Everett; Brener, Nancy D.; Bergren, Martha Dewey
2015-01-01
Supportive school policies and well-prepared school nurses can best address the needs of students with chronic health conditions. We analyzed nationally representative data from the 2012 School Health Policies and Practices Study to examine whether districts with policies requiring that schools provide health services to students with chronic…
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Spiller, Lisa D.; Scovotti, Carol
2008-01-01
This study investigates the extent to which educators address direct and interactive marketing concepts in undergraduate introductory marketing courses. As practitioners seek more accountability from their marketing efforts, so too must academia respond with more relevant content. Results from textbook content analysis suggest that direct and…
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Wu, Yelena P.; Steele, Ric G.
2011-01-01
School nurses represent an important resource for addressing pediatric obesity and weight-related health. However, school nurses perceive numerous barriers that prevent them from addressing the weight-related health of students. The current study developed and tested a new, comprehensive measure of nurses' perceptions of 10 types of barriers to…
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Teaching of the International Component in the Introductory Marketing Course: A Replication Study
Zimmer, Robert; Koernig, Stephen K.; Greene, Scott
2004-01-01
For almost three decades, the AACSB and business leaders have sought increased emphasis on internationalizing students' perspectives. Recent studies demonstrate mixed results in the extent to which business schools have globalized their curricula. With decreasing student interest in the marketing major, Introductory Marketing emerges as a critical…
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Correlates of Success in Introductory Programming: A Study with Middle School Students
Qian, Yizhou; Lehman, James D.
2016-01-01
The demand for computing professionals in the workplace has led to increased attention to computer science education, and introductory computer science courses have been introduced at different levels of education. This study investigated the relationship between gender, academic performance in non-programming subjects, and programming learning…
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Introductory Physics Gender Gaps: Pre- and Post-Studio Transition
Kohl, Patrick B.; Kuo, H. Vincent
2009-11-01
Prior work has characterized the gender gaps present in college-level introductory physics courses. Such work has also shown that research-based interactive engagement techniques can reduce or eliminate these gender gaps. In this paper, we study the gender gaps (and lack thereof) in the introductory calculus-based electricity and magnetism course at the Colorado School of Mines. We present eight semesters' worth of data, totaling 2577 students, with four semesters preceding a transition to Studio physics, and four following. We examine gender gaps in course grades, DFW (D grade, fail, or withdrawal) rates, and normalized gains on the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), and consider factors such as student ACT scores and grades in prior math classes. We find little or no gap in male/female course grades and DFW rates, but substantial gaps in CSEM gains that are reduced somewhat by the transition to Studio physics.
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A Modified Approach to the Introductory Economics Course in a School of Business
Crockett, G. V.
1977-01-01
Describes course format, materials development, and evaluation of an introductory economics course which stressed problem solving techniques and conceptual skills instead of rote memorization of factual content. For journal availability, see SO 506 029. (AV)
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A Case Study of Policies and Procedures to Address Cyberbullying at a Technology-Based Middle School
Tate, Bettina Polite
2017-01-01
This qualitative case study explored the policies and procedures used to effectively address cyberbullying at a technology-based middle school. The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of policies and procedures used to address cyberbullying at a technology-based middle school in the southern United States. The study sought…
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Understanding and Addressing Homophobia in Schools: A View from Teachers
Bhana, Deevia
2012-01-01
South African schools have been found to be homophobic. Teachers can play an important role in offering a critique of homophobia grounded in South Africa's legal claim to equality on the basis of sexual orientation. Currently there is a dearth of educational research about how teachers understand and address homophobia. By drawing upon focus-group…
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Matsumura, Mina; Nakayama, Takuto; Sozu, Takashi
2016-01-01
A survey of introductory statistics courses at Japanese medical schools was published as a report in 2014. To obtain a complete understanding of the way in which statistics is taught at the university level in Japan, it is important to extend this survey to related fields, including pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing. The current study investigates the introductory statistics courses offered by faculties of pharmaceutical sciences (six-year programs) at Japanese universities, comparing the features of these courses with those studied in the survey of medical schools. We collected relevant data from the online syllabi of statistics courses published on the websites of 71 universities. The survey items included basic course information (for example, the course names, the targeted student grades, the number of credits, and course classification), textbooks, handouts, the doctoral subject and employment status of each lecturer, and course contents. The period surveyed was July-September 2015. We found that these 71 universities offered a total of 128 statistics courses. There were 67 course names, the most common of which was "biostatistics (iryou toukeigaku)." About half of the courses were designed for first- or second-year students. Students earned fewer than two credits. There were 62 different types of textbooks. The lecturers held doctoral degrees in 18 different subjects, the most common being a doctorate in pharmacy or science. Some course content differed, reflecting the lecturers' academic specialties. The content of introductory statistics courses taught in pharmaceutical science programs also differed slightly from the equivalent content taught in medical schools.
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Provides overview of Assessing IAQ by downloading EPA's School Assessment Mobile App. “One-stop shop” for accessing guidance from EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit with proven strategies for specifically addressing important IAQ issues.
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Are Educational Leadership Candidates Prepared to Address Diversity Issues in Schools?
Chan, Tak C.
2006-01-01
Standard 4 of the Educational Leadership Constituency Council (ELCC) Standards addresses school diversity issues and specifies requirements that all educational leadership programs need to meet. In response, all educational leadership programs in Georgia referenced ELCC Standards and have worked to foster diversity as a priority in their programs.…
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Scientific thinking employed in tasks of introductory physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alexandre Fagundes Faria
2017-04-01
Full Text Available In Science Education, notably in Physics Teaching, there are research based instructional strategies that are renown by their potential to promote conceptual development. It is likely that many of these strategies lead to more elaborate learning; promoting, for instance, scientific thinking development. Scientific thinking might be construed as the sum of domain-specific knowledge and domain-general strategies. Here is reported an investigation of domain-general strategies used by students on tasks proposed in a Newtonian Dynamics activity inspired by “Tutorials in Introductory Physics”. Nineteen volunteers, aged 15-17, participated; all were students in electronics or computer science from a Brazilian vocational high school. The school activities proposed to the students have been regularly used in the Physics course for seven years. Therefore, there was no special interventions prepared with research purposes. Data collection involved audio and video recordings of students’ teamwork; field notes; and photographs of student’s notebooks and of posters teams presented in classes. Data analysis was based on categorization of domain-general strategies used by students. We found that students used four domain-general strategies on the proposed tasks: evidence-based reasoning, assessment of the reasoning line, reason based on operational definition and hypothetic-deductive reasoning. These findings suggest that activities inspired by the “Tutorials in Introductory Physics” favor the learning of scientific concepts plus further – and yet more elaborate – learning. These results place a demand on the field of Science Education to refine the strategies of data collection and data analysis as a way to identify the use of other domain-general strategies by students in similar contexts, as well as the expansion of research to other schools contexts.
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The Climate Experiences of Students in Introductory Biology
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ramón S. Barthelemy
2015-08-01
Full Text Available Understanding course climate is important for improving students’ experiences and increasing the likelihood of their persistence in STEM fields. This study presents climate survey results from 523 students taking introductory biology at the University of Michigan. Principal component analysis revealed that a student’s climate experience is comprised of five main elements: comfort, school avoidance, relationship to course, academic stress, and discomfort. Of these climate factors, comfort, school avoidance, and relationship to course were significant predictors of course satisfaction, and academic stress was a significant predictor of persistence. The results indicated the importance of a positive climate that is facilitated by the instructor in order to promote a positive student experience. Climate may be an important metric for institutions to track across time and course.
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Mathematical Rigor in Introductory Physics
Vandyke, Michael; Bassichis, William
2011-10-01
Calculus-based introductory physics courses intended for future engineers and physicists are often designed and taught in the same fashion as those intended for students of other disciplines. A more mathematically rigorous curriculum should be more appropriate and, ultimately, more beneficial for the student in his or her future coursework. This work investigates the effects of mathematical rigor on student understanding of introductory mechanics. Using a series of diagnostic tools in conjunction with individual student course performance, a statistical analysis will be performed to examine student learning of introductory mechanics and its relation to student understanding of the underlying calculus.
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The Impact of High School Economics on the College Principles of Economics Course.
Brasfield, David W.
1993-01-01
Reports on a study of 1,119 students in introductory college economics courses to determine the impact of high school economics on student achievement. Finds that prior high school economics was positively and significantly related to students grades in both introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics courses. (CFR)
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Poh, Wei Beng; Dindyal, Jaguthsing
2016-01-01
A history-infused lesson package developed by a team of teachers in a professional learning community was used to teach introductory calculus in a secondary school. First, we report a quasi-experimental design that showed that students in the experimental group performed significantly better than students in the control group. Second, we report on…
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CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Power Converters
2015-01-01
These proceedings collate lectures given at the twenty-eighth specialized course organised by the CERN Accelerator School (CAS). The course was held at the Hotel du Parc, Baden, Switzerland from 7 - 14 May 2014, in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute. Following introductory lectures on accelerators and the requirements on power converters, the course covered components and topologies of the different types of power converters needed for particle accelerators. Issues of design, control and exploitation in a sometimes-hostile environment were addressed. Site visits to ABB and PSI provided an insight into state-of-the-art power converter production and operation, while topical seminars completed the programme.
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Teaching about Climate Change in the Business Curriculum: An Introductory Module and Resource List
Takacs, C. Helen
2013-01-01
Business managers are increasingly engaged with climate change issues, but pedagogy on climate change in the business curriculum is in its infancy. The author addresses the need for greater integration of climate change knowledge in the business curriculum by describing a teaching module for an undergraduate introductory business course and…
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Kiefer, Friedemann; Schulte-Merker, Stefan
2014-01-01
This introductory section briefly highlights the subsequent chapters in the context of recent findings and open questions in lymphatic vessel biology. It aims to provide a quick overview and orientation in the contents of this monograph collection.
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Schools and cities from sertão (1933-1945: space, address and architecture
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rubia-Mar Nunes Pinto
2012-11-01
Full Text Available The text goal is to approach, as discourse of modernity in Goiás state, the conformation of the architectural and urban materiality of schools of the capital, Goiânia, at the moment the city was planned, built and occupied. We used cartographic, textual, iconographic and oral sources to analyze the urban fabric of the capital city and to find space, address and architecture of the schools. The theoretical dialogue is established with historians of the brazilian education that deal with relations between the urban and schools and the authors engaged in demonstrate how the discourse constitutes meanings about the city. The findings point to the role of schools in the project of modernity that was under way in Goiás and to the relevance of school materiality in the making of the urban culture of Goiânia.
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Reeves, Mark
2014-03-01
Entropy changes underlie the physics that dominates biological interactions. Indeed, introductory biology courses often begin with an exploration of the qualities of water that are important to living systems. However, one idea that is not explicitly addressed in most introductory physics or biology textbooks is dominant contribution of the entropy in driving important biological processes towards equilibrium. From diffusion to cell-membrane formation, to electrostatic binding in protein folding, to the functioning of nerve cells, entropic effects often act to counterbalance deterministic forces such as electrostatic attraction and in so doing, allow for effective molecular signaling. A small group of biology, biophysics and computer science faculty have worked together for the past five years to develop curricular modules (based on SCALEUP pedagogy) that enable students to create models of stochastic and deterministic processes. Our students are first-year engineering and science students in the calculus-based physics course and they are not expected to know biology beyond the high-school level. In our class, they learn to reduce seemingly complex biological processes and structures to be described by tractable models that include deterministic processes and simple probabilistic inference. The students test these models in simulations and in laboratory experiments that are biologically relevant. The students are challenged to bridge the gap between statistical parameterization of their data (mean and standard deviation) and simple model-building by inference. This allows the students to quantitatively describe realistic cellular processes such as diffusion, ionic transport, and ligand-receptor binding. Moreover, the students confront ``random'' forces and traditional forces in problems, simulations, and in laboratory exploration throughout the year-long course as they move from traditional kinematics through thermodynamics to electrostatic interactions. This talk
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Connie Mosome
2011-11-01
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe adolescents’ views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng. Research design and method: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was utilised. Purposive sampling was used to select adolescents from semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng who fell between the ages of 13 and 20 years and who were involved in community youth groups or associations. In-depth focus group discussion using audiotape, reflexive notes and naïve sketches were used for data collection. The central question which was asked was ‘What are the adolescents’ views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools?’ Data were analysed by means of open coding. Results: The results showed that adolescents understood the complexities associated with violence in this country, and they suggested multiple approaches and interventions. The adolescents were of the opinion that responsible communication patterns in the school environment could build healthy relationships between learners and educators and lead to a decrease in violence in the school setting. They also felt that enforcement of a secure teaching environment through encouragement of behavioural and attitudinal change guided by school codes of conduct and provision of firm security will help reduce violence in schools.
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A MOOC for Introductory Physics
Schatz, Michael
2014-03-01
We describe an effort to develop and to implement a college-level introductory physics (mechanics) MOOC that offers bona fide laboratory experiences. We also discuss efforts to use MOOC curricular materials to ``flip'' the classroom in a large lecture introductory physics course offered on-campus at Georgia Tech. Preliminary results of assessments and surveys from both MOOC and on-campus students will be presented.
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News clippings for introductory astronomy
Bobrowsky, Matthew
1999-09-01
Most students entering our introductory astronomy course for nonscience majors arrive not merely lacking scientific facts-they also have misconceptions about the nature of science, and many have a handicapping ``science anxiety'' (in addition to math anxiety). So I have added a ``current science'' requirement to our introductory course. Each student must compile a file of five astronomy news articles taken from readily available sources.
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Mosome, Connie; Poggenpoel, Marie; Myburgh, Chris
2011-11-17
Violence is a public health problem and often an issue of criminal justice.Violence in schools is a worldwide phenomenon and exposes adolescents to premature death. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe adolescents' views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was utilised. Purposive sampling was used to select adolescents from semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng who fell between the ages of 13 and 20 years and who were involved in community youth groups or associations. In-depth focus group discussion using audiotape, reflexive notes and naïve sketches were used for data collection. The central question which was asked was 'What are the adolescents' views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools?' Data were analysed by means of open coding. The results showed that adolescents understood the complexities associated with violence in this country, and they suggested multiple approaches and interventions. The adolescents were of the opinion that responsible communication patterns in the school environment could build healthy relationships between learners and educators and lead to a decrease in violence in the school setting. They also felt that enforcement of a secure teaching environment through encouragement of behavioural and attitudinal change guided by school codes of conduct and provision of firm security will help reduce violence in schools.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rossi Hassad
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Students� attitude, including perceived usefulness, is generally associated with academic success. The related research in statistics education has focused almost exclusively on the role of attitude in explaining and predicting academic learning outcomes, hence there is a paucity of research evidence on how attitude (particularly perceived usefulness impacts students� intentions to use and stay engaged in statistics beyond the introductory course. This study explored the relationship between college students� perception of the usefulness of an introductory statistics course, their beliefs about where statistics will be most useful, and their intentions to take another statistics course. A cross-sectional study of 106 students was conducted. The mean rating for usefulness was 4.7 (out of 7, with no statistically significant differences based on gender and age. Sixty-four percent reported that they would consider taking another statistics course, and this subgroup rated the course as more useful (p = .01. The majority (67% reported that statistics would be most useful for either graduate school or research, whereas 14% indicated their job, and 19% were undecided. The �undecided� students had the lowest mean rating for usefulness of the course (p = .001. Addressing data, in the context of real-world problem-solving and decision-making, could facilitate students to better appreciate the usefulness and practicality of statistics. Qualitative research methods could help to elucidate these findings.
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Psychology Ethics in Introductory Psychology Textbooks
Zucchero, Renee' A.
2011-01-01
Previous research revealed that introductory psychology textbooks included limited information about psychology ethics. This study reviewed 48 current introductory psychology textbooks for research and other APA ethics content. These textbooks included slightly more total ethics content and were more thorough in their review of research ethics…
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Topic Order in Introductory Physics and its Impact on the STEM Curricular Ladder
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Teresa L Larkin
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Introductory physics courses are an important rung on the curricular ladder in STEM. These courses help to strengthen students critical thinking and problem solving skills while simultaneously introducing them to many topics they will explore in more detail in later courses in physics and engineering. For these reasons, introductory physics is a required element on the curricular ladder. Most often, introductory physics is offered as a two-semester sequence with basic mechanics being taught in the first semester and electricity and magnetism in the second. In fact, this curricular sequence has not been altered in decades. Is there a reason for this? There are many other enduring questions that arise pertaining to these foundation courses in physics. These questions include: Does taking the introductory course sequence “out of order” have an impact on student learning in physics? What topics should be taught? When should these topics be taught? What topics could be left out? The list of questions is essentially endless. This paper will address some of these questions in part, through a brief discussion on student learning in a second-semester algebra-based physics course. Connections will also be made to the broader curricular ladder in STEM. To this end, an illustration that makes connections to an engineering statics course will be presented. This discussion will conclude by presenting some broader implications for the larger STEM communities.
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Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fomcenco, Alex
Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law.......Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law....
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Schmind, Kendra K.; Blankenship, Erin E.; Kerby. April T.; Green, Jennifer L.; Smith, Wendy M.
2014-01-01
The statistical preparation of in-service teachers, particularly middle school teachers, has been an area of concern for several years. This paper discusses the creation and delivery of an introductory statistics course as part of a master's degree program for in-service mathematics teachers. The initial course development took place before the…
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The Memorability of Introductory Psychology Revisited
Landrum, R. Eric; Gurung, Regan A. R.
2013-01-01
Almost 2 million students enroll in introductory psychology each year in the United States, making it the second most popular undergraduate course in the nation. Introductory psychology not only serves as a prerequisite for other courses in the discipline but for some students this course provides their only exposure to psychological science.…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Connie Mosome
2011-09-01
Full Text Available Background: Violence is a public health problem and often an issue of criminal justice.Violence in schools is a worldwide phenomenon and exposes adolescents to premature death.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe adolescents’ views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng.Research design and method: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was utilised. Purposive sampling was used to select adolescents from semi-rural secondary schools in Mafikeng who fell between the ages of 13 and 20 years and who were involved in community youth groups or associations. In-depth focus group discussion using audiotape, reflexive notes and naïve sketches were used for data collection. The central question which was asked was ‘What are the adolescents’ views on addressing violence in semi-rural secondary schools?’ Data were analysed by means of open coding.Results: The results showed that adolescents understood the complexities associated with violence in this country, and they suggested multiple approaches and interventions. The adolescents were of the opinion that responsible communication patterns in the school environment could build healthy relationships between learners and educators and lead to a decrease in violence in the school setting. They also felt that enforcement of a secure teaching environment through encouragement of behavioural and attitudinal change guided by school codes of conduct and provision of firm security will help reduce violence in schools.
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Understanding and addressing homophobia in schools: a view from teachers
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Deevia Bhana
2012-01-01
Full Text Available South African schools have been found to be homophobic. Teachers can play an important role in offering a critique of homophobia grounded in South Africa's legal claim to equality on the basis of sexual orientation. Currently there is a dearth of educational research about how teachers understand and address homophobia. By drawing upon focus-group interviews with teachers based atfive schools, this paper shows dominant teaching views which contribute to homophobia, although this is not the only view. Informed by theoretical framings that seek to uncover heterosexual domination, the analysis shows three interrelated discursive constructions through which homophobia is both produced and resisted by teachers. Silencing homosexuality, denying its existence in the curriculum, and religious prohibitions were found to be dominant. It must be understood however that teachers are working in a context without any intervention and support. Their views also show potentialfor working against the climate of homophobia. Recommendations for such work are indicated in the conclusion of the paper.
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Laing-Kean, Claudine A. M.
2010-01-01
Programs supported by the Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006 are required to operate under the state or national content standards, and are expected to carry out evaluation procedures that address accountability. The Indiana high school course, "Advanced Life Science: Foods" ("ALS: Foods") operates under the auspices of the Perkins…
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Crossword Puzzles as Learning Tools in Introductory Soil Science
Barbarick, K. A.
2010-01-01
Students in introductory courses generally respond favorably to novel approaches to learning. To this end, I developed and used three crossword puzzles in spring and fall 2009 semesters in Introductory Soil Science Laboratory at Colorado State University. The first hypothesis was that crossword puzzles would improve introductory soil science…
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Young, Ellie L.; Ashbaker, Betty Y.
2008-01-01
This article discusses ways on how to address the problem of sexual harassment in schools. Sexual harassment--simply defined as any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior--is a sensitive topic. Merely providing students, parents, and staff members with information about the school's sexual harassment policy is insufficient; schools must take…
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Strangman, Lauria; Knowles, Elizabeth
2012-01-01
In an introductory research methods course, students often develop research questions and hypotheses that are vague or confusing, do not contain measurable concepts, and are too narrow in scope or vision. Because of this, the final research projects often fail to provide useful information or address the overall research problem. A Lesson Study…
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Cervato, C.; Jach, J. Y.; Ridky, R.
2003-12-01
Introductory Earth science courses are undergoing pedagogical changes in universities across the country and are focusing more than ever on the non-science majors. Increasing enrollment of non-science majors in these introductory Earth science courses demands a new look at what is being taught and how the content can be objectively chosen. Assessing the content and effectiveness of these courses requires a quantitative investigation of introductory Earth science topics and their relevance to current issues and concerns. Relevance of Earth science topics can be linked to improved students' attitude toward science and a deeper understanding of concepts. We have used the Internet based national news search-engine LexisNexis Academic Universe (http://www.lexisnexis.org/) to select the occurrence of Earth science terms over the last 12 months, five and ten years both regionally and nationally. This database of term occurrences is being used to examine how Earth sciences have evolved in the news through the last 10 years and is also compared with textbook contents and course syllabi from randomly selected introductory earth science courses across the nation. These data constitute the quantitative foundation for this study and are being used to evaluate the relevance of introductory earth science course content. The relevance of introductory course content and current real-world issues to student attitudes is a crucial factor when considering changes in course curricula and pedagogy. We have examined students' conception of the nature of science and attitudes towards science and learning science using a Likert-scale assessment instrument in the fall 2002 Geology 100 classes at Iowa State University. A pre-test and post-test were administered to see if the students' attitudes changed during the semester using as reference a control group comprised of geoscience undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty. The results of the attitude survey have been analyzed in terms
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Havlik, Stacey A.; Rowley, Patrick; Puckett, Jessica; Wilson, George; Neasen, Erin
2018-01-01
This qualitative study explored the experiences of 23 school counselors in addressing the needs of students experiencing homelessness. Phenomenological analysis revealed two overarching themes: (a) school counselors as the first line of support and (b) the desire to help while feeling helpless. Findings suggest that participants feel underprepared…
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Toward equity through participation in Modeling Instruction in introductory university physics
Brewe, Eric; Sawtelle, Vashti; Kramer, Laird H.; O'Brien, George E.; Rodriguez, Idaykis; Pamelá, Priscilla
2010-06-01
We report the results of a five year evaluation of the reform of introductory calculus-based physics by implementation of Modeling Instruction (MI) at Florida International University (FIU), a Hispanic-serving institution. MI is described in the context of FIU’s overall effort to enhance student participation in physics and science broadly. Our analysis of MI from a “participationist” perspective on learning identifies aspects of MI including conceptually based instruction, culturally sensitive instruction, and cooperative group learning, which are consistent with research on supporting equitable learning and participation by students historically under-represented in physics (i.e., Black, Hispanic, women). This study uses markers of conceptual understanding as measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and odds of success as measured by the ratio of students completing introductory physics and earning a passing grade (i.e., C- or better) by students historically under-represented in physics to reflect equity and participation in introductory physics. FCI pre and post scores for students in MI are compared with lecture-format taught students. Modeling Instruction students outperform students taught in lecture-format classes on post instruction FCI (61.9% vs 47.9%, p<0.001 ), where these benefits are seen across both ethnic and gender comparisons. In addition, we report that the odds of success in MI are 6.73 times greater than in lecture instruction. Both odds of success and FCI scores within Modeling Instruction are further disaggregated by ethnicity and by gender to address the question of equity within the treatment. The results of this disaggregation indicate that although ethnically under-represented students enter with lower overall conceptual understanding scores, the gap is not widened during introductory physics but instead is maintained, and the odds of success for under-represented students is not different from majority students. Women
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Toward equity through participation in Modeling Instruction in introductory university physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eric Brewe
2010-05-01
Full Text Available We report the results of a five year evaluation of the reform of introductory calculus-based physics by implementation of Modeling Instruction (MI at Florida International University (FIU, a Hispanic-serving institution. MI is described in the context of FIU’s overall effort to enhance student participation in physics and science broadly. Our analysis of MI from a “participationist” perspective on learning identifies aspects of MI including conceptually based instruction, culturally sensitive instruction, and cooperative group learning, which are consistent with research on supporting equitable learning and participation by students historically under-represented in physics (i.e., Black, Hispanic, women. This study uses markers of conceptual understanding as measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI and odds of success as measured by the ratio of students completing introductory physics and earning a passing grade (i.e., C− or better by students historically under-represented in physics to reflect equity and participation in introductory physics. FCI pre and post scores for students in MI are compared with lecture-format taught students. Modeling Instruction students outperform students taught in lecture-format classes on post instruction FCI (61.9% vs 47.9%, p<0.001, where these benefits are seen across both ethnic and gender comparisons. In addition, we report that the odds of success in MI are 6.73 times greater than in lecture instruction. Both odds of success and FCI scores within Modeling Instruction are further disaggregated by ethnicity and by gender to address the question of equity within the treatment. The results of this disaggregation indicate that although ethnically under-represented students enter with lower overall conceptual understanding scores, the gap is not widened during introductory physics but instead is maintained, and the odds of success for under-represented students is not different from majority students
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Preliminary investigation of instructor effects on gender gap in introductory physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kimberley Kreutzer1
2012-05-01
Full Text Available Gender differences in student learning in the introductory, calculus-based electricity and magnetism course were assessed by administering the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism pre- and postcourse. As expected, male students outgained females in traditionally taught sections as well as sections that incorporated interactive engagement (IE techniques. In two of the IE course sections, however, the gains of female students were comparable to those of male students. Classroom observations of the course sections involved were made over an extended period. In this paper, we characterize the observed instructor-student interactions using a framework from educational psychology referred to as wise schooling. Results suggest that instructor practices affect differential learning, and that wise schooling techniques may constitute an effective strategy for promoting gender equity in the physics classroom.
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Preliminary investigation of instructor effects on gender gap in introductory physics
Kreutzer, Kimberley; Boudreaux, Andrew
2012-06-01
Gender differences in student learning in the introductory, calculus-based electricity and magnetism course were assessed by administering the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism pre- and postcourse. As expected, male students outgained females in traditionally taught sections as well as sections that incorporated interactive engagement (IE) techniques. In two of the IE course sections, however, the gains of female students were comparable to those of male students. Classroom observations of the course sections involved were made over an extended period. In this paper, we characterize the observed instructor-student interactions using a framework from educational psychology referred to as wise schooling. Results suggest that instructor practices affect differential learning, and that wise schooling techniques may constitute an effective strategy for promoting gender equity in the physics classroom.
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Evans, Heather K.
2012-01-01
In this article, the author addresses both the costs and benefits of implementing clickers into an introductory political science course. Comparing student responses to a mid-semester survey in both a clicker and non-clicker course, the results show that students have higher satisfaction of the course and instructor, higher exam scores, and feel…
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Jones, Joseph R.
2015-01-01
This article discusses the role multicultural education can play in addressing homophobia in K-12 schools. The author explores the lack of multiculturalism courses in undergraduate teacher education programs. To address the lack of multiculturalism courses, three instructional activities are offered that faculty in teacher education programs can…
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Bahri, Ujjal Singh; Walia, Paramjit Singh
This introductory text in Punjabi (also spelled Panjabi) is intended primarily for those whose mother tongue is not Punjabi but are native speakers of other Indian languages. Some familiarity with the Punjabi cultural items is presupposed. The non-Indian may, however, also be able to use this text with profit since the lessons are graded. The…
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Introductory quantum mechanics for applied nanotechnology
Kim, Dae Mann
2015-01-01
This introductory textbook covers fundamental quantum mechanics from an application perspective, considering optoelectronic devices, biological sensors and molecular imagers as well as solar cells and field effect transistors. The book provides a brief review of classical and statistical mechanics and electromagnetism, and then turns to the quantum treatment of atoms, molecules, and chemical bonds. Aiming at senior undergraduate and graduate students in nanotechnology related areas like physics, materials science, and engineering, the book could be used at schools that offer interdisciplinary but focused training for future workers in the semiconductor industry and for the increasing number of related nanotechnology firms, and even practicing people could use it when they need to learn related concepts. The author is Professor Dae Mann Kim from the Korea Institute for Advanced Study who has been teaching Quantum Mechanics to engineering, material science and physics students for over 25 years in USA and Asia.
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Using Isomorphic Problems to Learn Introductory Physics
Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha
2011-01-01
In this study, we examine introductory physics students' ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the…
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O'Dwyer, Anne; Childs, Peter
2014-01-01
The main areas of difficulty experienced by those teaching and learning organic chemistry at high school and introductory university level in Ireland have been identified, and the findings support previous studies in Ireland and globally. Using these findings and insights from chemistry education research (CER), the Organic Chemistry in Action!…
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Teaching Introductory Geoscience: A Cutting Edge Workshop Report
Manduca, C.; Tewksbury, B.; Egger, A.; MacDonald, H.; Kirk, K.
2008-12-01
Introductory undergraduate courses play a pivotal role in the geosciences. They serve as recruiting grounds for majors and future professionals, provide relevant experiences in geoscience for pre-service teachers, and offer opportunities to influence future policy makers, business people, professionals, and citizens. An introductory course is also typically the only course in geoscience that most of our students will ever take. Because the role of introductory courses is pivotal in geoscience education, a workshop on Teaching Introductory Courses in the 21st Century was held in July 2008 as part of the On the Cutting Edge faculty development program. A website was also developed in conjunction with the workshop. One of the central themes of the workshop was the importance of considering the long-term impact a course should have on students. Ideally, courses can be designed with this impact in mind. Approaches include using the local geology to focus the course and illustrate concepts; designing a course for particular audience (such as Geology for Engineers); creating course features that help students understand and interpret geoscience in the news; and developing capstone projects to teach critical thinking and problem solving skills in a geologic context. Workshop participants also explored strategies for designing engaging activities including exploring with Google Earth, using real-world scenarios, connecting with popular media, or making use of campus features on local field trips. In addition, introductory courses can emphasize broad skills such as teaching the process of science, using quantitative reasoning and developing communication skills. Materials from the workshop as well as descriptions of more than 150 introductory courses and 350 introductory-level activities are available on the website: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/index.html.
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Beginning Introductory Physics with Two-Dimensional Motion
Huggins, Elisha
2009-01-01
During the session on "Introductory College Physics Textbooks" at the 2007 Summer Meeting of the AAPT, there was a brief discussion about whether introductory physics should begin with one-dimensional motion or two-dimensional motion. Here we present the case that by starting with two-dimensional motion, we are able to introduce a considerable…
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Teaching Introductory Psychology: Tips from "ToP"
Griggs, Richard A., Ed.; Jackson, Sherri L., Ed.
2011-01-01
This book follows in the footsteps of the first three volumes in the "Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology" series. In the prefaces to these volumes, the various editors all stressed two major points relevant to the development of this series. These comments also apply to this book. First, introductory psychology is one of the most…
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Identifying difficult concepts in introductory programming
Humar, Klaudija
2014-01-01
In this diploma thesis we try to find the answer to why students experience difficulties in introductory programming. We ask ourselves what causes most problems while trying to understand concepts in introductory programming, generating code and designing algorithms. In the first section we introduce programming language Python as the first programming language being taught to students. We compare it with programming language Pascal and stress the advantages of Python that seem important ...
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Mayeza, Emmanuel; Bhana, Deevia
2016-01-01
This paper explores how teachers in a poor township primary school in South Africa construct meaning regarding gender violence among children, and how they talk about addressing that violence. The paper argues that major influences on the endemic violence include complex societal structures that are inscribed with cultures of violent…
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Introductory photoemission theory
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Arai, Hiroko; Fujikawa, Takashi
2010-01-01
An introductory review is presented on the basis of many-body scattering theory. Some fundamental aspects of photoemission theory are discussed in detail. A few applications are also discussed; photoelectron diffraction, depth distribution function and multi-atom resonant photoemission are also discussed briefly. (author)
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The Misrepresentation of School Psychology in Introduction to Psychology Textbooks.
Wise, Paula Sachs
1981-01-01
This study indicates that introductory psychology textbooks ignore the role of the psychologist in the schools. Out of 84 textbooks, only 26 described the school psychologist. When 12 students analyzed these available descriptions for five skill types, no coherent images of school psychologists emerged. (AM)
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Holbrow, Charles H; Amato, Joseph C; Galvez, Enrique; Parks, M. Elizabeth
2010-01-01
Modern Introductory Physics, 2nd Edition, by Charles H. Holbrow, James N. Lloyd, Joseph C. Amato, Enrique Galvez, and Beth Parks, is a successful innovative text for teaching introductory college and university physics. It is thematically organized to emphasize the physics that answers the fundamental question: Why do we believe in atoms and their properties? The book provides a sound introduction to basic physical concepts with particular attention to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century physics underlying our modern ideas of atoms and their structure. After a review of basic Newtonian mechanics, the book discusses early physical evidence that matter is made of atoms. With a simple model of the atom Newtonian mechanics can explain the ideal gas laws, temperature, and viscosity. Basic concepts of electricity and magnetism are introduced along with a more complicated model of the atom to account for the observed electrical properties of atoms. The physics of waves---particularly light and x-rays---an...
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Mathematization in introductory physics
Brahmia, Suzanne M.
Mathematization is central to STEM disciplines as a cornerstone of the quantitative reasoning that characterizes these fields. Introductory physics is required for most STEM majors in part so that students develop expert-like mathematization. This dissertation describes coordinated research and curriculum development for strengthening mathematization in introductory physics; it blends scholarship in physics and mathematics education in the form of three papers. The first paper explores mathematization in the context of physics, and makes an original contribution to the measurement of physics students' struggle to mathematize. Instructors naturally assume students have a conceptual mastery of algebra before embarking on a college physics course because these students are enrolled in math courses beyond algebra. This paper provides evidence that refutes the validity of this assumption and categorizes some of the barriers students commonly encounter with quantification and representing ideas symbolically. The second paper develops a model of instruction that can help students progress from their starting points to their instructor's desired endpoints. Instructors recognize that the introductory physics course introduces new ideas at an astonishing rate. More than most physicists realize, however, the way that mathematics is used in the course is foreign to a large portion of class. This paper puts forth an instructional model that can move all students toward better quantitative and physical reasoning, despite the substantial variability of those students' initial states. The third paper describes the design and testing of curricular materials that foster mathematical creativity to prepare students to better understand physics reasoning. Few students enter introductory physics with experience generating equations in response to specific challenges involving unfamiliar quantities and units, yet this generative use of mathematics is typical of the thinking involved in
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The Role of School Counselors in Addressing Sexual Orientation in Schools
DePaul, Jillian; Walsh, Mary E.; Dam, Uma C.
2009-01-01
Issues of sexual orientation are relevant to multiple levels of the school community, including students, school professionals, and schools as institutions. School counselors, with their developmental training, systems perspective, and commitment to diversity, are uniquely positioned to be leaders in efforts not only to provide support for…
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Adding Resistances and Capacitances in Introductory Electricity
Efthimiou, C. J.; Llewellyn, R. A.
2005-09-01
All introductory physics textbooks, with or without calculus, cover the addition of both resistances and capacitances in series and in parallel as discrete summations. However, none includes problems that involve continuous versions of resistors in parallel or capacitors in series. This paper introduces a method for solving the continuous problems that is logical, straightforward, and within the mathematical preparation of students at the introductory level.
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Kolmogorov, A N; Silverman, Richard A
1975-01-01
Self-contained and comprehensive, this elementary introduction to real and functional analysis is readily accessible to those with background in advanced calculus. It covers basic concepts and introductory principles in set theory, metric spaces, topological and linear spaces, linear functionals and linear operators, and much more. 350 problems. 1970 edition.
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Public School Finance Programs, 1978-79.
Tron, Esther O., Comp.
This compendium describes the programs of state financial aid to school districts that were in effect in the 1978-79 school year. The introductory section of the report is an analysis of the situation and contains summary tables. The report for each state consists of two parts. The first part reports features of the state and local systems of…
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Introductory analysis a deeper view of calculus
Bagby, Richard J
2000-01-01
Introductory Analysis addresses the needs of students taking a course in analysis after completing a semester or two of calculus, and offers an alternative to texts that assume that math majors are their only audience. By using a conversational style that does not compromise mathematical precision, the author explains the material in terms that help the reader gain a firmer grasp of calculus concepts.* Written in an engaging, conversational tone and readable style while softening the rigor and theory* Takes a realistic approach to the necessary and accessible level of abstraction for the secondary education students* A thorough concentration of basic topics of calculus* Features a student-friendly introduction to delta-epsilon arguments * Includes a limited use of abstract generalizations for easy use* Covers natural logarithms and exponential functions* Provides the computational techniques often encountered in basic calculus
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Vanneste, Yvonne; van de Loo, Marlou; Feron, Frans; Rots-de Vries, Carin; van de Goor, Ien
2016-01-01
Reducing school absenteeism benefits the health and educational opportunities of young people. The Dutch intervention Medical Advice for Sick-reported Students (abbreviated as MASS) was developed to address school absenteeism due to sickness reporting, also called medical absenteeism. This study is part of a research project on the effectiveness of MASS and explores factors that influence the implementation and dissemination of the intervention, from schools' perspectives. The research questions include reasons schools have to implement MASS, their experiences in the implementation of MASS and their views on what is needed to ensure sustainable implementation. A qualitative research method was used. Semi-structured interviews were held with nine principals and eight special education needs coordinators, working in nine secondary schools that apply MASS. Inductive content analysis was carried out. The main reasons for schools to address medical absenteeism were their concerns about students' well-being and future prospects and their wish to share these concerns with students' parents. Participants also mentioned the wish to raise the threshold for reporting sick. According to the participants, MASS makes it easier for teachers to enter into conversation with students and their parents about medical absence. MASS prevents damage to the relationship with parents and medical problems being missed. In implementing MASS the main obstacles are teachers' dialogue about medical absence with students and their parents, teachers' follow-up of the feedback of the youth health care physicians (YHCPs), and correct registration. The participants were convinced that MASS also improves collaboration with parents regarding the optimization of care for students. MASS allows schools to identify students at risk of dropout at an early stage and to optimise guidance of these students. The intervention matches schools' need to address medical absenteeism by providing a clear framework
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Assessing expertise in introductory physics using categorization task
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrew Mason
2011-10-01
Full Text Available The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking three introductory physics classes, each with more than a hundred students, to categorize mechanics problems based upon similarity of solution. We compare their categorization with those of physics graduate students and faculty members. To evaluate the effect of problem context on students’ ability to categorize, two sets of problems were developed for categorization. Some problems in one set included those available from the prior study by Chi et al. We find a large overlap between calculus-based introductory students and graduate students with regard to their categorizations that were assessed as “good.” Our findings, which contrast with those of Chi et al., suggest that there is a wide distribution of expertise in mechanics among introductory and graduate students. Although the categorization task is conceptual, introductory students in the calculus-based course performed better than those in the algebra-based course. Qualitative trends in categorization of problems are similar between the non-Chi problems and problems available from the Chi study used in our study although the Chi problems used are more difficult on average.
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Implementing Recommendations for Introductory Biology by Writing a New Textbook
Barsoum, Mark J.; Sellers, Patrick J.; Campbell, A. Malcolm; Heyer, Laurie J.; Paradise, Christopher J.
2013-01-01
We redesigned the undergraduate introductory biology course by writing a new textbook (Integrating Concepts in Biology [ICB]) that follows first principles of learning. Our approach emphasizes primary data interpretation and the utility of mathematics in biology, while de-emphasizing memorization. This redesign divides biology into five big ideas (information, evolution, cells, emergent properties, homeostasis), addressing each at five levels of organization (molecules, cells, organisms, populations, ecological systems). We compared our course outcomes with two sections that used a traditional textbook and were taught by different instructors. On data interpretation assessments administered periodically during the semester, our students performed better than students in the traditional sections (p = 0.046) and exhibited greater improvement over the course of the semester (p = 0.015). On factual content assessments, our students performed similarly to students in the other sections (p = 0.737). Pre- and postsemester assessment of disciplinary perceptions and self-appraisal indicate that our students acquired a more accurate perception of biology as a discipline and may have developed a more realistic evaluation of their scientific abilities than did the control students (p < 0.05). We conclude that ICB improves critical thinking, metacognition, and disciplinary perceptions without compromising content knowledge in introductory biology. PMID:23463233
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Synthesis of Ibuprofen in the Introductory Organic Laboratory
Kjonaas, Richard A.; Williams, Peggy E.; Counce, David A.; Crawley, Lindsey R.
2011-01-01
A method for the synthesis of ibuprofen in introductory organic chemistry laboratory courses is reported. This experiment requires two 3-h lab sessions. All of the reactions and techniques are a standard part of any introductory organic chemistry course. In the first lab session, students reduce p-isobutylacetophenone to an alcohol and then…
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Examining issues of underrepresented minority students in introductory physics
Watkins, Jessica Ellen
In this dissertation we examine several issues related to the retention of under-represented minority students in physics and science. In the first section, we show that in calculus-based introductory physics courses, the gender gap on the FCI is diminished through the use of interactive techniques, but in lower-level introductory courses, the gap persists, similar to reports published at other institutions. We find that under-represented racial minorities perform similar to their peers with comparable academic preparation on conceptual surveys, but their average exam grades and course grades are lower. We also examine student persistence in science majors; finding a significant relationship between pedagogy in an introductory physics course and persistence in science. In the second section, we look at student end-of-semester evaluations and find that female students rate interactive teaching methods a full point lower than their male peers. Looking more deeply at student interview data, we find that female students report more social issues related to the discussions in class and both male and female students cite feeling pressure to obtain the correct answer to clicker questions. Finally, we take a look an often-cited claim for gender differences in STEM participation: cognitive differences explain achievement differences in physics. We examine specifically the role of mental rotations in physics achievement and problem-solving, viewing mental rotations as a tool that students can use on physics problems. We first look at student survey results for lower-level introductory students, finding a low, but significant correlation between performance on a mental rotations test and performance in introductory physics courses. In contrast, we did not find a significant relationship for students in the upper-level introductory course. We also examine student problem-solving interviews to investigate the role of mental rotations on introductory problems.
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Lane-Getaz, Sharon
2017-01-01
In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social science journal editor banned p-values from its pages. This study aimed to show that education could address misuse and abuse. This study examines inference-related learning outcomes for social science students in an introductory course supplemented with…
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Phasha, T. N.; Nyokangi, D.
2012-01-01
This paper reports part of the findings of the study which investigated sexual violence at two schools catering specifically for learners with mild intellectual disability in Gauteng Province. It looks particularly on participants' suggestions for addressing sexual violence in such school. A multiple case study within the qualitative research…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
E. M. Cutrim
2006-01-01
Full Text Available Responding to the call for reform in science education, changes were made in an introductory meteorology and climate course offered at a large public university. These changes were a part of a larger project aimed at deepening and extending a program of science content courses that model effective teaching strategies for prospective middle school science teachers. Therefore, revisions were made to address misconceptions about meteorological phenomena, foster deeper understanding of key concepts, encourage engagement with the text, and promote inquiry-based learning. Techniques introduced include: use of a flash cards, student reflection questionnaires, writing assignments, and interactive discussions on weather and forecast data using computer technology such as Integrated Data Viewer (IDV. The revision process is described in a case study format. Preliminary results (self-reflection by the instructor, surveys of student opinion, and measurements of student achievement, suggest student learning has been positively influenced. This study is supported by three grants: NSF grant No. 0202923, the Unidata Equipment Award, and the Lucia Harrison Endowment Fund.
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Rosvall, Per-Åke; Nilsson, Stefan
2016-08-30
There has been an increase of reports describing mental health problems in adolescents, especially girls. School nurses play an important role in supporting young people with health problems. Few studies have considered how the nurses' gender norms may influence their discussions. To investigate this issue, semi-structured interviews focusing on school nurses' work with students who have mental health problems were conducted. Transcripts of interviews with Swedish school nurses (n = 15) from the Help overcoming pain early project (HOPE) were analysed using theories on gender as a theoretical framework and then organised into themes related to the school nurses' provision of contact and intervention. The interviewees were all women, aged between 42-63 years, who had worked as nurses for 13-45 years, and as school nurses for 2-28 years. Five worked in upper secondary schools (for students aged 16-19) and 10 in secondary schools (for students aged 12-16). The results show that school nurses more commonly associated mental health problems with girls. When the school nurses discussed students that were difficult to reach, boys in particular were mentioned. However, very few nurses mentioned specific intervention to address students' mental health problems, and all of the mentioned interventions were focused on girls. Some of the school nurses reported that it was more difficult to initiate a health dialogue with boys, yet none of the nurses had organized interventions for the boys. We conclude that generalisations can sometimes be analytically helpful, facilitating, for instance, the identification of problems in school nurses' work methods and interventions. However, the most important conclusion from our research, which applied a design that is not commonly used, is that more varied approaches, as well as a greater awareness of potential gender stereotype pitfalls, are necessary to meet the needs of diverse student groups.
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Resource Guide for Crisis Management in Schools.
LaPointe, Richard T.; And Others
A crisis can occur at any time, whether or not a school's staff plans for it. This resource guide is a compilation of user-friendly examples of policies, procedures, guidelines, checklists, and forms to help Virginia schools develop and implement a systematic crisis-management plan. Chapter 1 provides an introductory overview of the essential…
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Teaching Introductory Business Statistics Using the DCOVA Framework
Levine, David M.; Stephan, David F.
2011-01-01
Introductory business statistics students often receive little guidance on how to apply the methods they learn to further business objectives they may one day face. And those students may fail to see the continuity among the topics taught in an introductory course if they learn those methods outside a context that provides a unifying framework.…
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Using a Common Experience to Teach Introductory Managerial Accounting
King, Gail Hoover; McConnell, Cheryl
2010-01-01
Teaching introductory accounting courses can be both challenging and rewarding. In introductory financial and managerial accounting, students struggle with the unfamiliar terminology and concepts. However, managerial accounting offers distinct challenges in that managerial accounting reports used for decision-making are not publically available,…
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A Summer at the University: A twenty five years experience with High School Students
Zamorano, Nelson
2014-03-01
After running a summer school for enthusiastic high school students for 25 years, we reached the point where three of my colleagues at the physics department, are exstudents from two physics courses offered (more than ten years ago) within our program. There are also graduates in some others Faculties in different universities. Here we would like to describe the evolution of this project since its beginning, with 60 students in an introductory physics class to the 3000 now attending (January 2014) the around 60 courses offered in almost all areas of knowledge, from theater to Biotechnology. Lately, as we became aware of the relevance of teaching sciences to young kids in elementary school, we started a winter section addressing this group of students. The courses are mainly a hands on experience. In this talk we will comment about our learning experience working on this kind of projects and our projections for the future. Partial travel support from Escuela de Verano.
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Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory ...
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory Manual for Researchers and Development Practitioners. Couverture du livre Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control : A How-to Introductory Manual for. Auteur(s):. Alison Mathie et Anne Carnozzi. Maison(s) d'édition: CRDI. 15 janvier 2005. ISBN :.
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Using isomorphic problems to learn introductory physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shih-Yin Lin
2011-08-01
Full Text Available In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the recitation in which they had to first learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another problem (which we call the quiz problem which was isomorphic. Previous research suggests that the multiple-concept quiz problem is challenging for introductory students. Students in different recitation classes received different interventions in order to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with four introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. We found that most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem. However, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. Research suggests that more scaffolding is needed to help students in applying these principles appropriately. We outline a few possible strategies for future investigation.
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Using isomorphic problems to learn introductory physics
Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha
2011-12-01
In this study, we examine introductory physics students’ ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. Three hundred sixty-two students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were given a quiz in the recitation in which they had to first learn from a solved problem provided and take advantage of what they learned from it to solve another problem (which we call the quiz problem) which was isomorphic. Previous research suggests that the multiple-concept quiz problem is challenging for introductory students. Students in different recitation classes received different interventions in order to help them discern and exploit the underlying similarities of the isomorphic solved and quiz problems. We also conducted think-aloud interviews with four introductory students in order to understand in depth the difficulties they had and explore strategies to provide better scaffolding. We found that most students were able to learn from the solved problem to some extent with the scaffolding provided and invoke the relevant principles in the quiz problem. However, they were not necessarily able to apply the principles correctly. Research suggests that more scaffolding is needed to help students in applying these principles appropriately. We outline a few possible strategies for future investigation.
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The Greening of Marketing: An Analysis of Introductory Textbooks
DeMoss, Michelle; Nicholson, Carolyn Y.
2005-01-01
In this study, the authors examined whether introductory marketing textbooks contain the information that is needed to educate future business leaders about the important role of environmentally sustainable practices. We content-analyzed the 21 current introductory marketing textbooks for coverage of these practices. The results showed limited,…
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A Diagnostic Assessment for Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology
Shi, Jia; Wood, William B.; Martin, Jennifer M.; Guild, Nancy A.; Vicens, Quentin; Knight, Jennifer K.
2010-01-01
We have developed and validated a tool for assessing understanding of a selection of fundamental concepts and basic knowledge in undergraduate introductory molecular and cell biology, focusing on areas in which students often have misconceptions. This multiple-choice Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology Assessment (IMCA) instrument is designed…
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Lucassen, Mathijs F G; Burford, James
2015-10-01
To evaluate the potential of a 60-minute sexuality diversity workshop to address bullying in secondary schools. Students completed pre- and post-workshop questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise results with pre- to immediate post-workshop changes compared using t-tests. Thematic analysis was used to analyse open-ended questionnaire responses. We had 229 students (mean age 13.7 years) attending 10 workshops participate in the study. Three-quarters of students thought the workshop would reduce bullying in schools, and over 95% of the participants thought that other secondary schools should offer the workshop. There was a significant increase in valuing (p bullying/mocking' of sexuality-diverse students; however, many individual students reported a desire to be supportive of their sexuality-diverse peers. Sexuality-based bullying is commonplace in secondary schools. This form of bullying is associated with depression and suicide attempts. Reducing sexuality-based bullying is very likely to have a positive impact on the mental health of young people. Brief workshops, as a part of a wider suite of interventions, have some potential to create safer school environments. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.
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Introductory Textbooks and Plagiarism in Higher Education: A Case Study from Economics.
Richardson, Paul
2002-01-01
Textbooks are powerful technologies that are foundational to introductory level courses. In the research site of an introductory economic classroom, the textbook is positioned as having status similar to that of a canonical religious text. This study investigated how student reading and writing can be problematic when introductory level courses…
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Jordan, Jakarla
2016-01-01
This research examines the systematic process of developing an integrative play therapy group model for middle school male students, ages 11-15 who participate in bullying behaviors. Play therapy approaches and evidence-based practices are documented as effective measures for addressing bullying behaviors with children and adolescents. This group…
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Sensors an introductory course
Kalantar-zadeh, Kourosh
2013-01-01
Sensors: An Introductory Course provides an essential reference on the fundamentals of sensors. The book is designed to help readers in developing skills and the understanding required in order to implement a wide range of sensors that are commonly used in our daily lives. This book covers the basic concepts in the sensors field, including definitions and terminologies. The physical sensing effects are described, and devices which utilize these effects are presented. The most frequently used organic and inorganic sensors are introduced and the techniques for implementing them are discussed. This book: Provides a comprehensive representation of the most common sensors and can be used as a reference in relevant fields Presents learning materials in a concise and easy to understand manner Includes examples of how sensors are incorporated in real life measurements Contains detailed figures and schematics to assist in understanding the sensor performance Sensors: An Introductory Course is ideal for university stu...
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African Journals Online (AJOL)
While political reorientation and economic redress were of immediate concern, ... South African context, where widespread changes have been proposed for education at all ... education at school and other levels and needs to be addressed so as to ..... the major national curriculum intervention in environmental education.
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The Impact of Baby Swimming on Introductory and Elementary Swimming Training
Břízová, Gabriela
2007-01-01
THESIS ANNOTATION Title: The Impact of Baby Swimming on Introductory and Elementary Swimming Training Aim: To assess the impact of 'baby swimming' on the successfulness in introductory and partly in elementary swimming training, and to find out whether also other circumstances (for example the length of attendance at 'baby swimming') have some influence on introductory swimming training. Methods: We used a questionnaire method for the parents of children who had attended 'baby swimming' and f...
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Attributes of Students Graduating from Schools and Colleges of Optometry.
Optometric Education, 2000
2000-01-01
This report by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry identifies desired attributes of students graduating from schools and colleges of optometry. Introductory information includes information on the report's development and assumptions. Personal and professional attributes are then listed followed by a list of 10 knowledge-area…
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School Leadership and Counselors Working Together to Address Bullying
Austin, Sheila M.; Reynolds, Glenda P.; Barnes, Shirley L.
2012-01-01
School bullying remains a serious issue although it has been the subject of national news, government agencies, schools and community organizations since the school shootings at Columbine. School administrators must implement school policies concerning bullying and harassment. The authors describe how administrators can develop a school-wide…
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Redesigning a Large Introductory Course to Incorporate the GAISE Guidelines
Woodard, Roger; McGowan, Herle
2012-01-01
In 2005, the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education" (GAISE) college report described several recommendations for teaching introductory statistics. This paper discusses how a large multi-section introductory course was redesigned in order to implement these recommendations. The experience described discusses…
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A Citation Analysis of Who's Who in Introductory Textbooks
Griggs, Richard A.; Proctor, Derrick L.
2002-01-01
Given the many changes in the introductory psychology textbook market in the past 2 decades and the lack of a recent citation study of introductory texts, we conducted a citation analysis of a stratified random sample of current texts. To provide a more comprehensive picture of current citation emphases, we extended our analysis to the top 60…
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Faraday's Principle and Air Travel in the Introductory Labs
Abdul-Razzaq, Wathiq; Thakur, Saikat Chakraborty
2017-01-01
We all know that we must improve the quality of teaching in science at all levels. Not only physicists but also many students from other areas of study take the introductory physics courses in college. Physics introductory laboratories (labs) can be one of the best tools to help these students understand applications of scientific principles that…
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Fish: A New Computer Program for Friendly Introductory Statistics Help
Brooks, Gordon P.; Raffle, Holly
2005-01-01
All introductory statistics students must master certain basic descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations and correlations. Students must also gain insight into such complex concepts as the central limit theorem and standard error. This article introduces and describes the Friendly Introductory Statistics Help (FISH) computer…
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Preparing School Leaders: Action Research on the Leadership Study Group
Kamler, Estelle
2016-01-01
This article reports an action research study that examined the Leadership Study Group, one learning activity designed to build knowledge and skills for aspiring school leaders and implemented in a six-credit introductory course for school leader certification. Through analysis of a variety of qualitative data collected over nine semesters, I…
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Addressing Transgender Issues in Schools
Cavanagh, Marian
2016-01-01
As mainstream media focus more attention on transgender issues, and as anti-discrimination laws evolve, a shift is taking place on campuses. Many schools now include gender identity and expression in their inclusivity work and seek to establish policies and procedures to support transgender students and their families. It's not an easy task. In…
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Introductory Biology Textbooks Under-Represent Scientific Process
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dara B. Duncan
2011-08-01
Full Text Available Attrition of undergraduates from Biology majors is a long-standing problem. Introductory courses that fail to engage students or spark their curiosity by emphasizing the open-ended and creative nature of biological investigation and discovery could contribute to student detachment from the field. Our hypothesis was that introductory biology books devote relatively few figures to illustration of the design and interpretation of experiments or field studies, thereby de-emphasizing the scientific process.To investigate this possibility, we examined figures in six Introductory Biology textbooks published in 2008. On average, multistep scientific investigations were presented in fewer than 5% of the hundreds of figures in each book. Devoting such a small percentage of figures to the processes by which discoveries are made discourages an emphasis on scientific thinking. We suggest that by increasing significantly the illustration of scientific investigations, textbooks could support undergraduates’ early interest in biology, stimulate the development of design and analytical skills, and inspire some students to participate in investigations of their own.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Arabasi, Sameer; Al-Taani, Hussein
2017-01-01
Measurement of the Earth’s magnetic field dip angle is a widely used experiment in most introductory physics laboratories. In this paper we propose a smartphone-aided setup that takes advantage of the smartphone’s magnetometer sensor to measure the Earth’s magnetic field dip angle. This set-up will help students visualize the vector nature of the Earth’s magnetic field, especially high school and first year college students who are not quite experienced with vectors. This set-up is affordable and easy to use and could be easily produced by any high school or college physics instructor. (paper)
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Arabasi, Sameer; Al-Taani, Hussein
2017-03-01
Measurement of the Earth’s magnetic field dip angle is a widely used experiment in most introductory physics laboratories. In this paper we propose a smartphone-aided setup that takes advantage of the smartphone’s magnetometer sensor to measure the Earth’s magnetic field dip angle. This set-up will help students visualize the vector nature of the Earth’s magnetic field, especially high school and first year college students who are not quite experienced with vectors. This set-up is affordable and easy to use and could be easily produced by any high school or college physics instructor.
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Introductory Statistics in the Garden
Wagaman, John C.
2017-01-01
This article describes four semesters of introductory statistics courses that incorporate service learning and gardening into the curriculum with applications of the binomial distribution, least squares regression and hypothesis testing. The activities span multiple semesters and are iterative in nature.
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Coverage of the Stanford Prison Experiment in Introductory Psychology Courses
Bartels, Jared M.; Milovich, Marilyn M.; Moussier, Sabrina
2016-01-01
The present study examined the coverage of Stanford prison experiment (SPE), including criticisms of the study, in introductory psychology courses through an online survey of introductory psychology instructors (N = 117). Results largely paralleled those of the recently published textbook analyses with ethical issues garnering the most coverage,…
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Kwon, Hyuksoo
2017-01-01
This study was conducted with the aim of creating a new introductory course emphasizing the development of technological literacy for elementary school pre-service teachers. This study also aimed to investigate elementary school pre-service teachers' attitudinal transition toward elementary school technology education (ESTE) and its…
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Plasma medicine: an introductory review
Kong, M.G.; Kroesen, G.M.W.; Morfill, G.; Nosenko, T.; Shimizu, T.; Dijk, van J.; Zimmermann, J.L.
2009-01-01
This introductory review on plasma health care is intended to provide the interested reader with a summary of the current status of this emerging field, its scope, and its broad interdisciplinary approach, ranging from plasma physics, chemistry and technology, to microbiology, biochemistry,
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Microcomputers in the Introductory Laboratory.
Bare, John K.
1982-01-01
A microcomputer was used successfully to replicate Sternberg's 1966 study of retrieval from short-term memory and Sperling's 1960 study on sensory or iconic memory. Computers with a capacity for measuring reaction time are useful in the laboratory for introductory psychology courses. (SR)
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Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology.
Fisher, Kathleen M.; Lipson, Joseph I.
Defining a "misconception" as an error of translation (transformation, correspondence, interpolation, interpretation) between two different kinds of information which causes students to have incorrect expectations, a Taxonomy of Errors has been developed to examine student misconceptions in an introductory biology course for science…
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Topical Coverage in Introductory Textbooks from the 1980s through the 2000s
Griggs, Richard A.
2014-01-01
To determine how topical coverage in introductory textbooks may have changed from the 1980s to the present, the author examined topic coverage in full-length and brief introductory textbooks from this time period. Because 98% of the teachers use textbooks for the introductory course and the majority do not assign reading beyond the textbook, the…
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Engaging Students In Modeling Instruction for Introductory Physics
Brewe, Eric
2016-05-01
Teaching introductory physics is arguably one of the most important things that a physics department does. It is the primary way that students from other science disciplines engage with physics and it is the introduction to physics for majors. Modeling instruction is an active learning strategy for introductory physics built on the premise that science proceeds through the iterative process of model construction, development, deployment, and revision. We describe the role that participating in authentic modeling has in learning and then explore how students engage in this process in the classroom. In this presentation, we provide a theoretical background on models and modeling and describe how these theoretical elements are enacted in the introductory university physics classroom. We provide both quantitative and video data to link the development of a conceptual model to the design of the learning environment and to student outcomes. This work is supported in part by DUE #1140706.
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Who's Who in Introductory Psychology Textbooks: A Citation Analysis Redux
Griggs, Richard A.; Christopher, Andrew N.
2016-01-01
It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed…
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A Scoping Review to Address the Culture of Concussion in Youth and High School Sports.
Sarmiento, Kelly; Donnell, Zoe; Hoffman, Rosanne
2017-10-01
In 2013, the National Academy of Sciences emphasized the need to develop, implement, and evaluate effective large-scale educational strategies to improve the culture of concussion in youth and high school sports. In support of this recommendation, in this article we summarize research on factors that contribute to the culture of concussion. We conducted the literature search using 7 electronic databases. We used a scoping review method to identify studies that addressed knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, use of educational resources, and interventions related to concussion among young athletes, coaches, and parents. Of the 33 articles identified, most focused on concussion education (N = 15), followed by knowledge (N = 13), behaviors (N = 13), and attitudes (N = 5). Three studies addressed multiple study populations. The rapid spread of concussion education and awareness efforts has outpaced research on effective strategies to improve knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute to the culture of concussion. Further research is critical to inform the development and implementation of large-scale educational efforts. This research should incorporate rigorous study designs; be inclusive of diverse ages, socioeconomic status, and racial/ethnic groups; and examine opportunities to improve behavioral outcomes around concussion prevention, reporting, and management. © 2017, American School Health Association.
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Concept Maps in Introductory Statistics
Witmer, Jeffrey A.
2016-01-01
Concept maps are tools for organizing thoughts on the main ideas in a course. I present an example of a concept map that was created through the work of students in an introductory class and discuss major topics in statistics and relationships among them.
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The Social Interplay of Disciplinarity and Interdisciplinarity. Some Introductory Remarks
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Reinhold Hedtke
2006-12-01
Full Text Available Social Science Education as a subject field in schools is an intrinsic pluridisciplinary feature, whatever disciplines are included, however it may be organised and wherever it may be institutionalised. Civic education, economic education, social education and historical education each comprise several academic disciplines even if they are thought to be completely independent subjects. From the start on, disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity are on the agenda for any subject related to social science education and are one of its main problems. For these introductory remarks interdisciplinarity can be simply defined as relating two or more academic disciplines or school subjects to each other if this is done in a purposeful, systematic, explicit and reflective way. The overarching goal is to improve education that is to enhance students' understandings of the worlds and their abilities to act within and towards them. A relationship between disciplines or subjects which misses one or more of the four characteristics can be called pluridisciplinary or multidisciplinary (cf. Audigier 2006. In the following I first want to discuss some aspects of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity at schools and at universities and the weakness of interdisciplinarity. I sketch some social science based ideas on the interrelationship between the subject structure of the academic world and the world of schools (3. and of some tendency to commonalities or even unification of social sciences and related competencies (4.. I conclude with some remarks on different kinds of knowledge (5.. Last but not least, I'll give an overview on the papers in this issue of the Journal of Social Science Education (6..
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Espinoza, Lorissa
2016-01-01
Purpose. This study described the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and strategies associated with emotional intelligence (EI) that elementary school principals used to address conflict in their organizations. This study also determined the impact EI had on elementary school principals' perceptions of their ability to lead their organizations. This…
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Examining the Gender Gap in Introductory Physics
Kost, Lauren; Pollock, Steven; Finkelstein, Noah
2009-05-01
Our previous research[1] showed that despite the use of interactive engagement techniques in the introductory physics course, the gap in performance between males and females on a mechanics conceptual learning survey persisted from pre- to post-test, at our institution. Such findings were counter to previously published work[2]. Follow-up studies[3] identified correlations between student performance on the conceptual learning survey and students' prior physics and math knowledge and their incoming attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. The results indicate that the gender gap at our institution is predominantly associated with differences in males' and females' previous physics and math knowledge, and attitudes and beliefs. Our current work extends these results in two ways: 1) we look at the gender gap in the second semester of the introductory sequence and find results similar to those in the first semester course and 2) we identify ways in which males and females differentially experience several aspects of the introductory course. [1] Pollock, et al, Phys Rev: ST: PER 3, 010107. [2] Lorenzo, et al, Am J Phys 74, 118. [3] Kost, et al, PERC Proceedings 2008.
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White Flight from School Desegregation: Magnitude, Sources, and Policy Options. Final Report.
Rossell, Christine H.; Hawley, Willis D.
Discussed in this report are the extent and causes of white flight from school desegregation and policy options for controlling it. After an introductory section, the report considers the extent of white flight from desegregating schools, taking into account the effects of suburbanization, interregional migration, and differentials in…
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Social network analysis of a project-based introductory physics course
Oakley, Christopher
2016-03-01
Research suggests that students benefit from peer interaction and active engagement in the classroom. The quality, nature, effect of these interactions is currently being explored by Physics Education Researchers. Spelman College offers an introductory physics sequence that addresses content and research skills by engaging students in open-ended research projects, a form of Project-Based Learning. Students have been surveyed at regular intervals during the second semester of trigonometry-based course to determine the frequency of interactions in and out of class. These interactions can be with current or past students, tutors, and instructors. This line of inquiry focuses on metrics of Social Network analysis, such as centrality of participants as well as segmentation of groups. Further research will refine and highlight deeper questions regarding student performance in this pedagogy and course sequence.
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Addressing diversity in schools through dialogue and compromise
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olsen, Tore Vincents
2018-01-01
This article evaluates a decentralized Danish model for dealing with cultural and religious diversity at individual schools. This evaluation is based upon normative theories of toleration, recognition and domination and examines whether the model implies compromise with the (liberal) educational...... values stipulated in the national legislation. The model, reconstructed from government publications, is based on reaching accommodation through dialogue between school staff and parents/students, with the pragmatic aim of facilitating the participation of students in everyday school activities....... The model is noteworthy because it appears to break with the widespread ‘retreat from multiculturalism’ predicated on the defence of liberal values, and because properly dealing with diversity at schools is important for ensuring students’ well-being and academic success....
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Toward Publicly Responsive Sociology Curricula: The Role of Introductory Sociology
Greenwood, Nancy A.
2013-01-01
Introductory sociology casts a wide net with regard to its audience and plays an important role in capturing the public eye as well as helping students to make more informed choices in their lives and communities. I ask six questions that help us as sociologists to think about how introductory sociology can better serve our discipline, our…
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Brief introductory guide to agent-based modeling and an illustration from urban health research
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Amy H. Auchincloss
2015-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract There is growing interest among urban health researchers in addressing complex problems using conceptual and computation models from the field of complex systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM is one computational modeling tool that has received a lot of interest. However, many researchers remain unfamiliar with developing and carrying out an ABM, hindering the understanding and application of it. This paper first presents a brief introductory guide to carrying out a simple agent-based model. Then, the method is illustrated by discussing a previously developed agent-based model, which explored inequalities in diet in the context of urban residential segregation.
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Brief introductory guide to agent-based modeling and an illustration from urban health research.
Auchincloss, Amy H; Garcia, Leandro Martin Totaro
2015-11-01
There is growing interest among urban health researchers in addressing complex problems using conceptual and computation models from the field of complex systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is one computational modeling tool that has received a lot of interest. However, many researchers remain unfamiliar with developing and carrying out an ABM, hindering the understanding and application of it. This paper first presents a brief introductory guide to carrying out a simple agent-based model. Then, the method is illustrated by discussing a previously developed agent-based model, which explored inequalities in diet in the context of urban residential segregation.
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Introductory statistical inference
Mukhopadhyay, Nitis
2014-01-01
This gracefully organized text reveals the rigorous theory of probability and statistical inference in the style of a tutorial, using worked examples, exercises, figures, tables, and computer simulations to develop and illustrate concepts. Drills and boxed summaries emphasize and reinforce important ideas and special techniques.Beginning with a review of the basic concepts and methods in probability theory, moments, and moment generating functions, the author moves to more intricate topics. Introductory Statistical Inference studies multivariate random variables, exponential families of dist
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Chartrand, Gary
1984-01-01
Graph theory is used today in the physical sciences, social sciences, computer science, and other areas. Introductory Graph Theory presents a nontechnical introduction to this exciting field in a clear, lively, and informative style. Author Gary Chartrand covers the important elementary topics of graph theory and its applications. In addition, he presents a large variety of proofs designed to strengthen mathematical techniques and offers challenging opportunities to have fun with mathematics. Ten major topics - profusely illustrated - include: Mathematical Models, Elementary Concepts of Grap
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Strengthening introductory psychology: A new model for teaching the introductory course.
Gurung, Regan A R; Hackathorn, Jana; Enns, Carolyn; Frantz, Susan; Cacioppo, John T; Loop, Trudy; Freeman, James E
2016-01-01
Introductory psychology (Intro Psych) is one of the most popular and frequently taught courses on college campuses, yet educators in psychology have limited knowledge about what is covered in classes around the nation or the extent to which class content reflects the current scope of the discipline. There is no explicit model to guide course content selection for the intro course, which poses substantial challenges for instructors. This article proposes a new model for teaching the intro course that integrates (a) scientific foundations, (b) 5 major domains or pillars of knowledge (biological, cognitive, developmental, social and personality, and mental and physical health), and (c) cross-cutting themes relevant to all domains (cultural and social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications; American Psychological Association, 2014). We advocate for national assessment of the course, a similar introductory course for majors and nonmajors, the inclusion of experiential or laboratory components, and additional training resources for instructors of the intro course. Given the exponential growth of psychological knowledge and applications during the past decades, we caution against attempting to provide exhaustive coverage of all topic areas of psychology in a one-semester course. We conclude by discussing the challenges that lie ahead for the discipline of psychology as it launches this new model for Intro Psych. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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Failure Rates in Introductory Programming
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bennedsen, Jens; Caspersen, Michael Edelgaard
2007-01-01
It is a common conception that CS1 is a very difficult course and that failure rates are high. However, until now there has only been anecdotal evidence for this claim. This article reports on a survey among institutions around the world regarding failure rates in introductory programming courses...
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Teaching abstraction in introductory courses
Koppelman, Herman; van Dijk, Betsy
Abstraction is viewed as a key concept in computer science. It is not only an important concept but also one that is difficult to master. This paper focuses on the problems that novices experience when they first encounter this concept. Three assignments from introductory courses are analyzed, to
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Future of the Introductory Psychology Textbook: A Survey of College Publishers.
Buskit, William; Cush, David T.
1997-01-01
Examines aspects of the introductory psychology textbook market through a publishing house survey. Aspects covered are the current and future number of introductory texts, fewer textbook publishers, custom publishing, changing content, and computer technologies. Discusses the results of the publishers' responses and provides statistical tables of…
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Semantics in Teaching Introductory Physics.
Williams, H. Thomas
1999-01-01
Contends that the large vocabulary used for precise purposes in physics contains many words that have related but potentially confusing meanings in everyday usage. Analyzes the treatment of Newton's Laws of Motion in several well-known introductory textbooks for evidence of inconsistent language use. Makes teaching suggestions. (Contains 11…
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Internet computer coaches for introductory physics problem solving
Xu Ryan, Qing
The ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts is becoming increasingly important in our rapidly changing technological society. Problem-solving is a complex process that is important for everyday life and crucial for learning physics. Although there is a great deal of effort to improve student problem solving skills throughout the educational system, national studies have shown that the majority of students emerge from such courses having made little progress toward developing good problem-solving skills. The Physics Education Research Group at the University of Minnesota has been developing Internet computer coaches to help students become more expert-like problem solvers. During the Fall 2011 and Spring 2013 semesters, the coaches were introduced into large sections (200+ students) of the calculus based introductory mechanics course at the University of Minnesota. This dissertation, will address the research background of the project, including the pedagogical design of the coaches and the assessment of problem solving. The methodological framework of conducting experiments will be explained. The data collected from the large-scale experimental studies will be discussed from the following aspects: the usage and usability of these coaches; the usefulness perceived by students; and the usefulness measured by final exam and problem solving rubric. It will also address the implications drawn from this study, including using this data to direct future coach design and difficulties in conducting authentic assessment of problem-solving.
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Computational Inquiry in Introductory Statistics
Toews, Carl
2017-01-01
Inquiry-based pedagogies have a strong presence in proof-based undergraduate mathematics courses, but can be difficult to implement in courses that are large, procedural, or highly computational. An introductory course in statistics would thus seem an unlikely candidate for an inquiry-based approach, as these courses typically steer well clear of…
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MRI Experiments for Introductory Physics
Taghizadeh, Sanaz; Lincoln, James
2018-01-01
The introductory physics classroom has long educated students about the properties of the atom and the nucleus. But absent from these lessons has been an informed discussion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its parent science nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Physics teachers should not miss the opportunity to instruct upon this highly…
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Addressing Priorities for Elementary School Mathematics
Venenciano, Linda; Dougherty, Barbara
2014-01-01
Findings from international assessments present an opportunity to reconsider mathematics education across the grades. If concepts taught in elementary grades lay the foundation for continued study, then children's introduction to school mathematics deserves particular attention. We consider Davydov's theory (1966), which sequences…
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School-based interventions to address bullying
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Peter K. Smith
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Following some background studies on the nature of school bullying, its prevalence, and the negative consequences it can have, this article reviews the history of anti-bullying interventions over the last 30 years. It considers several major programmes in detail, such as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, KiVa, Steps to Respect, and Friendly Schools. The nature and evaluation of the interventions is discussed, followed by a review of meta-analyses of the programmes effectiveness. Issues considered are the effect at different ages; components of interventions; work with peers; disciplinary methods, non-punitive and restorative approaches; challenges regarding cyberbullying; the role of parents; the role of teachers and teacher training; set menu versus à la carte approaches; sustainability of interventions and societal context. Conclusions show that interventions have had some success, with traditional bullying. However, further progress is needed in strengthening theoretical underpinnings to interventions, and in tackling cyberbullying.
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29 CFR 1977.1 - Introductory statement.
2010-07-01
... AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970 General § 1977.1 Introductory statement. (a) The Occupational Safety and Health... Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR... general application designed to regulate employment conditions relating to occupational safety and health...
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Smith, Kendra Leigh
This study had four purposes: (1) to investigate the relationship between performance in introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture courses and their accompanying laboratory courses, (2) to investigate the relationship between performance in introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture courses and a student's gender, (3) to investigate the relationship between performance in introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture courses and a student's major, and (4) to investigate the relationship between performance in introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture courses and a student's ACT scores. The sample consisted of 195 first--time freshmen who enrolled in and completed an introductory biology or an introductory chemistry lecture and laboratory courses during the fall semesters of 2007-2012. Of the 195 students, 61 were enrolled in introductory chemistry and 134 were enrolled in introductory biology courses. Logistic regression, via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), was utilized to analyze several variables as they related to success in the lecture courses. Data were extracted from the university's student information system (BANNER), and analyses were conducted on biology and chemistry separately. The dependent variable for this study was a dichotomous variable for success and nonsuccess in introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture course. The independent variables analyzed were student's gender, major, final grade in an accompanying biology or chemistry laboratory course, and ACT test scores (composite, mathematics, and science). Results indicate that concurrent enrollment in a biology laboratory course increased the likelihood of success by 15.64 times in the lecture course. Gender was found to not be a significant predictor of success for either introductory biology or introductory chemistry lecture courses. STEM majors were 9.6 times more likely to be successful than non-STEM majors in
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Li, Jing; Singh, Chandralekha
2017-03-01
Development of validated physics surveys on various topics is important for investigating the extent to which students master those concepts after traditional instruction and for assessing innovative curricula and pedagogies that can improve student understanding significantly. Here, we discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey related to magnetism suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey was developed taking into account common students’ difficulties with magnetism concepts covered in introductory physics courses found in our investigation and the incorrect choices to the multiple-choice questions were designed based upon those common student difficulties. After the development and validation of the survey, it was administered to introductory physics students in various classes in paper-pencil format before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts. We compared the performance of students on the survey in the algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant magnetism concepts. We discuss the common difficulties of introductory physics students with magnetism concepts we found via the survey. We also administered the survey to upper-level undergraduates majoring in physics and PhD students to benchmark the survey and compared their performance with those of traditionally taught introductory physics students for whom the survey is intended. A comparison with the base line data on the validated magnetism survey from traditionally taught introductory physics courses and upper-level undergraduate and PhD students discussed in this paper can help instructors assess the effectiveness of curricula and pedagogies which is especially designed to help students integrate conceptual and quantitative understanding and develop a good grasp of the concepts. In particular, if introductory physics students’ average
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li, Jing; Singh, Chandralekha
2017-01-01
Development of validated physics surveys on various topics is important for investigating the extent to which students master those concepts after traditional instruction and for assessing innovative curricula and pedagogies that can improve student understanding significantly. Here, we discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey related to magnetism suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey was developed taking into account common students’ difficulties with magnetism concepts covered in introductory physics courses found in our investigation and the incorrect choices to the multiple-choice questions were designed based upon those common student difficulties. After the development and validation of the survey, it was administered to introductory physics students in various classes in paper–pencil format before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts. We compared the performance of students on the survey in the algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses before and after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant magnetism concepts. We discuss the common difficulties of introductory physics students with magnetism concepts we found via the survey. We also administered the survey to upper-level undergraduates majoring in physics and PhD students to benchmark the survey and compared their performance with those of traditionally taught introductory physics students for whom the survey is intended. A comparison with the base line data on the validated magnetism survey from traditionally taught introductory physics courses and upper-level undergraduate and PhD students discussed in this paper can help instructors assess the effectiveness of curricula and pedagogies which is especially designed to help students integrate conceptual and quantitative understanding and develop a good grasp of the concepts. In particular, if introductory physics students’ average
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School effectiveness research: a review of criticisms and some proposals to address them.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andres Sandoval-Hernandez
2008-03-01
Full Text Available Based on Lakato’s notion of research programmes, the paper analyses the structure of the School Effectiveness Research (SER programme and reviews the main criticisms that have arisen, stressing those regarding its objectivity and theoretical limitations. Then, some proposals are made to address these criticisms, namely: to adopt a critical realist approach to the study of SE and an Abductive Theory of Scientific Method that lead to the development of sound theory in the field. Based on this analysis the paper concludes that, in terms of Lakatos, a movement towards a new research programme is needed in order to ensure that the main objectives originally set for SER can be eventually reached.
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Does Living near Classmates Help Introductory Economics Students Get Better Grades?
Parker, Jeffrey
2012-01-01
This article examines whether first-year students in introductory economics courses get better grades if they have other students in their on-campus residential unit who either are taking the same course or have taken the course in the past. The study uses nine years of data for the introductory economics course at Reed College. The author finds…
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Stauffer, Sarah D.; Mason, Erin C. M.
2013-01-01
Purpose: Given the preponderance of education reform since the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001), reform efforts have shaped the nature of the work and culture in schools. The emphasis on standardized testing to determine schools' status and student performance, among other factors, has generated stress, particularly…
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Superconductors in the High School Classroom
Lincoln, James
2017-01-01
In this article, we discuss the behavior of high-temperature superconductors and how to demonstrate them safely and effectively in the high school or introductory physics classroom. Included here is a discussion of the most relevant physics topics that can be demonstrated, some safety tips, and a bit of the history of superconductors. In an effort…
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Designing for Deeper Learning in a Blended Computer Science Course for Middle School Students
Grover, Shuchi; Pea, Roy; Cooper, Stephen
2015-01-01
The focus of this research was to create and test an introductory computer science course for middle school. Titled "Foundations for Advancing Computational Thinking" (FACT), the course aims to prepare and motivate middle school learners for future engagement with algorithmic problem solving. FACT was also piloted as a seven-week course…
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16 CFR 502.101 - Introductory offers.
2010-01-01
... Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS, STATEMENT OF GENERAL POLICY OR... FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING ACT Retail Sale Price Representations § 502.101 Introductory offers. (a... retail sale at a price lower than the anticipated ordinary and customary retail sale price. (b) The...
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2017-01-01
The Monte Carlo School in 2017 will take place at the Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden, with arrival on Sunday July 2nd and departure on Friday (afternoon) July 7th 2017. The school provides a five day course of training in the physics and techniques used in modern Monte Carlo event generators via a series of lectures and practical sessions. The school is aimed at advanced doctoral students and young postdocs. Our core sessions comprise a series of introductory lectures on the physics of event generators, further lectures on a wide range of topics, a series of hands-on tutorials using all of the MCnet event generators for LHC physics, and evening discussion sessions with Monte Carlo authors.
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An Analysis of Learning Objectives and Content Coverage in Introductory Psychology Syllabi
Homa, Natalie; Hackathorn, Jana; Brown, Carrie M.; Garczynski, Amy; Solomon, Erin D.; Tennial, Rachel; Sanborn, Ursula A.; Gurung, Regan A. R.
2013-01-01
Introductory psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses and often serves as the gateway to choosing psychology as an academic major. However, little research has examined the typical structure of introductory psychology courses. The current study examined student learning objectives (SLOs) and course content in introductory…
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Agricultural In-Service Needs of Introductory Level Career and Technical Education Teachers
Christensen, Jolene; Warnick, Brian K.; Spielmaker, Debra; Tarpley, Rudy S.; Straquadine, Gary S.
2009-01-01
This study identified and prioritized the agricultural in-service needs of introductory level career and technical education teachers in Utah. The Utah State Board of Education requires that all seventh grade students complete an introductory career and technical education course as their first formal career exploration experience. One component…
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Research and Teaching: Reenvisioning the Introductory Science Course as a Cognitive Apprenticeship
Thompson, Meredith M.; Pastorino, Lucia; Lee, Star; Lipton, Paul
2016-01-01
Introductory science courses play a critical role in the recruitment and retention of undergraduate science majors. In particular, first-year courses are opportunities to engage students in scientific practices and motivate them to consider scientific careers. We developed an introductory course using a semester-long series of established…
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New Approach to Analyzing Physics Problems: A Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems
Teodorescu, Raluca E.; Bennhold, Cornelius; Feldman, Gerald; Medsker, Larry
2013-01-01
This paper describes research on a classification of physics problems in the context of introductory physics courses. This classification, called the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP), relates physics problems to the cognitive processes required to solve them. TIPP was created in order to design educational objectives, to develop…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jolanta Sujecka
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Introductory Comments The fifth yearly volume of the Colloquia Humanistica comprises a thematic section on Nation, Natsiya, Ethnie. The subject it discusses has thus far received little attention as a research problem in the Slavia Orthodoxa, the Slavia Romana, the Balkans but also in Central and Eastern Europe. Uwagi wstępne Piąty numer rocznika "Colloquia Humanistica" przedstawia dział tematyczny, poświęcony kategoriom narodu, nacji i etni. Temat ten, w takiej perspektywie, którą proponujemy, nie spotkał się dotąd z należytym namysłem badawczym w sferze Slavia Otrhodoxa, Slavia Romana i na Bałkanach, jak też w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej.
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Introductory Astronomy Course at the University of Cape Town: Probing Student Perspectives
Rajpaul, Vinesh; Allie, Saalih; Blyth, Sarah-Louise
2014-01-01
We report on research carried out to improve teaching and student engagement in the introductory astronomy course at the University of Cape Town. This course is taken by a diverse range of students, including many from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. We describe the development of an instrument, the Introductory Astronomy Questionnaire…
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Item Analysis in Introductory Economics Testing.
Tinari, Frank D.
1979-01-01
Computerized analysis of multiple choice test items is explained. Examples of item analysis applications in the introductory economics course are discussed with respect to three objectives: to evaluate learning; to improve test items; and to help improve classroom instruction. Problems, costs and benefits of the procedures are identified. (JMD)
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The Nature of Introductory Economics Courses
Koscielniak, James
1975-01-01
A questionnaire was developed to determine the content, mode of instruction, approach, and textbook selection of instructors of introductory economics courses. The survey was distributed in 1974 to 143 economics instructors at two- and four-year colleges in Illinois. Results are presented here, and recommendations are made. (Author/NHM)
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Learners Programming Language a Helping System for Introductory Programming Courses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
MUHAMMAD SHUMAIL NAVEED
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Programming is the core of computer science and due to this momentousness a special care is taken in designing the curriculum of programming courses. A substantial work has been conducted on the definition of programming courses, yet the introductory programming courses are still facing high attrition, low retention and lack of motivation. This paper introduced a tiny pre-programming language called LPL (Learners Programming Language as a ZPL (Zeroth Programming Language to illuminate novice students about elementary concepts of introductory programming before introducing the first imperative programming course. The overall objective and design philosophy of LPL is based on a hypothesis that the soft introduction of a simple and paradigm specific textual programming can increase the motivation level of novice students and reduce the congenital complexities and hardness of the first programming course and eventually improve the retention rate and may be fruitful in reducing the dropout/failure level. LPL also generates the equivalent high level programs from user source program and eventually very fruitful in understanding the syntax of introductory programming languages. To overcome the inherent complexities of unusual and rigid syntax of introductory programming languages, the LPL provide elementary programming concepts in the form of algorithmic and plain natural language based computational statements. The initial results obtained after the introduction of LPL are very encouraging in motivating novice students and improving the retention rate.
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Quantifying the Level of Inquiry in a Reformed Introductory Geology Lab Course
Moss, Elizabeth; Cervato, Cinzia
2016-01-01
As part of a campus-wide effort to transform introductory science courses to be more engaging and more accurately convey the excitement of discovery in science, the curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab course was redesigned. What had been a series of ''cookbook'' lab activities was transformed into a sequence of activities based on…
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An Introductory Calculus-Based Mechanics Investigation
Allen, Bradley
2017-01-01
One challenge for the introductory physics teacher is incorporating calculus techniques into the laboratory setting. It can be difficult to strike a balance between presenting an experimental task for which calculus is essential and making the mathematics accessible to learners who may be apprehensive about applying it. One-dimensional kinematics…
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Macromod: Computer Simulation For Introductory Economics
Ross, Thomas
1977-01-01
The Macroeconomic model (Macromod) is a computer assisted instruction simulation model designed for introductory economics courses. An evaluation of its utilization at a community college indicates that it yielded a 10 percent to 13 percent greater economic comprehension than lecture classes and that it met with high student approval. (DC)
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29 CFR 782.0 - Introductory statement.
2010-07-01
... one place general interpretations of the Administrator which will provide “a practical guide to... CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF MOTOR CARRIERS § 782.0 Introductory statement. (a) Since the enactment of the Fair... seek to apply it.” (Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134) (b) The interpretations contained in this...
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29 CFR 531.25 - Introductory statement.
2010-07-01
... such interpretations of this Act “provide a practical guide to employers and employees as to how the... PAYMENTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938 Interpretations § 531.25 Introductory statement. (a... responsibilities of administration and enforcement (Skidmore v. Swift, 323 U.S. 134). In order that these positions...
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Blended Learning Versus Traditional Lecture in Introductory Nursing Pathophysiology Courses.
Blissitt, Andrea Marie
2016-04-01
Currently, many undergraduate nursing courses use blended-learning course formats with success; however, little evidence exists that supports the use of blended formats in introductory pathophysiology courses. The purpose of this study was to compare the scores on pre- and posttests and course satisfaction between traditional and blended course formats in an introductory nursing pathophysiology course. This study used a quantitative, quasi-experimental, nonrandomized control group, pretest-posttest design. Analysis of covariance compared pre- and posttest scores, and a t test for independent samples compared students' reported course satisfaction of the traditional and blended course formats. Results indicated that the differences in posttest scores were not statistically significant between groups. Students in the traditional group reported statistically significantly higher satisfaction ratings than students in the blended group. The results of this study support the need for further research of using blended learning in introductory pathophysiology courses in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs. Further investigation into how satisfaction is affected by course formats is needed. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.
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The Development of a Set of Core Communication Competencies for Introductory Communication Courses
Engleberg, Isa N.; Ward, Susan M.; Disbrow, Lynn M.; Katt, James A.; Myers, Scott A.; O'Keefe, Patricia
2017-01-01
In most academic disciplines, there is "one" introductory course that presents an overview of the discipline and introduces fundamental, discipline-specific principles and competencies. However, in Communication Studies, the discipline recognizes and offers multiple course options that may serve as the introductory course. This project…
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Development and evaluation of clicker methodology for introductory physics courses
Lee, Albert H.
Many educators understand that lectures are cost effective but not learning efficient, so continue to search for ways to increase active student participation in this traditionally passive learning environment. In-class polling systems, or "clickers", are inexpensive and reliable tools allowing students to actively participate in lectures by answering multiple-choice questions. Students assess their learning in real time by observing instant polling summaries displayed in front of them. This in turn motivates additional discussions which increase the opportunity for active learning. We wanted to develop a comprehensive clicker methodology that creates an active lecture environment for a broad spectrum of students taking introductory physics courses. We wanted our methodology to incorporate many findings of contemporary learning science. It is recognized that learning requires active construction; students need to be actively involved in their own learning process. Learning also depends on preexisting knowledge; students construct new knowledge and understandings based on what they already know and believe. Learning is context dependent; students who have learned to apply a concept in one context may not be able to recognize and apply the same concept in a different context, even when both contexts are considered to be isomorphic by experts. On this basis, we developed question sequences, each involving the same concept but having different contexts. Answer choices are designed to address students preexisting knowledge. These sequences are used with the clickers to promote active discussions and multiple assessments. We have created, validated, and evaluated sequences sufficient in number to populate all of introductory physics courses. Our research has found that using clickers with our question sequences significantly improved student conceptual understanding. Our research has also found how to best measure student conceptual gain using research-based instruments
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Mindstorms robots and the application of cognitive load theory in introductory programming
Mason, Raina; Cooper, Graham
2013-12-01
This paper reports on a series of introductory programming workshops, initially targeting female high school students, which utilised Lego Mindstorms robots. Cognitive load theory (CLT) was applied to the instructional design of the workshops, and a controlled experiment was also conducted investigating aspects of the interface. Results indicated that a truncated interface led to better learning by novice programmers as measured by test performance by participants, as well as enhanced shifts in self-efficacy and lowered perception of difficulty. There was also a transfer effect to another programming environment (Alice). It is argued that the results indicate that for novice programmers, the mere presence on-screen of additional (redundant) entities acts as a form of tacit distraction, thus impeding learning. The utility of CLT to analyse, design and deliver aspects of computer programming environments and instructional materials is discussed.
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Inference and the Introductory Statistics Course
Pfannkuch, Maxine; Regan, Matt; Wild, Chris; Budgett, Stephanie; Forbes, Sharleen; Harraway, John; Parsonage, Ross
2011-01-01
This article sets out some of the rationale and arguments for making major changes to the teaching and learning of statistical inference in introductory courses at our universities by changing from a norm-based, mathematical approach to more conceptually accessible computer-based approaches. The core problem of the inferential argument with its…
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"World Religions" in Introductory Sociology Textbooks
Carroll, Michael P.
2017-01-01
A section on "world religions" (WRs) is now routinely included in the religion chapters of introductory sociology textbooks. Looking carefully at these WR sections, however, two things seem puzzling. The first is that the criteria for defining a WR varies considerably from textbook to textbook; the second is that these WRs sections…
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Making Introductory Quantum Physics Understandable and Interesting
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 10; Issue 1. Making Introductory Quantum Physics Understandable and Interesting. Ranjana Y Abhang. Classroom Volume 10 Issue 1 January 2005 pp 63-73. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link:
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Workforce, subject of law and education: introductory notes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carolina Roig Catini
2016-06-01
Full Text Available This article consists of an introductory exposition to the Marxist critique of law that, as we aim to demonstrate, provides relevant conceptual contributions to critical reflection on the specifically capitalistic social relations of education. It is an analysis of the fundamental concepts that circumscribe the social function of massive education in capitalism, under hegemony of the school form: workforce and subject of law. The mercantile social nexus, under the aegis of the blind and automatic movement of capital accumulation foresees not only the generalization of the worker "free" from the means of production, but also the universalization of the law-form, which conceals the economic subordination under the mask of equality between private owners. In the first section we briefly resumed a critical interpretation of the work presented by Karl Marx in Capital, in order to move on to the Marxist critique of law and in the second part, based on Evgène Pachukanis, Walter Benjamin and Bernard Edelman´s studies. Based on this presentation, we extract, by way of conclusion and in a preliminary way, some theoretical consequences for the apprehension of the specifically capitalist way of education. Keywords: Education. Work. Merchandise.
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Transversality of Electromagnetic Waves in the Calculus--Based Introductory Physics Course
Burko, Lior M.
2009-05-01
Introductory calculus--based physics textbooks state that electromagnetic waves are transverse and list many of their properties, but most such textbooks do not bring forth arguments why this is so. Both physical and theoretical arguments are at a level appropriate for students of courses based on such books, and could be readily used by instructors of such courses. Here, we discuss two physical arguments (based on polarization experiments and on lack of monopole electromagnetic radiation), and the full argument for the transversality of (plane) electromagnetic waves based on the integral Maxwell equations. We also show, at a level appropriate for the introductory course, why the electric and magnetic fields in a wave are in phase and the relation of their magnitudes. We have successfully integrated this approach in the calculus--based introductory physics course at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
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Enhancing the Teaching of Introductory Economics with a Team-Based, Multi-Section Competition
Beaudin, Laura; Berdiev, Aziz N.; Kaminaga, Allison Shwachman; Mirmirani, Sam; Tebaldi, Edinaldo
2017-01-01
The authors describe a unique approach to enhancing student learning at the introductory economics level that utilizes a multi-section, team-based competition. The competition is structured to supplement learning throughout the entire introductory course. Student teams are presented with current economic issues, trends, or events, and use economic…
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Exploring Urban America: An Introductory Reader.
Caves, Roger W.
This introductory text presents a collection of articles from urban-studies journals to introduce undergraduate students to the interdisciplinary field of urban studies. The book is divided into 9 parts as follows: Part 1: Cities and Urbanism; part 2: Urban History; part 3: Urban Policy; part 4: Economic Development; part 5: Community Services and…
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Teaching Quantum Mechanics on an Introductory Level.
Muller, Rainer; Wiesner, Hartmut
2002-01-01
Presents a new research-based course on quantum mechanics in which the conceptual issues of quantum mechanics are taught at an introductory level. Involves students in the discovery of how quantum phenomena deviate from classical everyday experiences. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/YDS)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Francisco Savall Alemany
2017-01-01
Full Text Available The effectiveness of the problem based teaching on the science learning has been highlighted by the didactic research. This teaching model is characterized by organizing the units around problems and by proposing a research plan to find a solution which requires concepts and models to be introduced in a functional way, as possible solutions to the problem. In this article we present a problem based unit for teaching quantum physics in introductory physics courses and we analyze in detail the teaching strategy that we follow to build a model to explain the emission and absorption of radiation.
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Experiences of Australian School Staff in Addressing Student Cannabis Use
Gates, Peter J.; Norberg, Melissa M.; Dillon, Paul; Manocha, Ramesh
2013-01-01
Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug by Australian secondary school students yet there is scant research investigating school staff responses to student cannabis use. As such, this study surveyed 1,692 school staff who attended "Generation Next" seminars throughout Australia. The self-complete survey identified that the…
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Identifying and addressing student difficulties with the ideal gas law
Kautz, Christian Hans
This dissertation reports on an in-depth investigation of student understanding of the ideal gas law. The research and curriculum development were mostly conducted in the context of algebra- and calculus-based introductory physics courses and a sophomore-level thermal physics course. Research methods included individual demonstration interviews and written questions. Student difficulties with the quantities: pressure, volume, temperature, and the number of moles were identified. Data suggest that students' incorrect and incomplete microscopic models about gases contribute to the difficulties they have in answering questions posed in macroscopic terms. In addition, evidence for general reasoning difficulties is presented. These research results have guided the development of curriculum to address the student difficulties that have been identified.
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Peer Learning as a Tool to Strengthen Math Skills in Introductory Chemistry Laboratories
Srougi, Melissa C.; Miller, Heather B.
2018-01-01
Math skills vary greatly among students enrolled in introductory chemistry courses. Students with weak math skills (algebra and below) tend to perform poorly in introductory chemistry courses, which is correlated with increased attrition rates. Previous research has shown that retention of main ideas in a peer learning environment is greater when…
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Nikula, Uolevi; Sajaniemi, Jorma; Tedre, Matti; Wray, Stuart
2007-01-01
Students often find that learning to program is hard. Introductory programming courses have high drop-out rates and students do not learn to program well. This paper presents experiences from three educational institutions where introductory programming courses were improved by adopting Python as the first programming language and roles of…
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Addressing Trauma in Schools: Multitiered Service Delivery Options for Practitioners
Reinbergs, Erik J.; Fefer, Sarah A.
2018-01-01
Hundreds of thousands of children are confronted with traumatic experiences each year in the United States. As trauma-informed care begins to take hold in schools, school mental health providers (e.g., school psychologists, counselors, and social workers) desire concrete service-delivery options for students affected by trauma. This article…
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Jensen, Robert
2006-01-01
This paper critically assesses the scholarship in introductory psychology textbooks in relation to the topic of latent learning. A review of the treatment of latent learning in 48 introductory psychology textbooks published between 1948 and 2004, with 21 of these texts published since 1999, reveals that the scholarship on the topic of latent learning demonstrated in introductory textbooks warrants improvement. Errors that persist in textbooks include the assertion that the latent learning experiments demonstrate unequivocally that reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur, that behavioral theories could not account for the results of the latent learning experiments, that B. F. Skinner was an S-R association behaviorist who argued that reinforcement is necessary for learning to occur, and that because behavioral theories (including that of B. F. Skinner) were unable explain the results of the latent learning experiments the cognitive map invoked by Edward Tolman is the only explanation for latent learning. Finally, the validity of the cognitive map is typically accepted without question. Implications of the presence of these errors for students and the discipline are considered. Lastly, remedies are offered to improve the scholarship found in introductory psychology textbooks.
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Nuffer, Wesley; Botts, Sheila; Franson, Kari; Gilliam, Eric; Knutsen, Randy; Nuffer, Monika; O'Brien, Elizabeth; Saseen, Joseph; Thompson, Megan; Vande Griend, Joseph; Willis, Robert
2017-11-01
The University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) used the opportunity of curriculum renewal to integrate knowledge and skills learned from didactic courses into the introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) occurring simultaneously. This paper describes and evaluates the meaningful application of course content into IPPEs, and evaluates the success using qualitative feedback. Students entering the renewed curriculum starting in fall 2012 were provided a list of pharmacy skills and activities from didactic course directors that reinforced course content for that semester. The skills and activities were to be completed during the students' IPPE visits in the community or health systems settings, depending on the program year and semester. Students successfully completed course assignments during their IPPE course program. Not all activities could be completed as designed, and many required modification, including simulated experiences. Feedback from faculty and preceptor members of the school's experiential education committee demonstrated that these activities were valuable and improved learning of course material, but were challenging to implement. A renewed curriculum that mapped course assignments for completion in experiential settings was successfully established, after some modifications. The program was modified at regular intervals to improve the ability of preceptors to complete these activities in their individual practice environment. A balance between the school providing guidance on what activities students should perform and allowing unstructured independent learning with the preceptor is needed for an optimal experience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Integrated Circuits in the Introductory Electronics Laboratory
English, Thomas C.; Lind, David A.
1973-01-01
Discusses the use of an integrated circuit operational amplifier in an introductory electronics laboratory course for undergraduate science majors. The advantages of this approach and the implications for scientific instrumentation are identified. Describes a number of experiments suitable for the undergraduate laboratory. (Author/DF)
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Barriers to Teaching Introductory Physical Geography Online
Ritter, Michael E.
2012-01-01
Learning geography online is becoming an option for more students but not without controversy. Issues of faculty resources, logistics, professional recognition, and pedagogical concerns are cited as barriers to teaching online. Offering introductory physical geography online presents special challenges. As a general education course, an…
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Chartering Turnaround: Leveraging Public Charter School Autonomy to Address Failure
Corbett, Julie
2015-01-01
Persistently low-achieving public schools around the country have received $5.8 billion from the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, in addition to districts and state funds, and other supplementary federal funds. Despite all of these sources of funding, most of the schools receiving them have failed to make a dramatic difference in…
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A 21st century perspective as a primer to introductory physics
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Curtis, Lorenzo J, E-mail: ljc@physics.utoledo.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States)
2011-09-15
Much effort over many years has been devoted to the reform of the teaching of physics. This has led to many new and imaginative approaches in the content and delivery of material. Great strides have been made in the delivery, and the content has been continually supplemented. However, attempts to modernize the basic structure of the presentation have faced resistance, and the majority of introductory physics textbooks in wide adoption today have a general structure that has changed little in over 60 years. Thus, in comparison to biology, chemistry, geology, etc, physics is unique in that its introductory course is not a survey of the current status of the field. In an attempt to circumvent this problem in a tractable way, we have developed a qualitative front-end course designed to create a 21st century perspective that can be embedded into the beginning of a standard introductory physics sequence.
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A 21st century perspective as a primer to introductory physics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Curtis, Lorenzo J
2011-01-01
Much effort over many years has been devoted to the reform of the teaching of physics. This has led to many new and imaginative approaches in the content and delivery of material. Great strides have been made in the delivery, and the content has been continually supplemented. However, attempts to modernize the basic structure of the presentation have faced resistance, and the majority of introductory physics textbooks in wide adoption today have a general structure that has changed little in over 60 years. Thus, in comparison to biology, chemistry, geology, etc, physics is unique in that its introductory course is not a survey of the current status of the field. In an attempt to circumvent this problem in a tractable way, we have developed a qualitative front-end course designed to create a 21st century perspective that can be embedded into the beginning of a standard introductory physics sequence.
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Just the Facts? Introductory Undergraduate Biology Courses Focus on Low-Level Cognitive Skills
Momsen, Jennifer L.; Long, Tammy M.; Wyse, Sara A.; Ebert-May, Diane
2010-01-01
Introductory biology courses are widely criticized for overemphasizing details and rote memorization of facts. Data to support such claims, however, are surprisingly scarce. We sought to determine whether this claim was evidence-based. To do so we quantified the cognitive level of learning targeted by faculty in introductory-level biology courses.…
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Logtenberg, Albert; van Boxtel, Carla; van Hout-Wolters, Bernadette
2011-01-01
This study investigates questions students ask related to an introductory text about a new topic in the history classroom. The effects of a narrative, problematizing, and expository introductory text on the situational interest of students and the number and type of student-generated questions, are compared. Participants are 174 students in higher…
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CERN accelerator school: Introductory course in Poland
2006-01-01
For the first time since the CERN Accelerator School (CAS) was set up, the 'Introduction to Accelerator Physics' course was held in Zakopane, Poland. This course was organised together with the National Atomic Energy Agency, Warsaw, and the AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, and was held from 1-13 October 2006 at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. The course was very well attended with 113 participants representing 26 different nationalities. Although most of the participants originated from Europe, some students came from countries as far away as Canada, China, India and North America. The intensive programme comprised 35 lectures, 3 seminars given by local Polish lecturers, 5 tutorials where the students were split into four groups, a poster session where students could present their own work and 7 hours of guided and private study. The participants appreciated these study periods, which encouraged collaboration and knowledge-sharing in solving problems and gave them the opportunity to get t...
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Imaginative Thinking: Addressing Social Justice Issues through MovieMaker
Boske, Christa A.
2009-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of aspiring school leaders who utilized artmaking in this case, photography, poetry, music, collage, and short films through Microsoft MovieMaker as a means for addressing injustices within surrounding school communities. The paper aims to explore how aspiring school leaders…
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An Introductory Interprofessional Exercise for Healthcare Students
Rege, Saumitra V.; Misto, Kara; Dollase, Richard; George, Paul
2012-01-01
Objective. To evaluate healthcare students’ perceptions of an introductory interprofessional exercise and their team dynamics. Design. A workshop was developed, combining second-year medical students, fourth-year nursing students, and third-year pharmacy students to work as an interdisciplinary team. The teams alternated between working together on patient cases focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and on the evaluation of standardized pneumonia patients. Teams were given the patients' health information and no other instructions. A faculty member and the standardized patient evaluated the students using a teamwork global rating scale. Assessment. Student survey results showed a positive response to interprofessional teamwork. The faculty members and standardized patients reported that the students worked as a cohesive unit and demonstrated good team communication. Conclusions. This introductory interprofessional experience had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of collaboration and teamwork. This type of experience will help students foster future collaborations as healthcare providers. PMID:23129853
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An Innovative Approach to Pulic School Staff Development. A Collaborative Mode.
Lavin, Richard J.; Schuttenberg, Ernest M.
This paper describes the planning and implementation of a Staff Development Program for teachers and administrators in the 22 school systems served by MEC (Merrimack Education Center). This program, which provided in-service learning experiences for educational practitioners, is discussed following an introductory statement. Information concerning…
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Teaching Health Care in Introductory Economics
Cutler, David M.
2017-01-01
Health care is one of the economy's biggest industries, so it is natural that the health care industry should play some role in the teaching of introductory economics. There are many ways that health care can appear in such a context: in the teaching of microeconomics, as a macroeconomic issue, to learn about social welfare, and even to learn how…
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Personality types and student performance in an introductory physics course
Harlow, Jason J. B.; Harrison, David M.; Justason, Michael; Meyertholen, Andrew; Wilson, Brian
2017-12-01
We measured the personality type of the students in a large introductory physics course of mostly life science students using the True Colors instrument. We found large correlations of personality type with performance on the precourse Force Concept Inventory (FCI), both term tests, the postcourse FCI, and the final examination. We also saw correlations with the normalized gain on the FCI. The personality profile of the students in this course is very different from the profile of the physics faculty and graduate students, and also very different from the profile of students taking the introductory physics course intended for physics majors and specialists.
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CERN accelerator school: an introductory course in Poland
2006-01-01
For the first time since the CERN Accelerator School (CAS) was set up, the âﾜIntroduction to Accelerator Physicsâ course was held in Zakopane, Poland. This course was organised together with the National Atomic Energy Agency, Warsaw and the AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow and was held from 1-13 October 2006 at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. The course was very well attended with 113 participants representing 26 different nationalities. Although most of the participants originated from Europe, some students came from countries as far away as Canada, China, India and North America.
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Waller, William H.; Slater, Timothy F.
2011-01-01
Over the past 15 years, professional astronomers, their societies, and associated funding agencies have collaborated to improve astronomy teaching and learning at the introductory undergraduate level. Many nonscience majors and preservice teachers enroll in these introductory astronomy courses, thus meriting the focused attention. In this review…
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The Lasting Effects of Introductory Economics Courses.
Sanders, Philip
1980-01-01
Reports research which tests the Stigler Hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that students who have taken introductory economics courses and those who have not show little difference in test performance five years after completing college. Results of the author's research illustrate that economics students do retain some knowledge of economics…
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Beat the Instructor: An Introductory Forecasting Game
Snider, Brent R.; Eliasson, Janice B.
2013-01-01
This teaching brief describes a 30-minute game where student groups compete in-class in an introductory time-series forecasting exercise. The students are challenged to "beat the instructor" who competes using forecasting techniques that will be subsequently taught. All forecasts are graphed prior to revealing the randomly generated…
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Holography and Introductory Science at Hampshire College.
Wirth, Frederick H.
1991-01-01
An introductory Natural Science course with a focus on the laboratory is described. The main function of the course is getting students prepared for required individual projects in science. A copy of the syllabus, a description of laboratory experiments, and the context of the course are included. (KR)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alexandru Maries
2016-05-01
Full Text Available The Force Concept Inventory (FCI has been widely used to assess student understanding of introductory mechanics concepts by a variety of educators and physics education researchers. One reason for this extensive use is that many of the items on the FCI have strong distractor choices which correspond to students’ alternate conceptions in mechanics. Instruction is unlikely to be effective if instructors do not know the common alternate conceptions of introductory physics students and explicitly take into account students’ initial knowledge states in their instructional design. Here, we discuss research involving the FCI to evaluate one aspect of the pedagogical content knowledge of teaching assistants (TAs: knowledge of introductory student alternate conceptions in mechanics as revealed by the FCI. For each item on the FCI, the TAs were asked to identify the most common incorrect answer choice of introductory physics students. This exercise was followed by a class discussion with the TAs related to this task, including the importance of knowing student difficulties in teaching and learning. Then, we used FCI pretest and post-test data from a large population (∼900 of introductory physics students to assess the extent to which TAs were able to identify alternate conceptions of introductory students related to force and motion. In addition, we carried out think-aloud interviews with graduate students who had more than two semesters of teaching experience in recitations to examine how they reason about the task. We find that while the TAs, on average, performed better than random guessing at identifying introductory students’ difficulties with FCI content, they did not identify many common difficulties that introductory physics students have after traditional instruction. We discuss specific alternate conceptions, the extent to which TAs are able to identify them, and results from the think-aloud interviews that provided valuable information
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Gender, experience, and self-efficacy in introductory physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jayson M. Nissen
2016-08-01
Full Text Available [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] There is growing evidence of persistent gender achievement gaps in university physics instruction, not only for learning physics content, but also for developing productive attitudes and beliefs about learning physics. These gaps occur in both traditional and interactive-engagement (IE styles of physics instruction. We investigated one gender gap in the area of attitudes and beliefs. This was men’s and women’s physics self-efficacy, which comprises students’ thoughts and feelings about their capabilities to succeed as learners in physics. According to extant research using pre- and post-course surveys, the self-efficacy of both men and women tends to be reduced after taking traditional and IE physics courses. Moreover, self-efficacy is reduced further for women than for men. However, it remains unclear from these studies whether this gender difference is caused by physics instruction. It may be, for instance, that the greater reduction of women’s self-efficacy in physics merely reflects a broader trend in university education that has little to do with physics per se. We investigated this and other alternative causes, using an in-the-moment measurement technique called the Experience Sampling Method (ESM. We used ESM to collect multiple samples of university students’ feelings of self-efficacy during four types of activity for two one-week periods: (i an introductory IE physics course, (ii students’ other introductory STEM courses, (iii their non-STEM courses, and (iv their activities outside of school. We found that women experienced the IE physics course with lower self-efficacy than men, but for the other three activity types, women’s self-efficacy was not reliably different from men’s. We therefore concluded that the experience of physics instruction in the IE physics course depressed women’s self-efficacy. Using complementary measures showing the IE
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Hldreth, Laura A.; Robison-Cox, Jim; Schmidt, Jade
2018-01-01
This study examines the transferability of results from previous studies of simulation-based curriculum in introductory statistics using data from 3,500 students enrolled in an introductory statistics course at Montana State University from fall 2013 through spring 2016. During this time, four different curricula, a traditional curriculum and…
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Generating a Gender Balance: making introductory information systems courses a positive experience
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rosemary Stockdale
2007-12-01
Full Text Available There is a growing shortfall of graduates entering the IT profession. The situation is exacerbated by the continuing decline in the number of women undertaking IT related degrees. However, there are an increasing number of students taking business degrees that have a small information systems component, although few students choose to major in IS. Using a qualitative reflective approach we identify the perceptions and experiences of female undergraduates taking introductory IS courses in two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. We discuss ways of improving the delivery of introductory IS courses in order to make information systems more interesting to women undergraduates, thus enhancing their learning experiences and encouraging further uptake of IS majors. The paper concludes with some reflections on other influences that impact on the ability of IS departments to deliver appropriate introductory courses.
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Addressing the Need for Management Processes for Higher Education Accreditation.
Brennan, Linda L.; Austin, Walter W.
2003-01-01
The accreditation standards of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) ask business schools to describe consistent processes that provide for operational consistency and continuous improvement in support of the schools' stated missions. This article addresses the identification of requisite quality…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jeffrey T. Olimpo
2010-10-01
Full Text Available Most introductory courses in the biological sciences are inherently content-dense and rich with jargon—jargon that is often confusing and nonsensical to novice students. These characteristics present an additional paradox to instructors, who strive to achieve a balance between simply promoting passive, rote memorization of facts and engaging students in developing true, concrete understanding of the terminology. To address these concerns, we developed and implemented a Biology Taboo Wiktionary that provided students with an interactive opportunity to review and describe concepts they had encountered during their first semester of introductory biology. However, much like the traditional Taboo game, the rules were such that students could not use obvious terms to detail the main term. It was our belief that if the student could synthesize a thoughtful, scientific explanation of the term under these conditions, he or she demonstrated a true understanding of the conceptual context and meaning of the term.
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School Nurses Avoid Addressing Child Sexual Abuse
Engh Kraft, Lisbet; Rahm, GullBritt; Eriksson, Ulla-Britt
2017-01-01
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global public health problem with major consequences for the individual child and society. An earlier Swedish study showed that the school nurses did not initially talk about nor mention CSA as one form of child abuse. For the child to receive adequate support, the disclosure is a precondition and is dependent on an…
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Nsangi, Allen; Semakula, Daniel; Oxman, Andrew D; Austvoll-Dahlgren, Astrid; Oxman, Matt; Rosenbaum, Sarah; Morelli, Angela; Glenton, Claire; Lewin, Simon; Kaseje, Margaret; Chalmers, Iain; Fretheim, Atle; Ding, Yunpeng; Sewankambo, Nelson K
2017-07-22
Claims about what improves or harms our health are ubiquitous. People need to be able to assess the reliability of these claims. We aimed to evaluate an intervention designed to teach primary school children to assess claims about the effects of treatments (ie, any action intended to maintain or improve health). In this cluster-randomised controlled trial, we included primary schools in the central region of Uganda that taught year-5 children (aged 10-12 years). We excluded international schools, special needs schools for children with auditory and visual impairments, schools that had participated in user-testing and piloting of the resources, infant and nursery schools, adult education schools, and schools that were difficult for us to access in terms of travel time. We randomly allocated a representative sample of eligible schools to either an intervention or control group. Intervention schools received the Informed Health Choices primary school resources (textbooks, exercise books, and a teachers' guide). Teachers attended a 2 day introductory workshop and gave nine 80 min lessons during one school term. The lessons addressed 12 concepts essential to assessing claims about treatment effects and making informed health choices. We did not intervene in the control schools. The primary outcome, measured at the end of the school term, was the mean score on a test with two multiple-choice questions for each of the 12 concepts and the proportion of children with passing scores on the same test. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry, number PACTR201606001679337. Between April 11, 2016, and June 8, 2016, 2960 schools were assessed for eligibility; 2029 were eligible, and a random sample of 170 were invited to recruitment meetings. After recruitment meetings, 120 eligible schools consented and were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n=60, 76 teachers and 6383 children) or control group (n=60, 67 teachers and 4430 children
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The Case for Infusing Quantitative Literacy into Introductory Geoscience Courses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jennifer M. Wenner
2009-01-01
Full Text Available We present the case for introductory geoscience courses as model venues for increasing the quantitative literacy (QL of large numbers of the college-educated population. The geosciences provide meaningful context for a number of fundamental mathematical concepts that are revisited several times in a single course. Using some best practices from the mathematics education community surrounding problem solving, calculus reform, pre-college mathematics and five geoscience/math workshops, geoscience and mathematics faculty have identified five pedagogical ideas to increase the QL of the students who populate introductory geoscience courses. These five ideas include techniques such as: place mathematical concepts in context, use multiple representations, use technology appropriately, work in groups, and do multiple-day, in-depth problems that place quantitative skills in multiple contexts. We discuss the pedagogical underpinnings of these five ideas and illustrate some ways that the geosciences represent ideal places to use these techniques. However, the inclusion of QL in introductory courses is often met with resistance at all levels. Faculty who wish to include quantitative content must use creative means to break down barriers of public perception of geoscience as qualitative, administrative worry that enrollments will drop and faculty resistance to change. Novel ways to infuse QL into geoscience classrooms include use of web-based resources, shadow courses, setting clear expectations, and promoting quantitative geoscience to the general public. In order to help faculty increase the QL of geoscience students, a community-built faculty-centered web resource (Teaching Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences houses multiple examples that implement the five best practices of QL throughout the geoscience curriculum. We direct faculty to three portions of the web resource: Teaching Quantitative Literacy, QL activities, and the 2006 workshop website
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The Introductory College Business Course: A New Dimension
Podell, Joel; And Others
1977-01-01
Describes various methodologies used at the Queensboro Community College, New York, to enrich some of the topics traditionally included in the introductory course such as union management relations, social responsibility and business ethics, internal organization structure, and small business management. (TA)
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Religious Discrimination Discourse in the Mono-Cultural School: The Case of Poland
Anczyk, Adam; Grzymala-Moszczynska, Joanna
2018-01-01
The article forms an analysis of the religious discrimination discourse in Polish public schools, with special attention paid to the culturally specific, Polish understanding of the notion of religious discrimination. The introductory part presents the concept of religious discrimination as present in anti-discriminatory policies. The following…
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Payne, Elizabethe C.; Smith, Melissa J.
2018-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide insight to the multiple ways that school leaders resist, avoid, or block LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer, and questioning) professional development for their staff and, thus, resist the conversations around school responsibility to these students and families. Research…
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Incorporating Service Learning into the Introductory Astronomy Course
Mukherjee, K.
2002-05-01
The introductory Astronomy course can be enriched by adding a service learning component to it. This enables students to interact with and educate the general public about matters of outer space. At Slippery Rock University we have incorporated this idea into our Astronomy and Space Science courses. Working in groups, the students do a presentation which is often interdisciplinary. Frequently the department gets requests from schools to do a show specifically tailored to a topic like the solar system or constellations. Such projects are beneficial to students in many ways. They demand a thorough knowledge of the subject matter so as to communicate to the audience in a clear and nontechnical manner. The students also experience first hand the difficulties involved in coordinating a group effort. They learn to take responsibility for their allocated part and how to combine effectively to make the entire show a success. Interacting with various age groups demands a versatility in planning content and public speaking skills not easily available elsewhere in a traditional education. Our planetarium facilities help in attracting diverse audiences from preschoolers to senior citizens. Performance in these shows constitutes twenty five percent of course grade. Feedback from audience groups helps refine future shows by subsequent student cohorts.
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Video-based problems in introductory mechanics physics courses
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gröber, Sebastian; Klein, Pascal; Kuhn, Jochen
2014-01-01
Introductory mechanics physics courses at the transition from school to university are a challenge for students. They are faced with an abrupt and necessary increase of theoretical content and requirements on their conceptual understanding of phyiscs. In order to support this transition we replaced part of the mandatory weekly theory-based paper-and-pencil problems with video analysis problems of equal content and level of difficulty. Video-based problems (VBP) are a new problem format for teaching physics from a linked sequence of theoretical and video-based experimental tasks. Experimental tasks are related to the well-known concept of video motion analysis. This introduction of an experimental part in recitations allows the establishment of theory–experiment interplay as well as connections between physical content and context fields such as nature, technique, everyday life and applied physics by conducting model-and context-related experiments. Furthermore, laws and formulas as predominantly representative forms are extended by the use of diagrams and vectors. In this paper we give general reasons for this approach, describe the structure and added values of VBP, and show that they cover a relevant part of mechanics courses at university. Emphasis is put on theory–experiment interplay as a structural added value of VBP to promote students' construction of knowledge and conceptual understanding. (paper)
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Heiner, Cecily
2009-01-01
Students in introductory programming classes often articulate their questions and information needs incompletely. Consequently, the automatic classification of student questions to provide automated tutorial responses is a challenging problem. This dissertation analyzes 411 questions from an introductory Java programming course by reducing the…
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Rebello, Carina M.
This study explored the effects of alternative forms of argumentation on undergraduates' physics solutions in introductory calculus-based physics. A two-phase concurrent mixed methods design was employed to investigate relationships between undergraduates' written argumentation abilities, conceptual quality of problem solutions, as well as approaches and strategies for solving argumentative physics problems across multiple physics topics. Participants were assigned via stratified sampling to one of three conditions (control, guided construct, or guided evaluate) based on gender and pre-test scores on a conceptual instrument. The guided construct and guided evaluate groups received tasks and prompts drawn from literature to facilitate argument construction or evaluation. Using a multiple case study design, with each condition serving as a case, interviews were conducted consisting of a think-aloud problem solving session paired with a semi-structured interview. The analysis of problem solving strategies was guided by the theoretical framework on epistemic games adapted by Tuminaro and Redish (2007). This study provides empirical evidence that integration of written argumentation into physics problems can potentially improve the conceptual quality of solutions, expand their repertoire of problem solving strategies and show promise for addressing the gender gap in physics. The study suggests further avenues for research in this area and implications for designing and implementing argumentation tasks in introductory college physics.
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Kizilcik, Hasan Sahin; Yavas, Pervin Ünlü
2017-01-01
The aim of this study is to identify the opinions of pre-service physics teachers about the difficulties in introductory quantum physics topics. In this study conducted with twenty-five pre-service physics teachers, the case study method was used. The participants were interviewed about introductory quantum physics topics. The interviews were…
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Black Holes and Pulsars in the Introductory Physics Course
Orear, Jay; Salpeter, E. E.
1973-01-01
Discusses the phenomenon of formation of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes from dying stars for the purpose of providing college teachers with materials usable in the introductory physics course. (CC)
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Stacy, Sara T; Cartwright, Macey; Arwood, Zjanya; Canfield, James P; Kloos, Heidi
2017-01-01
Students rarely practice math outside of school requirements, which we refer to as the "math-practice gap". This gap might be the reason why students struggle with math, making it urgent to develop means by which to address it. In the current paper, we propose that math apps offer a viable solution to the math-practice gap: Online apps can provide access to a large number of problems, tied to immediate feedback, and delivered in an engaging way. To substantiate this conversation, we looked at whether tablets are sufficiently engaging to motivate children's informal math practice. Our approach was to partner with education agencies via a community-based participatory research design. The three participating education agencies serve elementary-school students from low-SES communities, allowing us to look at tablet use by children who are unlikely to have extensive access to online math enrichment programs. At the same time, the agencies differed in several structural details, including whether our intervention took place during school time, after school, or during the summer. This allowed us to shed light on tablet feasibility under different organizational constraints. Our findings show that tablet-based math practice is engaging for young children, independent of the setting, the student's age, or the math concept that was tackled. At the same time, we found that student engagement was a function of the presence of caring adults to facilitate their online math practice.
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Whaley, Arthur L.; Clay, William A. L.; Broussard, Dominique
2017-01-01
The present study describes a culturally relevant approach to introductory psychology textbook selection for students attending a historically Black college/university (HBCU). The following multistage procedure was used: (1) a survey of HBCU psychology departments was conducted to ascertain how they selected their introductory psychology…
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Teaching Introductory Astronomy "Open and Out" & Looking Forward to the 2017 Solar Eclipse
Chu, I.-Wen Mike; Cronkhite, Jeff
2016-01-01
We present a new effort on teaching introductory astronomy addressing the specific challenges facing small colleges including limited resources, changing generational behavior and new technological trends. The approach adopts open source solutions into the developmental learning materials aiming for standardization and wide-scale applicability. In addition we utilize events and resources outside classroom into the learning. Among examples of the development are laboratory exercises based on the planetarium software Stellarium and remediation exercises using Khan Academy instructional videos. As the eventual goal is to move toward greater autonomy the cycles of improvement necessarily require student feedback in an entirely different instructional style based on egalitarian dialogues. We highlight a laboratory exercise on Earth-Moon distance estimation using parallax of the upcoming 2017 solar eclipse to illustrate the "open and out" philosophy. Achievements, limitations and some diagnostics of the current effort are also presented.
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Upton, Brianna; Evans, John; Morrow, Cherilynn; Thoms, Brian
2009-11-01
Previous studies have shown that many students have misconceptions about basic concepts in physics. Moreover, it has been concluded that one of the challenges lies in the teaching methodology. To address this, Georgia State University has begun teaching studio algebra-based physics. Although many institutions have implemented studio physics, most have done so in calculus-based sequences. The effectiveness of the studio approach in an algebra-based introductory physics course needs further investigation. A 3-semester study assessing the effectiveness of studio physics in an algebra-based physics sequence has been performed. This study compares the results of student pre- and post-tests using the Force Concept Inventory. Using the results from this assessment tool, we will discuss the effectiveness of the studio approach to teaching physics at GSU.
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Effects of Team Teaching on Students Performance in Introductory ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
FIRST LADY
Students taught. Introductory Technology through team teaching approach performed ... Vocational education differs in both concept and status in different nations of ... completion of the course, can carry out simple daily maintenance of motor.
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Implementing recommendations for introductory biology by writing a new textbook.
Barsoum, Mark J; Sellers, Patrick J; Campbell, A Malcolm; Heyer, Laurie J; Paradise, Christopher J
2013-01-01
We redesigned the undergraduate introductory biology course by writing a new textbook (Integrating Concepts in Biology [ICB]) that follows first principles of learning. Our approach emphasizes primary data interpretation and the utility of mathematics in biology, while de-emphasizing memorization. This redesign divides biology into five big ideas (information, evolution, cells, emergent properties, homeostasis), addressing each at five levels of organization (molecules, cells, organisms, populations, ecological systems). We compared our course outcomes with two sections that used a traditional textbook and were taught by different instructors. On data interpretation assessments administered periodically during the semester, our students performed better than students in the traditional sections (p = 0.046) and exhibited greater improvement over the course of the semester (p = 0.015). On factual content assessments, our students performed similarly to students in the other sections (p = 0.737). Pre- and postsemester assessment of disciplinary perceptions and self-appraisal indicate that our students acquired a more accurate perception of biology as a discipline and may have developed a more realistic evaluation of their scientific abilities than did the control students (p biology.
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Strategies to address mental health through schools with examples from China.
Whitman, Cheryl Vince; Aldinger, Carmen; Zhang, Xin-Wei; Magner, Elizabeth
2008-06-01
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately one in five young people under the age of 18 experiences some form of developmental, emotional or behavioural problem, and one in eight experiences a mental disorder. Because research shows that half of adult mental disorders begin before the age of 14 and that early intervention can prevent and reduce more serious consequences later in life, it is critical to expand the role of mental health professionals with schools worldwide. Schools have the potential to affect the mental health of millions of young people, as well as those who work in schools. Research indicates that programmes promoting mental health are among the most effective of health promoting school efforts. This paper discusses the health promoting schools framework, reviews effective strategies for promoting mental health in schools, and provides examples from Zhejiang Province, China. This article also discusses the key roles that mental health professionals can play in promoting mental health through schools. As advocates, policy makers, researchers and teachers, mental health professionals can bridge the sectors of education, mental health and public health. Developing common frameworks and interdisciplinary training will create a foundation of shared understanding to achieve this goal.
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Amstelveen, Raoul H.
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study was to design and implement a Classroom Response System, also known as a "clicker," to increase attendance in introductory statistics courses at an undergraduate university. Since 2010, non-attendance had been prevalent in introductory statistics courses. Moreover, non-attendance created undesirable classrooms…
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Leduc, Denise
This guide to secondary school French reading instruction addresses a variety of general and specific instructional issues. An introductory chapter discusses program objectives, minimum program requirements, and the population to be taught. The second chapter looks at theoretical aspects of the development of reading ability: current thoughts on…
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An Infiltration Exercise for Introductory Soil Science
Barbarick, K. A.; Ippolito, J. A.; Butters, G.; Sorge, G. M.
2005-01-01
One of the largest challenges in teaching introductory soil science is explaining the dynamics of soil infiltration. To aid students in understanding the concept and to further engage them in active learning in the soils laboratory course, we developed an exercise using Decagon Mini-Disk Infiltrometers with a tension head (h[subscript o]) of 2 cm.…
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A Case-Based Curriculum for Introductory Geology
Goldsmith, David W.
2011-01-01
For the past 5 years I have been teaching my introductory geology class using a case-based method that promotes student engagement and inquiry. This article presents an explanation of how a case-based curriculum differs from a more traditional approach to the material. It also presents a statistical analysis of several years' worth of student…
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Marshman, Emily; Sayer, Ryan; Henderson, Charles; Singh, Chandralekha
2017-01-01
At large research universities, physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in courses at all levels. However, few studies have focused on TAs' grading practices in introductory and advanced physics courses. This study was designed to investigate whether physics graduate TAs grade students in introductory physics…
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Scott, Amy N.; McNair, Delores E.; Lucas, Jonathan C.; Land, Kirkwood M.
2017-01-01
Introductory science, math, and engineering courses often have problems related to student engagement, achievement, and course completion. To begin examining these issues in greater depth, this pilot study compared student engagement, achievement, and course completion in a small and large section of an introductory biology class. Results based on…
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SIGKit: Software for Introductory Geophysics Toolkit
Kruse, S.; Bank, C. G.; Esmaeili, S.; Jazayeri, S.; Liu, S.; Stoikopoulos, N.
2017-12-01
The Software for Introductory Geophysics Toolkit (SIGKit) affords students the opportunity to create model data and perform simple processing of field data for various geophysical methods. SIGkit provides a graphical user interface built with the MATLAB programming language, but can run even without a MATLAB installation. At this time SIGkit allows students to pick first arrivals and match a two-layer model to seismic refraction data; grid total-field magnetic data, extract a profile, and compare this to a synthetic profile; and perform simple processing steps (subtraction of a mean trace, hyperbola fit) to ground-penetrating radar data. We also have preliminary tools for gravity, resistivity, and EM data representation and analysis. SIGkit is being built by students for students, and the intent of the toolkit is to provide an intuitive interface for simple data analysis and understanding of the methods, and act as an entrance to more sophisticated software. The toolkit has been used in introductory courses as well as field courses. First reactions from students are positive. Think-aloud observations of students using the toolkit have helped identify problems and helped shape it. We are planning to compare the learning outcomes of students who have used the toolkit in a field course to students in a previous course to test its effectiveness.
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Introductory Life Science Mathematics and Quantitative Neuroscience Courses
Duffus, Dwight; Olifer, Andrei
2010-01-01
We describe two sets of courses designed to enhance the mathematical, statistical, and computational training of life science undergraduates at Emory College. The first course is an introductory sequence in differential and integral calculus, modeling with differential equations, probability, and inferential statistics. The second is an…
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Does the Choice of Introductory Microeconomics Textbook Matter?
Pyne, Derek
2007-01-01
The author examines the effects of different introductory microeconomics textbooks on student performance in subsequent economics courses (specifically, Intermediate Microeconomics I and Money and Banking). In some cases, the effects are significant and sizeable. There is also evidence of other variables affecting student performance in later…
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Introductory Statistics Education and the National Science Foundation
Hall, Megan R.; Rowell, Ginger Holmes
2008-01-01
This paper describes 27 National Science Foundation supported grant projects that have innovations designed to improve teaching and learning in introductory statistics courses. The characteristics of these projects are compared with the six recommendations given in the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE)…
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Addressing Challenges to the Shared Use of School Recreational Facilities
Spengler, John O.; Connaughton, Daniel P.; Carroll, Michael S.
2011-01-01
The shared use of school recreational facilities holds the potential to offer activity opportunities for many people, especially those in low-income, minority, and under-resourced communities. School facilities are usually easily accessible and offer safe, free or low cost, and convenient recreation and sport opportunities. However, a number of…
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Turel, Vehbi; Calik, Sinan; Doganer, Adem
2015-01-01
The purpose of vocational schools (VSs) in Turkey, which offer two-year degree courses, is to provide the students who have completed a high school programme successfully with practical introductory experience in skilled trades such as computing, electronics, mechanics, carpentry, construction, field crops, and so on. Those who complete a two-year…
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Smarter lunchrooms can address new school lunchroom guidelines and childhood obesity.
Hanks, Andrew S; Just, David R; Wansink, Brian
2013-04-01
New US Department of Agriculture regulations have altered what foods schools offer for lunch, but schools cannot require students to eat specific foods. An intervention using the behavioral science principle known as "libertarian paternalism" led junior-senior high school students to eat more fruits and vegetables by making these foods more convenient, attractive, and normative. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Assessment of Factors that Influence the Recruitment of Majors from Introductory Geology Classes
Hoisch, T. D.; Bowie, J. I.
2009-12-01
In order to guide the formulation of strategies for recruiting undergraduates taking introductory geology courses into the geology program at Northern Arizona University, we surveyed 783 students in introductory geology classes and 23 geology majors in their junior and senior years. Our introductory courses (GLG100, Introduction to Geology; GLG101, Physical Geology; and GLG112, Geologic Disasters) typically enroll ~600 students each semester. The majority of students in these classes are non-majors who take them in order to satisfy a university general education requirement (called “Liberal Studies requirements” at NAU). A large proportion of these students are freshmen (51%) and sophomores (30%), and many have not yet decided on a major or are uncertain about the major they have chosen. Our analysis shows that ~7% of students in the introductory classes are possible candidates for recruitment. Although a small percentage, it represents a large number of individuals, in fact more than could be accommodated were they all to decide to major in geology. Influential factors that weigh in favor of majoring in geology include good employability, good salary potential, and opportunities for working outdoors, field work, observing nature, travel, and environmentally friendly employment. In addition, students view a career as a geologist as potentially the most fulfilling of the different science occupations (biologist, chemist, geologist, environmental scientist, physicist) and among the more environmentally friendly. However, students perceive geology to be the least difficult of the sciences, and geology occupations to be low-paying and low in prestige relative to the other sciences. These negative perceptions could be countered by providing data to introductory students showing the starting salaries of geologists in comparison to other science occupations, and by communicating the rigorous nature of the more advanced classes in the geology degree program. A
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Chen, Qihui; Okediji, Tade O.
2014-01-01
In this article, the authors illustrate how incentives can improve student performance in introductory economics courses. They implemented a policy experiment in a large introductory economics class in which they reminded students who scored below an announced cutoff score on the midterm exam about the risk of failing the course. The authors…
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Student Understanding of Gravity in Introductory College Astronomy
Williamson, Kathryn E.; Willoughby, Shannon
2012-01-01
Twenty-four free-response questions were developed to explore introductory college astronomy students' understanding of gravity in a variety of contexts, including in and around Earth, throughout the solar system, and in hypothetical situations. Questions were separated into three questionnaires, each of which was given to a section of…
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Graphical User Interface Programming in Introductory Computer Science.
Skolnick, Michael M.; Spooner, David L.
Modern computing systems exploit graphical user interfaces for interaction with users; as a result, introductory computer science courses must begin to teach the principles underlying such interfaces. This paper presents an approach to graphical user interface (GUI) implementation that is simple enough for beginning students to understand, yet…
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The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO): Introductory Remarks
Vervaele, J.A.E.
2018-01-01
These introductory remarks deal with the reasons why the EPPO is perceived by some as a controversial body. These reasons are mirrored with the problem identification and the causes thereof. The size of EU fraud and related corruption and money laundering, both at the income and expenditure side, is
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Introductory Level Problems Illustrating Concepts in Pharmaceutical Engineering
McIver, Keith; Whitaker, Kathryn; De Delva, Vladimir; Farrell, Stephanie; Savelski, Mariano J.; Slater, C. Stewart
2012-01-01
Textbook style problems including detailed solutions introducing pharmaceutical topics at the level of an introductory chemical engineering course have been created. The problems illustrate and teach subjects which students would learn if they were to pursue a career in pharmaceutical engineering, including the unique terminology of the field,…
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First order error corrections in common introductory physics experiments
Beckey, Jacob; Baker, Andrew; Aravind, Vasudeva; Clarion Team
As a part of introductory physics courses, students perform different standard lab experiments. Almost all of these experiments are prone to errors owing to factors like friction, misalignment of equipment, air drag, etc. Usually these types of errors are ignored by students and not much thought is paid to the source of these errors. However, paying attention to these factors that give rise to errors help students make better physics models and understand physical phenomena behind experiments in more detail. In this work, we explore common causes of errors in introductory physics experiment and suggest changes that will mitigate the errors, or suggest models that take the sources of these errors into consideration. This work helps students build better and refined physical models and understand physics concepts in greater detail. We thank Clarion University undergraduate student grant for financial support involving this project.
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Evolution of Student Knowledge in a Traditional Introductory Classroom
Sayre, Eleanor C.; Heckler, Andrew F.
2008-10-01
In the physics education research community, a common format for evaluation is pre- and post-tests. In this study, we collect student test data many times throughout a course, allowing for the measurement of the changes of student knowledge with a time resolution on the order of a few days. The data cover the first two quarters (mechanics, E&M) of a calculus-based introductory sequence populated primarily by first- and second-year engineering majors. To avoid the possibility of test-retest effects, separate and quasi-random subpopulations of students are evaluated every week of the quarter on a variety of tasks. Unsurprisingly for a traditional introductory course, there is little change on many conceptual questions. However, the data suggest that some student ideas peak and decay rapidly during a quarter, a pattern consistent with memory research yet unmeasurable by pre-/post-testing.
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Improving student learning and views of physics in a large enrollment introductory physics class
Salehzadeh Einabad, Omid
Introductory physics courses often serve as gatekeepers for many scientific and engineering programs and, increasingly, colleges are relying on large, lecture formats for these courses. Many students, however, leave having learned very little physics and with poor views of the subject. In interactive engagement (IE), classroom activities encourage students to engage with each other and with physics concepts and to be actively involved in their own learning. These methods have been shown to be effective in introductory physics classes with small group recitations. This study examined student learning and views of physics in a large enrollment course that included IE methods with no separate, small-group recitations. In this study, a large, lecture-based course included activities that had students explaining their reasoning both verbally and in writing, revise their ideas about physics concepts, and apply their reasoning to various problems. The questions addressed were: (a) What do students learn about physics concepts and how does student learning in this course compare to that reported in the literature for students in a traditional course?, (b) Do students' views of physics change and how do students' views of physics compare to that reported in the literature for students in a traditional course?, and (c) Which of the instructional strategies contribute to student learning in this course? Data included: pre-post administration of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), classroom exams during the term, pre-post administration of the Colorado Learning Attitudes About Science Survey (CLASS), and student work, interviews, and open-ended surveys. The average normalized gain (=0.32) on the FCI falls within the medium-gain range as reported in the physics education literature, even though the average pre-test score was very low (30%) and this was the instructor's first implementation of IE methods. Students' views of physics remained relatively unchanged by instruction
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Galler, Anne M.; Coulter, Joan M.
This manual provides practical information on the planning, organization, and operation of school libraries. Some of the guidelines differentiate between small libraries with minimal collections and larger, better-equipped libraries with more resources. Introductory materials include definitions of terms used in this manual. Guidelines are then…
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Mediating relationship of differential products in understanding integration in introductory physics
Amos, Nathaniel; Heckler, Andrew F.
2018-01-01
In the context of introductory physics, we study student conceptual understanding of differentials, differential products, and integrals and possible pathways to understanding these quantities. We developed a multiple choice conceptual assessment employing a variety of physical contexts probing physical understanding of these three quantities and administered the instrument to over 1000 students in first and second semester introductory physics courses. Using a regression-based mediation analysis with conceptual understanding of integration as the dependent variable, we found evidence consistent with a simple mediation model: the relationship between differentials scores and integral scores may be mediated by the understanding of differential products. The indirect effect (a quantifiable metric of mediation) was estimated as a b =0.29 , 95% CI [0.25, 0.33] for N =1102 Physics 1 students, and a b =0.27 , 95% CI [0.14, 0.48] for N =65 Physics 2 students. We also find evidence that the physical context of the questions can be an important factor. These results imply that for introductory physics courses, instructional emphasis first on differentials then on differential products in a variety of contexts may in turn promote better integral understanding.
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Measuring the impact of an instructional laboratory on the learning of introductory physics
Wieman, Carl; Holmes, N. G.
2015-01-01
We have analyzed the impact of taking an associated lab course on the scores on final exam questions in two large introductory physics courses. Approximately a third of the students who completed each course also took an accompanying instructional lab course. The lab courses were fairly conventional, although they focused on supporting the mastery of a subset of the introductory physics topics covered in the associated course. Performance between students who did and did not take the lab cour...
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Excerpts from the introductory statement. IAEA Board of Governors. Vienna, 18 March 2002
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
ElBaradei, M.
2002-01-01
Excerpts are given from the Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors by the IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei. Major topics covered in his introductory remarks include: protection against terrorism, nuclear technology, water resource management, application of sterile insect technique, human health, nuclear power, radioactive waste management, management of nuclear knowledge, nuclear safety, safety of radioactive sources, safeguards agreements and additional protocols, conceptual framework for integrated safeguards, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Iraq
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Just the facts? Introductory undergraduate biology courses focus on low-level cognitive skills.
Momsen, Jennifer L; Long, Tammy M; Wyse, Sara A; Ebert-May, Diane
2010-01-01
Introductory biology courses are widely criticized for overemphasizing details and rote memorization of facts. Data to support such claims, however, are surprisingly scarce. We sought to determine whether this claim was evidence-based. To do so we quantified the cognitive level of learning targeted by faculty in introductory-level biology courses. We used Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to assign cognitive learning levels to course goals as articulated on syllabi and individual items on high-stakes assessments (i.e., exams and quizzes). Our investigation revealed the following: 1) assessment items overwhelmingly targeted lower cognitive levels, 2) the cognitive level of articulated course goals was not predictive of the cognitive level of assessment items, and 3) there was no influence of course size or institution type on the cognitive levels of assessments. These results support the claim that introductory biology courses emphasize facts more than higher-order thinking.
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Improving Schools through Evaluation: The Experience of Catholic Schools in South Africa
Potterton, Mark; Northmore, Colin
2014-01-01
This article addresses the development of quality assurance approaches in South Africa, with particular reference to Catholic schools. It also addresses questions of why whole school evaluation in general has failed to play any meaningful role in improving the quality of schools in South Africa. Reference is also made to specific school cases. The…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tammy Boyce
Full Text Available HPV immunisation of adolescent girls is expected to have a significant impact in the reduction of cervical cancer. UK The HPV immunisation programme is primarily delivered by school nurses. We examine the role of school nurses in delivering the HPV immunisation programme and their impact on minimising health inequalities in vaccine uptake.A rapid evidence assessment (REA and semi-structured interviews with health professionals were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. 80 health professionals from across the UK are interviewed, primarily school nurses and HPV immunisation programme coordinators. The REA identified 2,795 articles and after analysis and hand searches, 34 relevant articles were identified and analysed. Interviews revealed that health inequalities in HPV vaccination uptake were mainly related to income and other social factors in contrast to published research which emphasises potential inequalities related to ethnicity and/or religion. Most school nurses interviewed understood local health inequalities and made particular efforts to target girls who did not attend or missed doses. Interviews also revealed maintaining accurate and consistent records influenced both school nurses' understanding and efforts to target inequalities in HPV vaccination uptake.Despite high uptake in the UK, some girls remain at risk of not being vaccinated with all three doses. School nurses played a key role in reducing health inequalities in the delivery of the HPV programme. Other studies identified religious beliefs and ethnicity as potentially influencing HPV vaccination uptake but interviews for this research found this appeared not to have occurred. Instead school nurses stated girls who were more likely to be missed were those not in education. Improving understanding of the delivery processes of immunisation programmes and this impact on health inequalities can help to inform solutions to increase uptake and address health inequalities
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The role of applied physics in American introductory physics courses
Poduska, Ervin L.; Lunetta, Vincent N.
1984-09-01
To what extent should technology and applied physics be included in introductory physics courses? What is the proper balance between pure and applied physics? Should physics teachers devote precious time to socially relevant issues like nuclear power and alternative sources of energy? How much time should be spent, if any, on applications that are more relevant to the student's world like cars, music, television and refrigeration? Does including applications reduce or enhance student understanding of important classical topics? A response to these questions must be based on goals for physics teaching, on knowledge of how students learn and on the nature of the physics discipline. Since there is not enough time to teach everything in an introductory course, priorities must be determined.
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Rhetorical Analysis as Introductory Speech: Jumpstarting Student Engagement
Malone, Marc P.
2012-01-01
When students enter the basic public speaking classroom,When students enter the basic public speaking classroom, they are asked to develop an introductory speech. This assignment typically focuses on a speech of self-introduction for which there are several pedagogical underpinnings: it provides an immediate and relatively stress-free speaking…
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The Effect of Vocabulary on Introductory Microbiology Instruction
Richter, Emily
2011-01-01
This study examines the effect of the translation of traditional scientific vocabulary into plain English, a process referred to as Anglicization, on student learning in the context of introductory microbiology instruction. Data from Anglicized and Classical-vocabulary lab sections were collected. Data included exam scores as well as pre and…
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Assessing Expertise in Introductory Physics Using Categorization Task
Mason, Andrew; Singh, Chandralekha
2011-01-01
The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking…
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Learning Styles and Student Performance in Introductory Economics
Brunton, Bruce
2015-01-01
Data from nine introductory microeconomics classes was used to test the effect of student learning style on academic performance. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used to assess individual student learning styles. The results indicate that student learning style has no significant effect on performance, undermining the claims of those who…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rex Karsten
1998-01-01
Full Text Available Students often receive their first college-level computer training in introductory information systems courses. Students and faculty frequently expect this training to develop a level of student computer competence that will support computer use in future courses. In this study, we applied measures of computer self-efficacy to students in a typical introductory IS course. The measures provided useful evidence that student perceptions of their ability to use computers effectively in the future significantly improved as a result of their training experience. The computer self-efficacy measures also provided enhanced insight into course-related factors of practical concern to IS educators. Study results also suggest computer self-efficacy measures may be a practical and informative means of assessing computer-training outcomes in the introductory IS course context
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Hemingway, Deborah; Eichenlaub, Mark; Losert, Wolfgang; Redish, Edward F.
2017-01-01
Student often face difficulties with using math in science, and this exploratory project seeks to address the underlying mechanisms that lead to these difficulties. This mixed-methods project includes the creation of two novel assessment surveys, the Mathematical Epistemic Games Survey (MEGS) and the Math Attitude and Expectations Survey (MAX). The MAX, a 30-question Likert-scale survey, focuses on the attitudes towards using mathematics of the students in a reformed introductory physics course for the life sciences (IPLS) which is part of the National Experiment in Undergraduate Education (NEXUS/Physics) developed at the University of Maryland (UMD). Preliminary results from the MAX are discussed with specific attention given to students' attitudes towards math and physics, opinions about interdisciplinarity, and the usefulness of physics in academic settings as well as in professional biological research and modern medicine settings.
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Computer-Tailored Student Support in Introductory Physics
Huberth, Madeline; Chen, Patricia; Tritz, Jared; McKay, Timothy A.
2015-01-01
Large introductory courses are at a disadvantage in providing personalized guidance and advice for students during the semester. We introduce E2Coach (an Expert Electronic Coaching system), which allows instructors to personalize their communication with thousands of students. We describe the E2Coach system, the nature of the personalized support it provides, and the features of the students who did (and did not) opt-in to using it during the first three terms of its use in four introductory physics courses at the University of Michigan. Defining a ‘better-than-expected’ measure of performance, we compare outcomes for students who used E2Coach to those who did not. We found that moderate and high E2Coach usage was associated with improved performance. This performance boost was prominent among high users, who improved by 0.18 letter grades on average when compared to nonusers with similar incoming GPAs. This improvement in performance was comparable across both genders. E2Coach represents one way to use technology to personalize education at scale, contributing to the move towards individualized learning that is becoming more attainable in the 21st century. PMID:26352403
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Computer-Tailored Student Support in Introductory Physics.
Huberth, Madeline; Chen, Patricia; Tritz, Jared; McKay, Timothy A
2015-01-01
Large introductory courses are at a disadvantage in providing personalized guidance and advice for students during the semester. We introduce E2Coach (an Expert Electronic Coaching system), which allows instructors to personalize their communication with thousands of students. We describe the E2Coach system, the nature of the personalized support it provides, and the features of the students who did (and did not) opt-in to using it during the first three terms of its use in four introductory physics courses at the University of Michigan. Defining a 'better-than-expected' measure of performance, we compare outcomes for students who used E2Coach to those who did not. We found that moderate and high E2Coach usage was associated with improved performance. This performance boost was prominent among high users, who improved by 0.18 letter grades on average when compared to nonusers with similar incoming GPAs. This improvement in performance was comparable across both genders. E2Coach represents one way to use technology to personalize education at scale, contributing to the move towards individualized learning that is becoming more attainable in the 21st century.
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Buliung, Ron; Faulkner, Guy; Beesley, Theresa; Kennedy, Jacky
2011-01-01
Background: Active school transport (AST), school travel using an active mode like walking, may be important to children's overall physical activity. A "school travel plan" (STP) documents a school's transport characteristics and provides an action plan to address school and neighborhood barriers to AST. Methods: We conducted a pilot STP…
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The Development of Curricular Guidelines for Introductory Microbiology that Focus on Understanding
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Susan Merkel
2012-02-01
Full Text Available The number of students who leave majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM due to a perception that courses are poorly taught is evidence that education reform in STEM is overdue. Despite decades of research that argues for student-centered teaching approaches, most introductory STEM courses are still taught in the large lecture format, focusing on rote memorization. While individual efforts in STEM educational reform are important, solutions will most certainly need to include institutional and cultural change. In biology, numerous national reports have called for educational reform to better prepare future scientists. We describe here a new, concept-based curriculum for Introductory Microbiology courses, designed to promote deep understanding of core concepts. Supported by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM and based on the overarching concepts and competencies presented in the AAAS/NSF report Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, we hope it will empower instructors to adapt student-centered approaches so that students in Introductory Microbiology courses can leave the course with a core set of enduring understandings of microbiology.
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The Development of Curricular Guidelines for Introductory Microbiology that Focus on Understanding.
Merkel, Susan
2012-01-01
The number of students who leave majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) due to a perception that courses are poorly taught is evidence that education reform in STEM is overdue. Despite decades of research that argues for student-centered teaching approaches, most introductory STEM courses are still taught in the large lecture format, focusing on rote memorization. While individual efforts in STEM educational reform are important, solutions will most certainly need to include institutional and cultural change. In biology, numerous national reports have called for educational reform to better prepare future scientists. We describe here a new, concept-based curriculum for Introductory Microbiology courses, designed to promote deep understanding of core concepts. Supported by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and based on the overarching concepts and competencies presented in the AAAS/NSF report Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, we hope it will empower instructors to adapt student-centered approaches so that students in Introductory Microbiology courses can leave the course with a core set of enduring understandings of microbiology.
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Fundamentals of Aerospace Engineering: An introductory course to aeronautical engineering
Soler, Manuel
2014-01-01
Fundamentals of Aerospace Engineering is a text book that provides an introductory, thorough overview of aeronautical engineering, and it is aimed at serving as reference for an undergraduate course on aerospace engineering.
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Introductory Psychology Textbooks: An Objective Analysis and Update.
Griggs, Richard A.; Jackson, Sherri L.; Christopher, Andrew N.; Marek, Pam
1999-01-01
Explores changes in the introductory psychology textbook market through an analysis of edition, author, length, and content coverage of the volumes that comprise the current market. Finds a higher edition average, a decrease in the number of authors, an increase in text pages, and a focus on developmental psychology and sensation/perception. (CMK)
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[Economics] Introductory Lesson (Begin Day One). Lesson Plan.
Lewin, Roland
This introductory lesson on teaching economics concepts contains sections on the following: purpose; objectives; time; materials needed; and step-by-step classroom procedures. The focus is on the economic problem of scarcity and opportunity costs. Attached is an original skit, "There's no such thing as a free lunch," and a chart that…
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Introducing the Cloud in an Introductory IT Course
Woods, David M.
2018-01-01
Cloud computing is a rapidly emerging topic, but should it be included in an introductory IT course? The magnitude of cloud computing use, especially cloud infrastructure, along with students' limited knowledge of the topic support adding cloud content to the IT curriculum. There are several arguments that support including cloud computing in an…
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Zweizig, Douglas L.; Hopkins, Dianne McAfee
This book presents the results of an evaluation of Library Power, an initiative of the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund that provided support for school library development in 19 communities. Following an introductory chapter, the chapters are organized around key questions of the evaluation. Chapters 2 through 4 address the implementation of…
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Using R for introductory statistics
Verzani, John
2014-01-01
The second edition of a bestselling textbook, Using R for Introductory Statistics guides students through the basics of R, helping them overcome the sometimes steep learning curve. The author does this by breaking the material down into small, task-oriented steps. The second edition maintains the features that made the first edition so popular, while updating data, examples, and changes to R in line with the current version.See What's New in the Second Edition:Increased emphasis on more idiomatic R provides a grounding in the functionality of base R.Discussions of the use of RStudio helps new
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Especially for High School Teachers
Howell, J. Emory
1999-12-01
Chemistry and the Environment This issue contains more than 20 articles relating to the environment. Several articles of potential interest are indicated in the Table of Contents with the SSC mark (). Others are not so indicated because they depict use of expensive instrumentation or costly procedures, but if you have an interest in environmental chemistry you may wish to examine all the environmentally related articles. While many of the articles, both marked and unmarked, are targeted to college-level environmental chemistry curricula or to introductory courses for non-major, the methods described in several could be readily adapted to high school chemistry courses. One article likely to be of interest to teachers is found in News from Online, pp 1608-1609. The author explains how to use the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's EnviroMapper Web site to view and query environmental information. She mentioned finding a hazardous waste handler located near her home, so I decided to check the area near my home. I quickly located a natural gas salt dome storage facility marked on the map and, with a few more mouse clicks, I found information that included status of compliance with regulations, amounts of each compound released to the air in tons per year, and how to contact the corporation owning the site. Email and Web site addresses were included for the convenience of anyone wishing to contact the corporation. Students could learn a great deal about where they live that is relevant to chemistry by using the EPA site. Additional Web sites dealing with environmental issues and chemistry are cited in the sidebar at the bottom of p 1609. Among the articles that could be adapted to an advanced high school chemistry class or possibly even to an introductory class is one titled Bridge of Mandolin County (pp 1671-1672). It describes a case-study strategy similar to the scenarios used in ChemStudy. Students analyze information from various sources, including laboratory
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McGill, S. F.; Benthien, M. L.; Castillo, B. A.; Fitzsimmons, J.; Foutz, A.; Keck, D.; Manduca, C. A.; Noriega, G. R.; Pandya, R. E.; Taber, J. J.; Vargas, B.
2017-12-01
The EarthConnections San Bernardino Alliance is one of three regional alliances supported by the national EarthConnections Collective Impact Alliance, funded by a pilot grant from the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program. All three of the regional alliances share a common vision, focused on developing a diverse geoscience workforce through connecting existing programs and institutions into regional pathways that support and guide students from engagement at an early age with Earth science linked to issues facing the local community, through the many steps and transitions to geoscience-related careers. The San Bernardino Alliance began with collaboration between one university, one community college and one high school and also includes the Southern California Earthquake Center as well as professional geologists in the region. Based on discussions at an opening round table event, the Alliance has chosen to capitalize on existing geology student clubs and deeply engaged faculty and alumni at the founding high school, community college and university members of the Alliance to plan joint field trips, service learning projects, guest speakers, and visits to dinner meetings of the local professional societies for students at participating institutions at various stages along the pathway. The underlying motivation is to connect students to their peers and to mentors at institutions that represent the next step on the pathway, as well as to expose them to careers in geology and to geoscience issues that impact the local community. A second type of intervention we are planning is to promote high quality teaching in introductory Earth science courses at the university, community college and high school levels, including the development of high school honors courses in Earth science. To this end we are hosting an NAGT traveling workshop focused on using active learning and societally relevant issues to develop engaging introductory geoscience courses. This teaching
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Implementing New Reform Guidelines in Teaching Introductory College Statistics Courses
Everson, Michelle; Zieffler, Andrew; Garfield, Joan
2008-01-01
This article introduces the recently adopted Guidelines for the Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) and provides two examples of introductory statistics courses that have been redesigned to better align with these guidelines.
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Unpacking Gender Differences in Students' Perceived Experiences in Introductory Physics
Kost, Lauren E.; Pollock, Steven J.; Finkelstein, Noah D.
2009-11-01
Prior research has shown, at our institution: 1) males outperform females on conceptual assessments (a gender gap), 2) the gender gap persists despite the use of research-based reforms, and 3) the gender gap is correlated with students' physics and mathematics background and prior attitudes and beliefs [Kost, et al. PRST-PER, 5, 010101]. Our follow-up work begins to explore how males and females experience the introductory course differently and how these differences relate to the gender gap. We gave a survey to students in the introductory course in which we investigated students' physics identity and self-efficacy. We find there are significant gender differences in each of these three areas, and further find that these measures are weakly correlated with student conceptual performance, and moderately correlated with course grade.
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Hoisch, Thomas D.; Bowie, James I.
2010-01-01
In order to guide the formulation of strategies for recruiting undergraduates into the geology program at Northern Arizona University, we surveyed 783 students in introductory geology classes and 23 geology majors in their junior and senior years. Our analysis shows that ~7% of students in the introductory classes are possible candidates for…
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Student Perceptions of Faculty Credibility Based on Email Addresses
Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Scafe, Marla G.; Wiechowski, Linda S.
2010-01-01
The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions of faculty credibility based on email addresses. The survey was conducted at an upper division business school in Michigan where all students have completed at least two years of college courses. The survey results show that a faculty member's selection of an email address does…
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Sriram, Jayanthi Sanjeevi
Attrition in the STEM disciplines is a national problem and one of the important reasons for this is student experiences in introductory courses. A myriad of factors influence students' experiences in those courses; inadequate student preparation is one of the most cited reasons. Incoming freshmen often lack the learning strategies required to meaningfully learn and succeed in college courses. Unfortunately, the instructors have limited time and/or have little experience in teaching learning strategies. In this paper, the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Supplemental Course (SC) model that emphasizes learning strategies is presented. SC was offered concurrently with the introductory biology courses for four consecutive semesters (fall 2011 to spring 2013); for 10 weeks in fall 2012 and 7 weeks in the other semesters at Miami University. 10 weeks SC began earlier in the semester than the shorter SC. This study evaluated the effects of the SC on students' (1) performance in the introductory biology course, (2) perceived changes in self-regulation and social support, and (3) experiences in the introductory biology course before, during, and after participation in the SC. A mixed methods approach was used to address these goals. A pre-post survey was administered to obtain students' use of self-regulation strategies and social-support data. Quantitative methods were utilized to analyze content exam grades and changes in self-regulation strategies and social-support. To explore the experiences of the students, semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by analysis using grounded theory. The findings reveal that participants of the longer duration SC (with an earlier start date) significantly improved in content exam performance, perceived use of self-regulation strategies, and social support compared to the non-participants. Participants of the shorter duration SC (with a later start date) did not significantly improve in content exam performance
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The Write Stuff: Teaching the Introductory Public Relations Writing Course.
King, Cynthia M.
2001-01-01
Outlines an introductory public relations writing course. Presents course topics and objectives, and assignments designed to meet them. Provides a sample grading rubric and evaluates major public relations writing textbooks. Discusses learning and assessment strategies. (SR)
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Women and Minorities in Introductory Economics Textbooks: 1974 to 1984.
Feiner, Susan F.; Morgan, Barbara A.
1987-01-01
Reviews widely-used introductory economics textbooks, examining how issues relating to race and gender are treated. Suggests how stereotypical roles could be avoided in the future. Includes a table summarizing data from 21 textbooks. (Author/DH)
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Debb, Scott M.; Debb, Sharon M.
2012-01-01
Enrolling in an introductory course in psychology is a staple of many community college students' core curriculum. For those students who plan to pursue social science and humanities-related majors in particular, introductory psychology helps provide a solid base upon which future coursework at all academic levels will be built. The goal of any…
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Humor to the Rescue: How to Make Introductory Economics an Appealing Social Science for Non-Majors
Jones, George H.
2014-01-01
Despite efforts made over the past few years to improve upon the way introductory economics is taught, these efforts have unfortunately done very little to change student perception of economics as a dry, difficult and boring subject. Since the introductory economics course for many nonmajors may be their only economics course in college, it is…
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Best Practices to Address (or Reduce) Bullying in Schools
Ansary, Nadia S.; Elias, Maurice J.; Greene, Michael B.; Green, Stuart
2015-01-01
The authors quantify and unpack the prevalence and effects of bullying on children and adolescents before prescribing provisos for schools to consider when planning preventive and responsive approaches to bullying.
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"It's Like Moving the Titanic:" Community Organizing to Address Food (In)Security.
Okamoto, Kristen E
2017-08-01
Health communication scholars are uniquely positioned to examine the ways in which individuals organize to address current and future exigencies related to social ills. In particular, organizations are key sites in understanding our health decisions related to food choice. From a young age, children develop habits of eating that stay with them throughout their life. More specifically, food insecurity impacts childhood nutrition. Children from low-income homes experience disproportional negative health outcomes. Appalachian Ohio is an area within the United States that experiences severe poverty. In 2013, community members in a small public school district in Appalachian Ohio formed the Appalachian Nutrition Advisory Council to address the nutritional needs of students in schools. This project stories the ways in which community members creatively organized to supplement existing structures in place designed to address school nutrition and food security.
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Introductory Psychology Texts as a View of Sociobiology/Evolutionary Psychology's Role in Psychology
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R. Elisabeth Cornwell
2005-01-01
Full Text Available Sociobiology and its descendant evolutionary psychology (EP have struggled to gain ground within the social sciences over the past 30 years. While some have heralded the Triumph of Sociobiology (Alcock, 2001, others have critiqued it as a poor approach to understanding human behavior and would prefer that a Darwinian perspective remain outside the domain of human social sciences. We attempt to assess just how successful (or not it has been by examining how it has been covered in introductory psychology textbooks over the past 30 years. Our findings indicate that a Darwinian perspective has gained influence and acceptance within the field of psychology over the past three decades. However, we also find that EP as a sub-discipline is often perceived as narrowly defined and limited to research on mating strategies. We address how these perceptions may affect the future of EP, and possible steps needed to increase both the acceptance and importance of evolutionary theory to psychology.
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Introductory analysis of Benard-Marangoni convection
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Maroto, J A; Perez-Munuzuri, V; Romero-Cano, M S
2007-01-01
We describe experiments on Benard-Marangoni convection which permit a useful understanding of the main concepts involved in this phenomenon such as, for example, Benard cells, aspect ratio, Rayleigh and Marangoni numbers, Crispation number and critical conditions. In spite of the complexity of convection theory, we carry out a simple and introductory analysis which has the additional advantage of providing very suggestive experiments. As a consequence, we recommend our device for use as a laboratory experiment for undergraduate students of the thermodynamics of nonlinear and fluid physics
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Introductory analysis of Benard-Marangoni convection
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Maroto, J A [Group of Physics and Chemistry of Linares, Escuela Politecnica Superior, St Alfonso X El Sabio, 28, University of Jaen, E-23700 Linares, Jaen (Spain); Perez-Munuzuri, V [Group of Nonlinear Physics, University of Santiago de Compostela, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Romero-Cano, M S [Group of Complex Fluids Physics, Department of Applied Physics, University of Almeria, E-04120 Almeria (Spain)
2007-03-15
We describe experiments on Benard-Marangoni convection which permit a useful understanding of the main concepts involved in this phenomenon such as, for example, Benard cells, aspect ratio, Rayleigh and Marangoni numbers, Crispation number and critical conditions. In spite of the complexity of convection theory, we carry out a simple and introductory analysis which has the additional advantage of providing very suggestive experiments. As a consequence, we recommend our device for use as a laboratory experiment for undergraduate students of the thermodynamics of nonlinear and fluid physics.
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Introductory statistics for the behavioral sciences
Welkowitz, Joan; Cohen, Jacob
1971-01-01
Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences provides an introduction to statistical concepts and principles. This book emphasizes the robustness of parametric procedures wherein such significant tests as t and F yield accurate results even if such assumptions as equal population variances and normal population distributions are not well met.Organized into three parts encompassing 16 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the rationale upon which much of behavioral science research is based, namely, drawing inferences about a population based on data obtained from a samp
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Batz, Zachary; Olsen, Brian J.; Dumont, Jonathan; Dastoor, Farahad; Smith, Michelle K.
2015-01-01
The high attrition rate among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors has long been an area of concern for institutions and educational researchers. The transition from introductory to advanced courses has been identified as a particularly “leaky” point along the STEM pipeline, and students who struggle early in an introductory STEM course are predominantly at risk. Peer-tutoring programs offered to all students in a course have been widely found to help STEM students during this critical transition, but hiring a sufficient number of tutors may not be an option for some institutions. As an alternative, this study examines the viability of an optional peer-tutoring program offered to students who are struggling in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course. Struggling students who regularly attended peer tutoring increased exam performance, expert-like perceptions of biology, and course persistence relative to their struggling peers who were not attending the peer-tutoring sessions. The results of this study provide information to instructors who want to design targeted academic assistance for students who are struggling in introductory courses. PMID:25976652
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Academic Performance in Introductory Accounting: Do Learning Styles Matter?
Tan, Lin Mei; Laswad, Fawzi
2015-01-01
This study examines the impact of learning styles on academic performance using major assessment methods (examinations and assignments including multiple-choice and constructed response questions (CRQs)) in an introductory accounting course. Students' learning styles were assessed using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory Version 3.1. The results…
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Characterizing Teaching in Introductory Geology Courses: Measuring Classroom Practices
Budd, D. A.; van der Hoeven Kraft, K. J.; McConnell, D. A.; Vislova, T.
2013-01-01
Most research about reformed teaching practices in the college science classroom is based on instructor self-report. This research describes what is happening in some introductory geology courses at multiple institutions across the country using external observers. These observations are quantified using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol…
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Race, Sex, and Their Influences on Introductory Statistics Education
van Es, Cindy; Weaver, Michelle M.
2018-01-01
The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics or SATS was administered for three consecutive years to students in an Introductory Statistics course at Cornell University. Questions requesting demographic information and expected final course grade were added. Responses were analyzed to investigate possible differences between sexes and racial/ethnic…
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The Impact of Student-Directed Projects in Introductory Statistics
Spence, Dianna J.; Bailey, Brad; Sharp, Julia L.
2017-01-01
A multi-year study investigated the impact of incorporating student-directed discovery projects into introductory statistics courses. Pilot instructors at institutions across the United States taught statistics implementing student-directed projects with the help of a common set of instructional materials designed to facilitate such projects.…
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Introductory Anatomy and Physiology in an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum
Brown, S. J.; White, S.; Power, N.
2017-01-01
Using an educational data mining approach, first-year academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students, which included two compulsory courses in introductory human anatomy and physiology, was compared with achievement in a final semester course that transitioned students into the workplace. We hypothesized that students could be grouped…
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Faculty Perceptions of Student Credibility Based on Email Addresses
Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Wiechowski, Linda S.; Scafe, Marla G.
2011-01-01
The purpose of this study was to evaluate faculty perceptions of student credibility based on email addresses. The survey was conducted at an upper division business school in Michigan where all students have completed at least two years of college courses. The survey results show that a student's selection of an email address does influence the…
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3rd School on Attractor Mechanism
SAM 2007; The Attractor Mechanism: Proceedings of the INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati School 2007
2010-01-01
This book is based upon lectures presented in June 2007 at the INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati School on Attractor Mechanism, directed by Stefano Bellucci. The symposium included such prestigious lecturers as S. Ferrara, M. Gunaydin, P. Levay, and T. Mohaupt. All lectures were given at a pedagogical, introductory level, which is reflected in the specific "flavor" of this volume. The book also benefits from extensive discussions about, and related reworking of, the various contributions. In addition, this volume contains contributions originating from short presentations of rece
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ferreira, Ix-B GarcIa; Herrera, J GarcIa; Villasenor, L
2005-01-01
This handbook was written for the Drift Chambers introductory laboratory course to be held at 11th Mexican School of Particles and Fields that will be held at the Universidad Veracruzana on the campus of the University at Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. This course intends to introduce drift chambers, which play an important role in particle physics experiments as tracking detectors. We start such laboratory course with a brief review of the physics theoretical background. The experimental setup consists of a single-sided, single-cell drift chamber, a plastic scintillator detector, the standard P-10 gas mixture (90% Ar, 10% CH 4 ) and a collimated 90 Sr source. The measurements on the drift velocity of electrons, its change as a function of a drift field, gas gain and diffusion are performed at this laboratory course
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Hazari, Zahra; Sadler, Philip M.; Tai, Robert H.
2008-10-01
The disparity in persistence between males and females studying physics has been a topic of concern to physics educators for decades. Overall, while female students perform as well as or better than male students, they continue to lag considerably in terms of persistence. The most significant drop in females studying physics occurs between high school and college.2 Since most female physicists report that they became attracted to physics and decided to study it further while in high school, according to the International Study of Women in Physics,3 it is problematic that high school is also the stage at which females begin to opt out at much higher rates than males. Although half of the students taking one year of physics in high school are female, females are less likely than males to take a second or Advanced Placement (AP) physics course.4 In addition, the percentage of females taking the first physics course in college usually falls between 30% and 40%. In other words, although you may see gender parity in a first high school physics course, this parity does not usually persist to the next level of physics course. In addition, even if there is parity in a high school physics course, it does not mean that males and females experience the course in the same way. It is this difference in experience that may help to explain the drop in persistence of females.
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An Institutional Theory Analysis of Charter Schools: Addressing Institutional Challenges to Scale
Huerta, Luis A.; Zuckerman, Andrew
2009-01-01
This article presents a conceptual framework derived from institutional theory in sociology that offers two competing policy contexts in which charter schools operate--a bureaucratic frame versus a decentralized frame. An analysis of evolving charter school types based on three underlying theories of action is considered. As charter school leaders…
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Implementing Inclusive Design for Learning in an introductory geology laboratory
Robert, G.; Merriman, J. D.; Ceylan, G. M.
2013-12-01
As an expansion of universal design for learning, IDL provides a framework for opening up and adapting classroom interaction systems, minimizing barriers through promoting perception, engagement, expression, and accommodation for diverse learners. We implemented an introductory-level laboratory for communicating the concept of magma viscosity using the guidelines and principles of IDL. We developed the lab as a mini-implementation project for an IDL course offered by the University of Missouri (MU) Graduate School. The laboratory was subsequently taught during the summer session of Principles of Geology in our Department of Geological Sciences. Traditional geology laboratories rely heavily on visual aids, either physical (rocks and minerals) or representative (idealized cartoons of processes, videos), with very few alternative representations and descriptions made available to the students. Our main focus for this new lab was to diversify the means of representation available to the students (and instructor) to make the lab as equitable and flexible as possible. We considered potential barriers to learning arising from the physical lab environment, from the means of representation, engagement and expression, and tried to minimize them upfront. We centred the laboratory on the link between volcano shape and viscosity as an applied way to convey that viscosity is the resistance to flow. The learning goal was to have the students observe that more viscous eruptives resulted in steeper-sided volcanoes through experimentation. Students built their own volcanoes by erupting lava (foods of various viscosities) onto the Earth's surface (a piece of sturdy cardboard with a hole for the 'vent') through a conduit (pastry bag). Such a hands on lab exercise allows students to gain a tactile and visual, i.e., physical representation of an abstract concept. This specific exercise was supported by other, more traditional, means of representation (e.g., lecture, videos, cartoons, 3D
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Doser, D. I.; Villalobos, J. I.; Henry, I. E.
2014-12-01
InTeGrate (Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future) has developed teaching modules that focus on Earth sustainability and Earth-centered societal issues. We have begun to implement modules on climate change, earth materials and freshwater into introductory geology and environmental science courses taught at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso Community College (EPCC) and local early college high schools (ECHS) for classes of 20 to 220 students. Our eventual goal is to insure students taking introductory classes at any institution will be exposed to comparable content and be similarly prepared for advanced courses. Our initial results suggest that the modules' use of case studies and analysis of authentic data sets are very appealing to our student body (over 70% Hispanic). Since many students do not speak English at home, they were challenged by vocabulary presented in some modules. Modules containing glossaries and extensive background material (such as concept maps and annotated figures) proved very helpful to these students. The use of pre-activity quizzes insured that the students had mastered basic concepts needed for in-class activities. Modifications required to teach these modules in larger classes included condensing materials and reducing the amount of color figures to save paper and printer costs, streamlining dissemination/collection of in-class group assignments, and adapting assignments such as jigsaws and gallery walks to the confines of a large lecture hall with fixed seating. Student reflections indicated students were able to make connections to societal issues and retain these ideas through the end of the courses.
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Intuitive introductory statistics
Wolfe, Douglas A
2017-01-01
This textbook is designed to give an engaging introduction to statistics and the art of data analysis. The unique scope includes, but also goes beyond, classical methodology associated with the normal distribution. What if the normal model is not valid for a particular data set? This cutting-edge approach provides the alternatives. It is an introduction to the world and possibilities of statistics that uses exercises, computer analyses, and simulations throughout the core lessons. These elementary statistical methods are intuitive. Counting and ranking features prominently in the text. Nonparametric methods, for instance, are often based on counts and ranks and are very easy to integrate into an introductory course. The ease of computation with advanced calculators and statistical software, both of which factor into this text, allows important techniques to be introduced earlier in the study of statistics. This book's novel scope also includes measuring symmetry with Walsh averages, finding a nonp...
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Introductory Biology Labs... They Just Aren't Sexy Enough!
Cotner, Sehoya; Gallup, Gordon G., Jr.
2011-01-01
The typical introductory biology curriculum includes the nature of science, evolution and genetics. Laboratory activities are designed to engage students in typical subject areas ranging from cell biology and physiology, to ecology and evolution. There are few, if any, laboratory classes exploring the biology and evolution of human sexual…
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Youth WAVE Screener: addressing weight-related behaviors with school-age children.
Isasi, Carmen R; Soroudi, Nafisseh; Wylie-Rosett, Judith
2006-01-01
This study evaluated the feasibility of using the youth Weight, Activity, Variety, and Excess (WAVE) screener in a classroom setting for assessing student weight control intentions and the extent to which they used the WAVE strategies to control their weight. The Youth WAVE Screener was administered to fifth-grade students in an inner-city school located in the Bronx, New York. The study was conducted in part to increase student awareness of snack foods and sugary beverages in relation to weight. Of the 169 students who completed the survey, 45.5% (n = 77) were trying to lose weight. Students who were trying to lose weight were more likely to have low-fat dairy products, less likely to have sugary beverages, and less likely to eat junk foods than those who were not trying to lose weight. Students who reported exercising 3 times weekly were more likely to report healthier dietary patterns and less sedentary behaviors than were students who exercise less often. Feedback and dialogue with fifth graders addressed the relationship between TV viewing and eating behavior, advertisement, availability, and preferences of fruits and vegetables. The Youth WAVE Screener can be used to quickly identify children who are concerned about their weight as well as those with dietary and physical activity patterns that may increase the risk of obesity. Diabetes educators can use this screener to start a dialogue with children about their weight-related behaviors.
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Transversality of electromagnetic waves in the calculus-based introductory physics course
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Burko, Lior M
2008-01-01
Introductory calculus-based physics textbooks state that electromagnetic waves are transverse and list many of their properties, but most such textbooks do not bring forth arguments why this is so. Both physical and theoretical arguments are at a level appropriate for students of courses based on such books, and could be readily used by instructors of such courses. Here, we discuss two physical arguments (based on polarization experiments and on lack of monopole electromagnetic radiation) and the full argument for the transversality of (plane) electromagnetic waves based on the integral Maxwell equations. We also show, at a level appropriate for the introductory course, why the electric and magnetic fields in a wave are in phase and the relation of their magnitudes
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Transversality of electromagnetic waves in the calculus-based introductory physics course
Burko, Lior M.
2008-11-01
Introductory calculus-based physics textbooks state that electromagnetic waves are transverse and list many of their properties, but most such textbooks do not bring forth arguments why this is so. Both physical and theoretical arguments are at a level appropriate for students of courses based on such books, and could be readily used by instructors of such courses. Here, we discuss two physical arguments (based on polarization experiments and on lack of monopole electromagnetic radiation) and the full argument for the transversality of (plane) electromagnetic waves based on the integral Maxwell equations. We also show, at a level appropriate for the introductory course, why the electric and magnetic fields in a wave are in phase and the relation of their magnitudes.
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Introductory modern algebra a historical approach
Stahl, Saul
2013-01-01
Praise for the First Edition ""Stahl offers the solvability of equations from the historical point of view...one of the best books available to support a one-semester introduction to abstract algebra.""-CHOICE Introductory Modern Algebra: A Historical Approach, Second Edition presents the evolution of algebra and provides readers with the opportunity to view modern algebra as a consistent movement from concrete problems to abstract principles. With a few pertinent excerpts from the writings of some of the greatest mathematicians, the Second Edition uniquely facilitates the understanding of pi
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Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Cohen, Barry H; Lea, R Brooke
2012-01-01
A comprehensive and user-friendly introduction to statistics for behavioral science students-revised and updated Refined over seven editions by master teachers, this book gives instructors and students alike clear examples and carefully crafted exercises to support the teaching and learning of statistics for both manipulating and consuming data. One of the most popular and respected statistics texts in the behavioral sciences, the Seventh Edition of Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences has been fully revised. The new edition presents all the topics students in the behavioral s
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Discovery of IPV6 Router Interface Addresses via Heuristic Methods
2015-09-01
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS DISCOVERY OF IPV6 ROUTER INTERFACE ADDRESSES VIA HEURISTIC METHODS by Matthew D. Gray September...AND SUBTITLE DISCOVERY OF IPV6 ROUTER INTERFACE ADDRESSES VIA HEURISTIC METHODS 5. FUNDING NUMBERS CNS-1111445 6. AUTHOR(S) Matthew D. Gray 7...Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, there is continued pressure for widespread IPv6 adoption. Because the IPv6 address space is orders of magnitude
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The Structure of the Introductory Economics Course in United States Colleges.
Sweeney, M. Jane Barr; And Others
1983-01-01
This survey examined class size, teaching methods, and the one-semester/two-semester organization of the introductory economics course. Student satisfaction with respect to their institution was also studied. (Author/RM)
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Ault, Marilyn; Craig-Hare, Jana; Frey, Bruce; Ellis, James D.; Bulgren, Janis
2015-01-01
Reason Racer is an online, rate-based, multiplayer game that applies specific game features in order to engage middle school students in introductory knowledge of and thinking related to scientific argumentation. Game features include rapid and competitive play, timed performance, immediate feedback, and high rates of response across many…
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Alternative School Network, Chicago, IL.
This bilingual handbook, in English and Spanish on facing pages, is intended to provide general information to Chicago (Illinois) public school parents about school discipline. After two brief introductory chapters that set forth the scope of the issue, the third chapter provides the following general guidelines for discipline programs in…
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Kiku, H.
2014-12-01
Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honor for me to present my welcome address in the 3rd International Workshop on "State of the Art in Nuclear Cluster Physics"(SOTANCP3), as the president of Kanto Gakuin University. Particularly to those from abroad more than 17 countries, I am very grateful for your participation after long long trips from your home to Yokohama. On the behalf of the Kanto Gakuin University, we certainly welcome your visit to our university and stay in Yokohama. First I would like to introduce Kanto Gakuin University briefly. Kanto Gakuin University, which is called KGU, traces its roots back to the Yokohama Baptist Seminary founded in 1884 in Yamate, Yokohama. The seminary's founder was Albert Arnold Bennett, alumnus of Brown University, who came to Japan from the United States to establish a theological seminary for cultivating and training Japanese missionaries. Now KGU is a major member of the Kanto Gakuin School Corporation, which is composed of two kindergartens, two primary schools, two junior high schools, two senior high schools as well as KGU. In this university, we have eight faculties with graduate school including Humanities, Economics, Law, Sciences and Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Design, Human and Environmental Studies, Nursing, and Law School. Over eleven thousands students are currently learning in our university. By the way, my major is the geotechnical engineering, and I belong to the faculty of Sciences and Engineering in my university. Prof. T. Yamada, here, is my colleague in the same faculty. I know that the nuclear physics is one of the most active academic fields in the world. In fact, about half of the participants, namely, more than 50 scientists, come from abroad in this conference. Moreover, I know that the nuclear physics is related to not only the other fundamental physics such as the elementary particle physics and astrophysics but also chemistry, medical sciences, medical cares, and radiation metrology
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Polymerization Simulator for Introductory Polymer and Material Science Courses
Chirdon, William M.
2010-01-01
This work describes how molecular simulation of polymerization reactions can be used to enrich introductory polymer or material science courses to give students a deeper understanding of free-radical chain and stepwise growth polymerization reactions. These simulations have proven to be effective media for instruction that do not require material…
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Ecology Content in Introductory Biology Courses: A Comparative Analysis
Pool, Richard F.; Turner, Gregory D.; Böttger, S. Anne
2013-01-01
In recent years the need for ecological literacy and problem solving has increased, but there is no evidence that this need is reflected by increased ecology coverage at institutions of higher education (IHE) across the United States. Because introductory biology courses may serve to direct student interest toward particular biological categories…
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Using Data from Climate Science to Teach Introductory Statistics
Witt, Gary
2013-01-01
This paper shows how the application of simple statistical methods can reveal to students important insights from climate data. While the popular press is filled with contradictory opinions about climate science, teachers can encourage students to use introductory-level statistics to analyze data for themselves on this important issue in public…
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Students' Spirituality and "Big Questions" in Introductory Religion Courses
Walvoord, Barbara E.
2008-01-01
A study of sixty-six highly effective teachers of introductory theology and religion courses in various types of institutions reveals very complex challenges for instructors. The majority of students have as a goal their own religious and spiritual development. Faculty members' most frequent goal is critical thinking. Students much less frequently…
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Integrating Symmetry in Stereochemical Analysis in Introductory Organic Chemistry
Taagepera, Mare; Arasasingham, Ramesh D.; King, Susan; Potter, Frank; Martorell, Ingrid; Ford, David; Wu, Jason; Kearney, Aaron M.
2011-01-01
We report a comparative study using "knowledge space theory" (KAT) to assess the impact of a hands-on laboratory exercise that used molecular model kits to emphasize the connections between a plane of symmetry, Charity, and isomerism in an introductory organic chemistry course. The experimental design compared three groups of…
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EURYDICE European Unit, Brussels (Belgium).
Three speeches from a seminar include: (1) "Introductory Statement" (Antoine Bousquet); (2) "Objectives and Reforms of the French Education System" (Claude Thelot); and (3) "School Heads in the French Education System" (Louis Baladier). The seminar program and a list of participants also are included. (EH)
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Wei, Yifeng; Kutcher, Stan; Szumilas, Magdalena
2011-01-01
Adolescence is a critical period for the promotion of mental health and the treatment of mental disorders. Schools are well-positioned to address adolescent mental health. This paper describes a school mental health model, "School-Based Pathway to Care," for Canadian secondary schools that links schools with primary care providers and…
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Catholic/Jesuit Values in an Introductory Religious Studies Course
Lynch, Patrick; S. J.; Mizak, Pat
2012-01-01
A growing interest in the communication to students of the mission and identity of a higher education institution prompted this study about the presence of Catholic, Jesuit values in the introductory religious studies course at a faith-based university. To conduct this study a survey instrument was developed, piloted, further refined, and then…
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Student and Professor Gender Effects in Introductory Business Statistics
Haley, M. Ryan; Johnson, Marianne F.; Kuennen, Eric W.
2007-01-01
Studies have yielded highly mixed results as to differences in male and female student performance in statistics courses; the role that professors play in these differences is even less clear. In this paper, we consider the impact of professor and student gender on student performance in an introductory business statistics course taught by…
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The Distribution of Macromolecular Principles throughout Introductory Organic Chemistry
Shulman, Joel I.
2017-01-01
Many of the principles of organic polymer chemistry are direct extensions of the information contained in the standard introductory organic chemistry course. Often, however, the discussion of macromolecules is relegated to a chapter at the end of the organic chemistry text and is covered briefly, if at all. Connecting the organic-chemical…
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Hassad, Rossi A.
2009-01-01
This study examined the teaching practices of 227 college instructors of introductory statistics (from the health and behavioral sciences). Using primarily multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques, a two-dimensional, 10-item teaching practice scale, TISS (Teaching of Introductory Statistics Scale), was developed and validated. The two dimensions…
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MRI experiments for introductory physics
Taghizadeh, Sanaz; Lincoln, James
2018-04-01
The introductory physics classroom has long educated students about the properties of the atom and the nucleus. But absent from these lessons has been an informed discussion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its parent science nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Physics teachers should not miss the opportunity to instruct upon this highly relevant application of modern physics, especially with so many of our students planning to pursue a career in medicine. This article provides an overview of the physics of MRI and gives advice on how physics teachers can introduce this topic. Also included are some demonstration activities and a discussion of a desktop MRI apparatus that may be used by students in the lab or as a demo.
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Visual Arts as a Lever for Social Justice Education: Labor Studies in the High School Art Curriculum
Sosin, Adrienne Andi; Bekkala, Elsa; Pepper-Sanello, Miriam
2010-01-01
This collaborative action research study of pedagogy examines an introductory high school visual arts curriculum that includes artworks pertinent to labor studies, and their impact on students' understanding of the power of art for social commentary. Urban students with multicultural backgrounds study social realism as an historical artistic…
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Webb, Angela W.; Bunch, J. C.; Wallace, Maria F. G.
2015-12-01
In today's technological age, visions for technology integration in the classroom continue to be explored and examined. Digital game-based learning is one way to purposefully integrate technology while maintaining a focus on learning objectives. This case study sought to understand agriscience teachers' experiences implementing digital game-based learning in an introductory animal science course. From interviews with agriscience teachers on their experiences with the game, three themes emerged: (1) the constraints of inadequate and inappropriate technologies, and time to game implementation; (2) the shift in teacher and student roles necessitated by implementing the game; and (3) the inherent competitive nature of learning through the game. Based on these findings, we recommend that pre-service and in-service professional development opportunities be developed for teachers to learn how to implement digital game-based learning effectively. Additionally, with the potential for simulations that address cross-cutting concepts in the next generation science standards, digital game-based learning should be explored in various science teaching and learning contexts.
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Special Relativity and Magnetism in an Introductory Physics Course
Piccioni, R. G.
2007-01-01
Too often, students in introductory courses are left with the impression that Einstein's special theory of relativity comes into play only when the relative speed of two objects is an appreciable fraction of the speed of light ("c"). In fact, relativistic length contraction, along with Coulomb's law, accounts quantitatively for the force on a…
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Incorporating Code-Based Software in an Introductory Statistics Course
Doehler, Kirsten; Taylor, Laura
2015-01-01
This article is based on the experiences of two statistics professors who have taught students to write and effectively utilize code-based software in a college-level introductory statistics course. Advantages of using software and code-based software in this context are discussed. Suggestions are made on how to ease students into using code with…
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Student Interpretations of Phylogenetic Trees in an Introductory Biology Course
Dees, Jonathan; Momsen, Jennifer L.; Niemi, Jarad; Montplaisir, Lisa
2014-01-01
Phylogenetic trees are widely used visual representations in the biological sciences and the most important visual representations in evolutionary biology. Therefore, phylogenetic trees have also become an important component of biology education. We sought to characterize reasoning used by introductory biology students in interpreting taxa…
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Using Astrology to Teach Research Methods to Introductory Psychology Students.
Ward, Roger A.; Grasha, Anthony F.
1986-01-01
Provides a classroom demonstration designed to test an astrological hypothesis and help teach introductory psychology students about research design and data interpretation. Illustrates differences between science and nonscience, the role of theory in developing and testing hypotheses, making comparisons among groups, probability and statistical…
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Farnsworth, K. L.; House, M.; Hovan, S. A.
2013-12-01
A recent workshop sponsored by SERC-On the Cutting Edge brought together science educators from a range of schools across the country to discuss new approaches in teaching oceanography. In discussing student interest in our classes, we were struck by the fact that students are drawn to emotional or controversial topics such as whale hunting and tsunami hazard and that these kinds of topics are a great vehicle for introducing more complex concepts such as wave propagation, ocean upwelling and marine chemistry. Thus, we have developed an approach to introductory oceanography that presents students with real-world issues in the ocean sciences and requires them to explore the science behind them in order to improve overall ocean science literacy among non-majors and majors at 2 and 4 year colleges. We have designed a project-based curriculum built around topics that include, but are not limited to: tsunami hazard, whale migration, ocean fertilization, ocean territorial claims, rapid climate change, the pacific trash patch, overfishing, and ocean acidification. Each case study or project consists of three weeks of class time and is structured around three elements: 1) a media analysis; 2) the role of ocean science in addressing the issue; 3) human impact/response. Content resources range from textbook readings, popular or current print news, documentary film and television, and data available on the world wide web from a range of sources. We employ a variety of formative assessments for each case study in order to monitor student access and understanding of content and include a significant component of in-class student discussion and brainstorming guided by faculty input to develop the case study. Each study culminates in summative assessments ranging from exams to student posters to presentations, depending on the class size and environment. We envision this approach for a range of classroom environments including large group face-to-face instruction as well as hybrid
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Enhancing Situational Awareness When Addressing Critical Incidents at Suburban and Rural Schools
2012-12-01
searches, advertising , real estate, travel, navigation, insurance, and government requirements. 66...School lockdown planning for educators • Active Shooter issues • Command Post Operations • School alerts & colour coding • Sheltering Areas
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Introductory statistics and analytics a resampling perspective
Bruce, Peter C
2014-01-01
Concise, thoroughly class-tested primer that features basic statistical concepts in the concepts in the context of analytics, resampling, and the bootstrapA uniquely developed presentation of key statistical topics, Introductory Statistics and Analytics: A Resampling Perspective provides an accessible approach to statistical analytics, resampling, and the bootstrap for readers with various levels of exposure to basic probability and statistics. Originally class-tested at one of the first online learning companies in the discipline, www.statistics.com, the book primarily focuses on application
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An introductory course in philosophy of medicine.
Rudnick, A
2004-06-01
Philosophy of medicine, narrowly defined as ontology and epistemology of medicine, is a well developed research field, yet education in this field is less well developed. The aim of this paper is to present an educational development in philosophy of medicine-an introductory course in philosophy of medicine. Central features of the course are described. Participants (medical undergraduate students) scored high on average. The conclusion is that further such educational ventures in philosophy of medicine should be developed and implemented.
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Ancient Indian Astronomy in Introductory Texts
Narahari Achar, B. N.
1997-10-01
It is customary in introductory survey courses in astronomy to devote some time to the history of astronomy. In the available text books only the Greek contribution receives any attention. Apart from Stonehenge and Chichenitza pictures, contributions from Babylon and China are some times mentioned. Hardly any account is given of ancient Indian astronomy. Even when something is mentioned it is incomplete or incorrect or both. Examples are given from several text books currently available. An attempt is made to correct this situation by sketching the contributions from the earliest astronomy of India, namely Vedaanga Jyotisha.
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A Case Study of a High School Fab Lab
Lacy, Jennifer E.
This dissertation examines making and design-based STEM education in a formal makerspace. It focuses on how the design and implementation of a Fab Lab learning environment and curriculum affect how instructors and students see themselves engaging in science, and how the Fab Lab relates to the social sorting practices that already take place at North High School. While there is research examining design-based STEM education in informal and formal learning environments, we know little about how K-12 teachers define STEM in making activities when no university or museum partnership exists. This study sought to help fill this gap in the research literature. This case study of a formal makerspace followed instructors and students in one introductory Fab Lab course for one semester. Additional observations of an introductory woodworking course helped build the case and set it into the school context, and provided supplementary material to better understand the similarities and differences between the Fab Lab course and a more traditional design-based learning course. Using evidence from observational field notes, participant interviews, course materials, and student work, I found that the North Fab Lab relies on artifacts and rhetoric symbolic of science and STEM to set itself apart from other design-based courses at North High School. Secondly, the North Fab Lab instructors and students were unable to explain how what they were doing in the Fab Lab was science, and instead relied on vague and unsupported claims related to interdisciplinary STEM practices and dated descriptions of science. Lastly, the design and implementation of the Fab Lab learning environment and curriculum and its separation from North High School's low tech, design-based courses effectively reinforced social sorting practices and cultural assumptions about student work and intelligence.
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Cognitive Transfer Outcomes for a Simulation-Based Introductory Statistics Curriculum
Backman, Matthew D.; Delmas, Robert C.; Garfield, Joan
2017-01-01
Cognitive transfer is the ability to apply learned skills and knowledge to new applications and contexts. This investigation evaluates cognitive transfer outcomes for a tertiary-level introductory statistics course using the CATALST curriculum, which exclusively used simulation-based methods to develop foundations of statistical inference. A…
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Python Source Code Plagiarism Attacks on Introductory Programming Course Assignments
Karnalim, Oscar
2017-01-01
This paper empirically enlists Python plagiarism attacks that have been found on Introductory Programming course assignments for undergraduate students. According to our observation toward 400 plagiarism-suspected cases, there are 35 plagiarism attacks that have been conducted by students. It starts with comment & whitespace modification as…
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TEACHING OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING AT THE INTRODUCTORY LEVEL
OKUR , Prof.Dr. Mehmet C.
2006-01-01
Teaching object oriented programming has become a rapidly expanding preference at various educational environments. However, teachers usually experience problems when introducing object oriented concepts and programming to beginners. How to teach the fundamentals of object oriented programming at an introductory level course is still a common subject for debate. In this paper, an evaluation of these problems is presented and some possible approaches for improving the quality and success of su...
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Using an Ethical Decision-Making Model to Address Ethical Dilemmas in School Counseling
Brown, Timothy; Armstrong, Stephen A.; Bore, Samuel; Simpson, Chris
2017-01-01
School counselors frequently face ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas often involve relationships with principals, parents, and other stakeholders. School counselors may confront complex ethical issues involving confidentiality, student safety, parental rights,and social media. The American School Counselor Association recommends following an ethical…
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Hubbard, Gill; Stoddart, Iona; Forbat, Liz; Neal, Richard D; O'Carroll, Ronan E; Haw, Sally; Rauchhaus, Petra; Kyle, Richard G
2016-07-01
Raising cancer awareness and addressing barriers to help-seeking may improve early diagnosis. The aim was to assess whether a psycho-educational intervention increased adolescents' cancer awareness and addressed help-seeking barriers. This was a cluster randomised controlled trial involving 2173 adolescents in 20 schools. The intervention was a 50-min presentation delivered by a member of Teenage Cancer Trust's (UK charity) education team. Schools were stratified by deprivation and roll size and randomly allocated to intervention/control conditions within these strata. Outcome measures were the number of cancer warning signs and cancer risk factors recognised, help-seeking barriers endorsed and cancer communication. Communication self-efficacy and intervention fidelity were also assessed. Regression models showed significant differences in the number of cancer warning signs and risk factors recognised between intervention and control groups. In intervention schools, the greatest increases in recognition of cancer warning signs at 6-month follow-up were for unexplained weight loss (from 44.2% to 62.0%) and change in the appearance of a mole (from 46.3% to 70.7%), up by 17.8% and 24.4%, respectively. Greatest increases in recognition of cancer risk factors were for getting sunburnt more than once as a child (from 41.0% to 57.6%) and being overweight (from 42.7% to 55.5%), up by 16.6% and 12.8%, respectively. Regression models showed that adolescents in intervention schools were 2.7 times more likely to discuss cancer at 2-week follow-up compared with the control group. No differences in endorsement of barriers to help-seeking were observed. School-based brief psycho-educational interventions are easy to deliver, require little resource and improve cancer awareness. © 2015 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2015 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Use of AECC Directives and Cooperative Learning Theory in Introductory Accounting Classes.
Holt, Doris L.; Swanson, Janice Goodnow
1995-01-01
Explores how colleges and universities are responding to the directives of the Accounting Education Change Commission for introductory accounting classes and whether these classrooms use cooperative learning techniques. (Author/JOW)
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Hundley, Stacey A.
In recent years there has been a national call for reform in undergraduate science education. The goal of this reform movement in science education is to develop ways to improve undergraduate student learning with an emphasis on developing more effective teaching practices. Introductory science courses at the college level are generally taught using a traditional lecture format. Recent studies have shown incorporating active learning strategies within the traditional lecture classroom has positive effects on student outcomes. This study focuses on incorporating interactive teaching methods into the traditional lecture classroom to enhance student learning for non-science majors enrolled in introductory geology courses at a private university. Students' experience and instructional preferences regarding introductory geology courses were identified from survey data analysis. The information gained from responses to the questionnaire was utilized to develop an interactive lecture introductory geology course for non-science majors. Student outcomes were examined in introductory geology courses based on two teaching methods: interactive lecture and traditional lecture. There were no significant statistical differences between the groups based on the student outcomes and teaching methods. Incorporating interactive lecture methods did not statistically improve student outcomes when compared to traditional lecture teaching methods. However, the responses to the survey revealed students have a preference for introductory geology courses taught with lecture and instructor-led discussions and students prefer to work independently or in small groups. The results of this study are useful to individuals who teach introductory geology courses and individuals who teach introductory science courses for non-science majors at the college level.
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Connecting Symbolic Integrals to Physical Meaning in Introductory Physics
Amos, Nathaniel R.
This dissertation presents a series of studies pertaining to introductory physics students' abilities to derive physical meaning from symbolic integrals (e.g., the integral of vdt) and their components, namely differentials and differential products (e.g., dt and vdt, respectively). Our studies focus on physical meaning in the form of interpretations (e.g., "the total displacement of an object") and units (e.g., "meters"). Our first pair of studies independently attempted to identify introductory-level mechanics students' common conceptual difficulties with and unproductive interpretations of physics integrals and their components, as well as to estimate the frequencies of these difficulties. Our results confirmed some previously-observed incorrect interpretations, such as the notion that differentials are physically meaningless; however, we also uncovered two new conceptualizations of differentials, the "rate" (differentials are "rates" or "derivatives") and "instantaneous value" (differentials are values of physical variables "at an instant") interpretations, which were exhibited by more than half of our participants at least once. Our next study used linear regression analysis to estimate the strengths of the inter-connections between the abilities to derive physical meaning from each of differentials, differential products, and integrals in both first- and second-semester, calculus-based introductory physics. As part of this study, we also developed a highly reliable, multiple choice assessment designed to measure students' abilities to connect symbolic differentials, differential products, and integrals with their physical interpretations and units. Findings from this study were consistent with statistical mediation via differential products. In particular, students' abilities to extract physical meaning from differentials were seen to be strongly related to their abilities to derive physical meaning from differential products, and similarly differential
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Gajda, Rebecca
2006-01-01
In order to effectively address the complex issue of school safety, school and community partnerships are being formed with greater frequency and intensity. Collaboration between educational, law enforcement, and mental health personnel is now widely considered to be the most effective means for addressing issues of school safety (Dryfoos, 1998;…
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Deep-Elaborative Learning of Introductory Management Accounting for Business Students
Choo, Freddie; Tan, Kim B.
2005-01-01
Research by Choo and Tan (1990; 1995) suggests that accounting students, who engage in deep-elaborative learning, have a better understanding of the course materials. The purposes of this paper are: (1) to describe a deep-elaborative instructional approach (hereafter DEIA) that promotes deep-elaborative learning of introductory management…
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An Open-Ended Investigative Microbial Ecology Laboratory for Introductory Biology
Jones-Held, Susan; Paoletti, Robert; Glick, David; Held, Michael E.
2010-01-01
In this article we describe a multi-week investigative laboratory in microbial ecology/diversity and nitrogen cycling that we have used in our introductory biology course. This module encourages active student involvement in experimental design, using the scientific literature and quantitative analysis of large data sets. Students analyze soil…
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The Importance of Attendance in an Introductory Textile Science Course
Marcketti, Sara B.; Wang, Xinxin; Greder, Kate
2013-01-01
At Iowa State University, the introductory textile science course is a required 4-credit class for all undergraduate students enrolled in the Apparel, Merchandising, and Design Program. Frustrated by a perceived gap between students who easily comprehended course material and those who complained and struggled, the instructor implemented an…
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Public Speaking versus Hybrid Introductory Communication Courses: Exploring Four Outcomes
Broeckelman-Post, Melissa A.; Pyle, Andrew S.
2017-01-01
The purpose of this study was to compare student growth in public speaking and hybrid introductory communication skills courses on four outcomes: public speaking anxiety, self-perceived communication competence, intercultural effectiveness, and connected classroom climate. This study also sought to find out whether there were differences in the…
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Using Facebook Data to Turn Introductory Statistics Students into Consultants
Childers, Adam F.
2017-01-01
Facebook provides businesses and organizations with copious data that describe how users are interacting with their page. This data affords an excellent opportunity to turn introductory statistics students into consultants to analyze the Facebook data using descriptive and inferential statistics. This paper details a semester-long project that…
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A Pilot Study Teaching Metrology in an Introductory Statistics Course
Casleton, Emily; Beyler, Amy; Genschel, Ulrike; Wilson, Alyson
2014-01-01
Undergraduate students who have just completed an introductory statistics course often lack deep understanding of variability and enthusiasm for the field of statistics. This paper argues that by introducing the commonly underemphasized concept of measurement error, students will have a better chance of attaining both. We further present lecture…
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Holistic Approach to Learning and Teaching Introductory Object-Oriented Programming
Thota, Neena; Whitfield, Richard
2010-01-01
This article describes a holistic approach to designing an introductory, object-oriented programming course. The design is grounded in constructivism and pedagogy of phenomenography. We use constructive alignment as the framework to align assessments, learning, and teaching with planned learning outcomes. We plan learning and teaching activities,…
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Equity investigation of attitudinal shifts in introductory physics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adrienne Traxler
2015-11-01
Full Text Available We report on seven years of attitudinal data using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey from University Modeling Instruction (UMI sections of introductory physics at Florida International University. University Modeling Instruction is a curricular and pedagogical transformation of introductory university physics that engages students in building and testing conceptual models in an integrated lab and lecture learning environment. This work expands upon previous studies that reported consistently positive attitude shifts in UMI courses; here, we disaggregate the data by gender and ethnicity to look for any disparities in the pattern of favorable shifts. We find that women and students from statistically underrepresented ethnic groups have gains that are comparable to those of men and students from well-represented ethnic groups on this attitudinal measure, and that this result holds even when interaction effects of gender and ethnicity are included. We conclude with suggestions for future work in UMI courses and for attitudinal equity investigations generally. We encourage researchers to expand their scope beyond simple performance gaps when considering equity concerns, and to avoid relying on a single measure to evaluate student success. Finally, we conjecture that students’ social and academic networks are one means by which attitudinal and efficacy beliefs about the course are propagated.
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Equity investigation of attitudinal shifts in introductory physics
Traxler, Adrienne; Brewe, Eric
2015-12-01
We report on seven years of attitudinal data using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey from University Modeling Instruction (UMI) sections of introductory physics at Florida International University. University Modeling Instruction is a curricular and pedagogical transformation of introductory university physics that engages students in building and testing conceptual models in an integrated lab and lecture learning environment. This work expands upon previous studies that reported consistently positive attitude shifts in UMI courses; here, we disaggregate the data by gender and ethnicity to look for any disparities in the pattern of favorable shifts. We find that women and students from statistically underrepresented ethnic groups have gains that are comparable to those of men and students from well-represented ethnic groups on this attitudinal measure, and that this result holds even when interaction effects of gender and ethnicity are included. We conclude with suggestions for future work in UMI courses and for attitudinal equity investigations generally. We encourage researchers to expand their scope beyond simple performance gaps when considering equity concerns, and to avoid relying on a single measure to evaluate student success. Finally, we conjecture that students' social and academic networks are one means by which attitudinal and efficacy beliefs about the course are propagated.
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Dovemark, Marianne; Arreman, Inger Erixon
2017-01-01
Sweden has, like most countries, transformed its educational system with the aim of increasing the economic productivity of its citizens. Nowadays, it has one of the world's most market-oriented school systems, including few hindrances for new free-school actors. Swedish students have thus become commodities in a competitive school market. The aim…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kenneth Akiha
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Despite the need for a strong Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM workforce, there is a high attrition rate for students who intend to complete undergraduate majors in these disciplines. Students who leave STEM degree programs often cite uninspiring instruction in introductory courses, including traditional lecturing, as a reason. While undergraduate courses play a critical role in STEM retention, little is understood about the instructional transitions students encounter upon moving from secondary to post-secondary STEM courses. This study compares classroom observation data collected using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM from over 450 middle school, high school, introductory-level university, and advanced-level university classes across STEM disciplines. We find similarities between middle school and high school classroom instruction, which are characterized by a large proportion of time spent on active-learning instructional strategies, such as small-group activities and peer discussion. By contrast, introductory and advanced university instructors devote more time to instructor-centered teaching strategies, such as lecturing. These instructor-centered teaching strategies are present in classes regardless of class enrollment size, class period length, or whether or not the class includes a separate laboratory section. Middle school, high school, and university instructors were also surveyed about their views of what STEM instructional practices are most common at each educational level and asked to provide an explanation of those perceptions. Instructors from all levels struggled to predict the level of lecturing practices and often expressed uncertainty about what instruction looks like at levels other than their own. These findings suggest that more opportunities need to be created for instructors across multiple levels of the education system to share their active-learning teaching practices and
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School Administrators' Perceptions of Factors that Influence Children's Active Travel to School
Price, Anna E.; Pluto, Delores M.; Ogoussan, Olga; Banda, Jorge A.
2011-01-01
Background: Increasing children's active travel to school may be 1 strategy for addressing the growing prevalence of obesity among school age children. Using the School Travel Survey, we examined South Carolina school district leaders' perceptions of factors that influence elementary and middle school students walking to school. Methods: Frequency…
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Themes of nanoscience for the introductory physics course
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Planinsic, Gorazd; Lindell, Anssi; Remskar, Maja
2009-01-01
We present three experimental themes and one discussion theme that proved to be suitable for introducing nanoscience through topics that can be integrated into the existing introductory physics or teacher training courses. The experimental themes include two teaching models of an atomic force microscope (AFM) and an experiment with an elastic optical grating. They are all based on simple experiments that give also quantitative results and can be explained using basic physics theory.
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Themes of nanoscience for the introductory physics course
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Planinsic, Gorazd [Faculty for Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia); Lindell, Anssi [Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyvaskyla (Finland); Remskar, Maja [Josef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia)
2009-07-15
We present three experimental themes and one discussion theme that proved to be suitable for introducing nanoscience through topics that can be integrated into the existing introductory physics or teacher training courses. The experimental themes include two teaching models of an atomic force microscope (AFM) and an experiment with an elastic optical grating. They are all based on simple experiments that give also quantitative results and can be explained using basic physics theory.
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Python for teaching introductory programming: A quantitative evaluation
Jayal, A; Lauria, S; Tucker, A; Swift, S
2011-01-01
This paper compares two different approaches of teaching introductory programming by quantitatively analysing the student assessments in a real classroom. The first approach is to emphasise the principles of object-oriented programming and design using Java from the very beginning. The second approach is to first teach the basic programming concepts (loops, branch, and use of libraries) using Python and then move on to oriented programming using Java. Each approach was adopted for one academi...
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Perceived Relevance of an Introductory Information Systems Course to Prospective Business Students
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Irene Govender
2013-12-01
Full Text Available The study is designed to examine students’ perceptions of the introductory Information Systems (IS course. It was an exploratory study in which 67 students participated. A quantitative approach was followed making use of questionnaires for the collection of data. Using the theory of reasoned action as a framework, the study explores the factors that influence non-IS major students’ perceived relevance of the IS introductory course. The analysis of collected data included descriptive and inferential statistics. Using multiple regression analysis, the results suggest that overall, the independent variables, relevance of the content, previous IT knowledge, relevance for professional practice, IT preference in courses and peers’ influence may account for 72% of the explanatory power for the dependent variable, perceived relevance of the IS course. In addition, the results have shown some strong predictors (IT preference and peers’ influence that influence students’ perceived relevance of the IS course. Practical work was found to be a strong mediating variable toward positive perceptions of IS. The results of this study suggest that students do indeed perceive the introductory IS course to be relevant and match their professional needs, but more practical work would enhance their learning. Implications for theory and practice are discussed as a result of the behavioural intention to perceive the IS course to be relevant and eventually to recruit more IS students.
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Kazimoglu, Cagin; Kiernan, Mary; Bacon, Liz; MacKinnon, Lachlan
2011-01-01
This paper outlines an innovative game-based approach to learning introductory programming that is grounded in the development of computational thinking at an abstract conceptual level, but also provides a direct contextual relationship between game-play and learning traditional introductory programming. The paper proposes a possible model for,…
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Mastilak, Christian
2012-01-01
Millennial students often possess characteristics at odds with typical lecture-based approaches to introductory accounting courses. The author introduces an approach for reaching millennial students early in introductory accounting courses in ways that fit millennials' characteristics. This article describes the use of the board game Monopoly[R]…
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The Role of the Introductory Matter in Bilingual Dictionaries of ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
rbr
learner's dictionaries and bilingual English–Arabic dictionaries, and to determine to what ... Here, one has to differentiate between an introduction in a book and one in a .... study will analyze, compare and criticize the introductory matter in a set of .... designed for native speakers of English, especially for comprehension and.
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Class Size and Academic Achievement in Introductory Political Science Courses
Towner, Terri L.
2016-01-01
Research on the influence of class size on student academic achievement is important for university instructors, administrators, and students. The article examines the influence of class size--a small section versus a large section--in introductory political science courses on student grades in two comparable semesters. It is expected that…
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A Proposal for More Sophisticated Normative Principles in Introductory Economics
Schmidt, Stephen
2017-01-01
Introductory textbooks teach a simple normative story about the importance of maximizing economic surplus that supports common policy claims. There is little defense of the claim that maximizing surplus is normatively important, which is not obvious to non-economists. Difficulties with the claim that society should maximize surplus are generally…
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A Critical Understanding and Transformation of an Introductory Statistics Course
Magalhães, Marcos Nascimento; Magalhães, Maria Cecilia Camargo
2014-01-01
In this paper, we report on the impact of four activities and two interviews on the organization of an introductory statistics course attended by future mathematics teachers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The activities were designed to enhance students' learning and collaborative knowledge construction, based on Vygotsky's…
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Exploring Foundation Concepts in Introductory Statistics Using Dynamic Data Points
Ekol, George
2015-01-01
This paper analyses introductory statistics students' verbal and gestural expressions as they interacted with a dynamic sketch (DS) designed using "Sketchpad" software. The DS involved numeric data points built on the number line whose values changed as the points were dragged along the number line. The study is framed on aggregate…
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A Simulation Game for an Introductory Course in International Business
McGuinness, Michael J.
2004-01-01
An international business simulation game designed for an introductory International Business course. The simulation game allows for student decision making and allows for the ready introduction of many topics which are covered in an International Business course. The simulation game has continued to be improved with student suggestions and has…
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Promotoras, Hispanic community health workers, are frequently employed to promote health behavioral change with culturally bound Hispanic lifestyle behaviors. Peer health mentors have been used in schools to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors among students. This study investi...
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Carkin, Susan
The broad goal of this study is to represent the linguistic variation of textbooks and lectures, the primary input for student learning---and sometimes the sole input in the large introductory classes which characterize General Education at many state universities. Computer techniques are used to analyze a corpus of textbooks and lectures from first-year university classes in macroeconomics and biology. These spoken and written variants are compared to each other as well as to benchmark texts from other multi-dimensional studies in order to examine their patterns, relations, and functions. A corpus consisting of 147,000 words was created from macroeconomics and biology lectures at a medium-large state university and from a set of nationally "best-selling" textbooks used in these same introductory survey courses. The corpus was analyzed using multi-dimensional methodology (Biber, 1988). The analysis consists of both empirical and qualitative phases. Quantitative analyses are undertaken on the linguistic features, their patterns of co-occurrence, and on the contextual elements of classrooms and textbooks. The contextual analysis is used to functionally interpret the statistical patterns of co-occurrence along five dimensions of textual variation, demonstrating patterns of difference and similarity with reference to text excerpts. Results of the analysis suggest that academic discourse is far from monolithic. Pedagogic discourse in introductory classes varies by modality and discipline, but not always in the directions expected. In the present study the most abstract texts were biology lectures---more abstract than written genres of academic prose and more abstract than introductory textbooks. Academic lectures in both disciplines, monologues which carry a heavy informational load, were extremely interactive, more like conversation than academic prose. A third finding suggests that introductory survey textbooks differ from those used in upper division classes by being
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Langbeheim, Elon; Safran, Samuel A.; Yerushalmi, Edit
2013-01-01
We present design guidelines for using Adapted Primary Literature (APL) as part of current interdisciplinary topics to introductory physics students. APL is a text genre that allows students to comprehend a scientific article, while maintaining the core features of the communication among scientists, thus representing an authentic scientific discourse. We describe the adaptation of a research paper by Nobel Laureate Paul Flory on phase equilibrium in polymer-solvent mixtures that was presented to high school students in a project-based unit on soft matter. The adaptation followed two design strategies: a) Making explicit the interplay between the theory and experiment. b) Re-structuring the text to map the theory onto the students' prior knowledge. Specifically, we map the theory of polymer-solvent systems onto a model for binary mixtures of small molecules of equal size that was already studied in class.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Toyin Tofade
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Objectives: The purpose of the study was to evaluate a live and online training program for first year pharmacy students in implementing Continuing Professional Development (CPD principles (Reflect, Plan, Act, and Evaluate, writing SMART learning objectives, and documenting learning activities prior to and during a hospital introductory professional practice experience. Design: Cohort Study. Setting: Introductory professional practice experience. Participants: First year (PY1 students at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Intervention: Live training or online training to introduce the concept of Continuing Professional Development in practice. Main Outcomes: Implementation of CPD principles through 1 completed pre-rotation education action plans with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART learning objectives; and 2 completed learning activity worksheets post-rotation indicating stimuli for learning, resources used and accomplished learning. objectives; and 3 documented suggestions and content feedback for future lectures and pharmaceutical care lab experiences. Results:Out of the whole cohort (N=154, 14 (87.5% live (in person trainees and 122 (88% online trainees submitted an education action plan. Objectives were scored using a rubric on a scale of 1-5. A rating of 5 means "satisfactory", 3 means "work in progress" and 1 means "unacceptable". There were significant differences between the mean live trainee scores and the mean online trainee scores for the following respective section comparisons: Specific 4.7 versus 3.29 (p Conclusion: Live trainees performed significantly better than online trainees in writing SMART learning objectives. With focused training, students are more capable of implementing principles of CPD. Type: Original Research
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Assessing Competency to Address Ethical Issues in Medicine.
Cohen, Robert; And Others
1991-01-01
A study evaluated the feasibility of an objective structured clinical examination to assess the competence of foreign medical school graduates, clinical clerks, and interns to address clinical ethical situations. The University of Toronto's experience with the measure found it useful but in need of improvement. (MSE)
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School Refusal: Assessment and Intervention within School Settings.
Wimmer, Mary B.
Anxiety-based school refusal occurs in 2% of school-age children. The reasons why they refuse to go school range from mental illness and learning problems to general defiance and a desire for attention. Early identification and multi-faceted assessment and interventions are critical to addressing the problem. This book offers concise, practical…
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Cheng, K.; Caglar, Mehmet
2011-10-01
Lab is an important component of students' learning in a traditional lecture-lab setting of introductory physics courses. Using standard mechanics concepts and baseline surveys as well as independent classroom observations, the effects of TA mentorship in Lecture on students' learning of physics concepts and problem-solving skills among different student subgroups taught by other TAs and lecturers using different level of student interactive engagement in classes have been analyzed. Our data indicate that in lecture training of TA promotes lecture/lab synergism in improvement students' learning of mechanics in large introductory physics classes.
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Cognitive development in introductory physics: A research-based approach to curriculum reform
Teodorescu, Raluca Elena
This project describes the research on a classification of physics problems in the context of introductory physics courses. This classification, called the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP), relates physics problems to the cognitive processes required to solve them. TIPP was created for designing and clarifying educational objectives, for developing assessments that can evaluate individual component processes of the problem-solving process, and for guiding curriculum design in introductory physics courses, specifically within the context of a "thinking-skills" curriculum. TIPP relies on the following resources: (1) cognitive research findings adopted by physics education research, (2) expert-novice research discoveries acknowledged by physics education research, (3) an educational psychology taxonomy for educational objectives, and (4) various collections of physics problems created by physics education researchers or developed by textbook authors. TIPP was used in the years 2006--2008 to reform the first semester of the introductory algebra-based physics course (called Phys 11) at The George Washington University. The reform sought to transform our curriculum into a "thinking-skills" curriculum that trades "breadth for depth" by focusing on fewer topics while targeting the students' cognitive development. We employed existing research on the physics problem-solving expert-novice behavior, cognitive science and behavioral science findings, and educational psychology recommendations. Our pedagogy relies on didactic constructs such as the GW-ACCESS problem-solving protocol, learning progressions and concept maps that we have developed and implemented in our introductory physics course. These tools were designed based on TIPP. Their purpose is: (1) to help students build local and global coherent knowledge structures, (2) to develop more context-independent problem-solving abilities, (3) to gain confidence in problem solving, and (4) to establish
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The Introductory Psychology Textbook Market: Perceptions of Authors and Editors.
Griggs, Richard A.; Jackson, Sherri L.
1989-01-01
Surveys psychology textbook authors and editors on their perceptions of the introductory psychology textbook market. Finds that the textbook market is divided into three levels according to quality, and that authors and editors are not familiar with most textbooks. Notes that the growth of used book companies has adversely affected the market.…
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An Engineering-Oriented Approach to the Introductory Differential Equations Course
Pennell, S.; Avitabile, P.; White, J.
2009-01-01
The introductory differential equations course can be made more relevant to engineering students by including more of the engineering viewpoint, in which differential equations are regarded as systems with inputs and outputs. This can be done without sacrificing any of the usual topical coverage. This point of view is conducive to student…
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Core References in Introductory Social Psychology and Developmental Psychology Textbooks
Whitehead, George I., III; Smith, Stephanie H.; Losonczy-Marshall, Marta
2017-01-01
The purpose of the present study was to identify the core references in introductory textbooks in two sub-disciplines of psychology: social psychology and developmental psychology. One research question was the extent to which the common references in these textbooks present the trends in contemporary research in each sub-discipline. An analysis…
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Challenges in Understanding Photosynthesis in a University Introductory Biosciences Class
Södervik, Ilona; Virtanen, Viivi; Mikkilä-Erdmann, Mirjamaija
2015-01-01
University students' understanding of photosynthesis was examined in a large introductory biosciences class. The focus of this study was to first examine the conceptions of photosynthesis among students in class and then to investigate how a certain type of text could enhance students' understanding of photosynthesis. The study was based on pre-…
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Eating Competence of College Students in an Introductory Nutrition Course
Brown, Lora Beth; Larsen, Katrina J.; Nyland, Nora K.; Eggett, Dennis L.
2013-01-01
Objective: Describe eating competence, a positive and flexible way of conceptualizing eating attitudes and behaviors, in students enrolled in an introductory nutrition course. Methods: Online completion of the Satter Eating Competence Inventory (ecSI) and self-assessment of eating disorder status by 557 students (343 ages 18-20 years and 180 ages…
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Multiple-Choice Exams: An Obstacle for Higher-Level Thinking in Introductory Science Classes
Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F.
2012-01-01
Learning science requires higher-level (critical) thinking skills that need to be practiced in science classes. This study tested the effect of exam format on critical-thinking skills. Multiple-choice (MC) testing is common in introductory science courses, and students in these classes tend to associate memorization with MC questions and may not see the need to modify their study strategies for critical thinking, because the MC exam format has not changed. To test the effect of exam format, I used two sections of an introductory biology class. One section was assessed with exams in the traditional MC format, the other section was assessed with both MC and constructed-response (CR) questions. The mixed exam format was correlated with significantly more cognitively active study behaviors and a significantly better performance on the cumulative final exam (after accounting for grade point average and gender). There was also less gender-bias in the CR answers. This suggests that the MC-only exam format indeed hinders critical thinking in introductory science classes. Introducing CR questions encouraged students to learn more and to be better critical thinkers and reduced gender bias. However, student resistance increased as students adjusted their perceptions of their own critical-thinking abilities. PMID:22949426
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Introductory life science mathematics and quantitative neuroscience courses.
Duffus, Dwight; Olifer, Andrei
2010-01-01
We describe two sets of courses designed to enhance the mathematical, statistical, and computational training of life science undergraduates at Emory College. The first course is an introductory sequence in differential and integral calculus, modeling with differential equations, probability, and inferential statistics. The second is an upper-division course in computational neuroscience. We provide a description of each course, detailed syllabi, examples of content, and a brief discussion of the main issues encountered in developing and offering the courses.
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Mediating Relationship of Differential Products in Understanding Integration in Introductory Physics
Amos, Nathaniel; Heckler, Andrew F.
2018-01-01
In the context of introductory physics, we study student conceptual understanding of differentials, differential products, and integrals and possible pathways to understanding these quantities. We developed a multiple choice conceptual assessment employing a variety of physical contexts probing physical understanding of these three quantities and…
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Beyond Euler's Method: Implicit Finite Differences in an Introductory ODE Course
Kull, Trent C.
2011-01-01
A typical introductory course in ordinary differential equations (ODEs) exposes students to exact solution methods. However, many differential equations must be approximated with numerical methods. Textbooks commonly include explicit methods such as Euler's and Improved Euler's. Implicit methods are typically introduced in more advanced courses…
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Model Based Reasoning by Introductory Students When Analyzing Earth Systems and Societal Challenges
Holder, L. N.; Herbert, B. E.
2014-12-01
Understanding how students use their conceptual models to reason about societal challenges involving societal issues such as natural hazard risk assessment, environmental policy and management, and energy resources can improve instructional activity design that directly impacts student motivation and literacy. To address this question, we created four laboratory exercises for an introductory physical geology course at Texas A&M University that engages students in authentic scientific practices by using real world problems and issues that affect societies based on the theory of situated cognition. Our case-study design allows us to investigate the various ways that students utilize model based reasoning to identify and propose solutions to societally relevant issues. In each of the four interventions, approximately 60 students in three sections of introductory physical geology were expected to represent and evaluate scientific data, make evidence-based claims about the data trends, use those claims to express conceptual models, and use their models to analyze societal challenges. Throughout each step of the laboratory exercise students were asked to justify their claims, models, and data representations using evidence and through the use of argumentation with peers. Cognitive apprenticeship was the foundation for instruction used to scaffold students so that in the first exercise they are given a partially completed model and in the last exercise students are asked to generate a conceptual model on their own. Student artifacts, including representation of earth systems, representation of scientific data, verbal and written explanations of models and scientific arguments, and written solutions to specific societal issues or environmental problems surrounding earth systems, were analyzed through the use of a rubric that modeled authentic expertise and students were sorted into three categories. Written artifacts were examined to identify student argumentation and
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Quantitative Activities for Introductory Astronomy
Keohane, Jonathan W.; Bartlett, J. L.; Foy, J. P.
2010-01-01
We present a collection of short lecture-tutorial (or homework) activities, designed to be both quantitative and accessible to the introductory astronomy student. Each of these involves interpreting some real data, solving a problem using ratios and proportionalities, and making a conclusion based on the calculation. Selected titles include: "The Mass of Neptune” "The Temperature on Titan” "Rocks in the Early Solar System” "Comets Hitting Planets” "Ages of Meteorites” "How Flat are Saturn's Rings?” "Tides of the Sun and Moon on the Earth” "The Gliese 581 Solar System"; "Buckets in the Rain” "How Hot, Bright and Big is Betelgeuse?” "Bombs and the Sun” "What Forms Stars?” "Lifetimes of Cars and Stars” "The Mass of the Milky” "How Old is the Universe?” "Is The Universe Speeding up or Slowing Down?"
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Who Is Responsible for Addressing Cyberbullying? Perspectives from Teachers and Senior Managers
Green, Vanessa A.; Johnston, Michael; Mattioni, Loreto; Prior, Tessa; Harcourt, Susan; Lynch, Tegan
2017-01-01
This study investigates responsibility for addressing cyberbullying and the extent to which specific training is needed. A total of 888 school staff completed an anonymous online survey and included two groups: (a) teachers, including heads of departments, and (b) principals, deputy principals, and deans (i.e., school managers). The majority…
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The Effects of Different Teaching Approaches in Introductory Financial Accounting
Chiang, Bea; Nouri, Hossein; Samanta, Subarna
2014-01-01
The purpose of the research is to examine the effect of the two different teaching approaches in the first accounting course on student performance in a subsequent finance course. The study compares 128 accounting and finance students who took introductory financial accounting by either a user approach or a traditional preparer approach to examine…
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Basic Math Skills and Performance in an Introductory Economics Class
Ballard, Charles L.; Johnson, Marianne F.
2004-01-01
The authors measure math skills with a broader set of explanatory variables than have been used in previous studies. To identify what math skills are important for student success in introductory microeconomics, they examine (1) the student's score on the mathematics portion of the ACT Assessment Test, (2) whether the student has taken calculus,…
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OkCupid Data for Introductory Statistics and Data Science Courses
Kim, Albert Y.; Escobedo-Land, Adriana
2015-01-01
We present a data set consisting of user profile data for 59,946 San Francisco OkCupid users (a free online dating website) from June 2012. The data set includes typical user information, lifestyle variables, and text responses to 10 essay questions. We present four example analyses suitable for use in undergraduate introductory probability and…
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Teaching an Introductory Programming Language in a General Education Course
Ali, Azad; Smith, David
2014-01-01
A department of computer science (CS) has faced a peculiar situation regarding their selection of introductory programming course. This course is a required course for the students enrolled in the CS program and is a prerequisite to their other advanced programming courses. At the same time, the course can be considered a general education course…
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Full steam ahead for the CERN Accelerator School
2003-01-01
The CERN Accelerator School (CAS), now in its 20th year, has a new head, Daniel Brandt. Here he talks to the Bulletin about the most recent school, which was held in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), and about the school's future. The CERN Accelerator School has been running since 1983. It holds training courses for accelerator physicists and engineers twice a year, with a pattern of introductory, intermediate and specialised courses. The courses, which take place in different Member States, consist of a programme of lectures and tutorials spread over a period of one or two weeks. Participants come from Member States and other countries world-wide. This year, CAS has a new head, Daniel Brandt, who has taken over from Ted Wilson. Brandt, an accelerator physicist, has been at CERN since 1981, working on aspects of LEP from the early days of design, and throughout most of its operation. More recently his responsibilities have included the LHC Heavy Ions Programme (Heavy Ions in the LHC). Th...
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Advocating for Safe Schools, Positive School Climate, and Comprehensive Mental Health Services
Cowan, Katherine C.; Vaillancourt, Kelly
2013-01-01
The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT (USA) has brought the conversation about how to reduce violence, make schools safer, improve school climate, and increase access to mental health services to the forefront of the national conversation. Advocating for comprehensive initiatives to address school safety, school climate, and…
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Creation and Assessment of an Active e-Learning Introductory Geology Course
Sit, Stefany M.; Brudzinski, Michael R.
2017-12-01
The recent emphasis in higher education on both student engagement and online learning encouraged the authors to develop an active e-learning environment for an introductory geohazards course, which enrolls 70+ undergraduate students per semester. Instructors focused on replicating the achievements and addressing the challenges within an already established face-to-face student-centered class (Brudzinski and Sikorski 2010; Sit 2013). Through the use of a learning management system (LMS) and other available technologies, a wide range of course components were developed including online homework assignments with automatic grading and tailored feedback, video tutorials of software programs like Google Earth and Microsoft Excel, and more realistic scientific investigations using authentic and freely available data downloaded from the internet. The different course components designed to engage students and improve overall student learning and development were evaluated using student surveys and instructor reflection. Each component can be used independently and intertwined into a face-to-face course. Results suggest that significant opportunities are available in an online environment including the potential for improved student performance and new datasets for educational research. Specifically, results from pre and post-semester Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) testing in an active e-learning course show enhanced student learning gains compared to face-to-face lecture-based and student-centered courses.
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A Tutorial Design Process Applied to an Introductory Materials Engineering Course
Rosenblatt, Rebecca; Heckler, Andrew F.; Flores, Katharine
2013-01-01
We apply a "tutorial design process", which has proven to be successful for a number of physics topics, to design curricular materials or "tutorials" aimed at improving student understanding of important concepts in a university-level introductory materials science and engineering course. The process involves the identification…
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Accounting History in Undergraduate Introductory Financial Accounting Courses: An Exploratory Study.
Williams, Satina V.; Schwartz, Bill N.
2002-01-01
Accounting faculty surveyed (n=45) did not overwhelmingly support incorporating accounting history into introductory courses, despite Accounting Education Change Commission recommendations. They did not support a separate course or believe history would attract more students. Attitudes of those already including history did not differ greatly from…
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How We Teach Introductory Bible Courses: A Comparative and Historical Sampling
Cornell, Collin; LeMon, Joel M.
2016-01-01
This study identifies the dominant modes of biblical interpretation being taught in introductory Bible courses through a qualitative analysis of course syllabi from three institutional contexts: evangelical Christian colleges, private colleges, and public universities. Despite a proliferation of methods and scholarly approaches to the Bible, this…
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Preliminary Investigation of Instructor Effects on Gender Gap in Introductory Physics
Kreutzer, Kimberley; Boudreaux, Andrew
2012-01-01
Gender differences in student learning in the introductory, calculus-based electricity and magnetism course were assessed by administering the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism pre- and postcourse. As expected, male students outgained females in traditionally taught sections as well as sections that incorporated interactive engagement…
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Clinical Application Projects (CAPs) for Health Science Students in Introductory Microbiology.
Halyard, Rebecca A.
Clinical Application Projects (CAPs) have been developed that allow dental hygiene and nursing students to apply introductory microbiology principles and skills learned in lecture and laboratory to a problem in an appropriate clinical situation. CAPs therefore substitute for the traditional study of "unknowns". Principles and processes emphasized…
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Activating Theory in the Introductory Classroom: Erving Goffman Visits Wisteria Lane
Melander, Lisa A.; Wortmann, Susan L.
2011-01-01
Instructors of large, general education lecture courses face a number of student engagement and learning challenges. In this article, we develop and assess an interactive lecture that introduces a theoretical perspective and three related concepts to two introductory sociology general education classrooms (n = 433). This interactive lecture…
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The Stanford Prison Experiment in Introductory Psychology Textbooks: A Content Analysis
Bartels, Jared M.
2015-01-01
The present content analysis examines the coverage of theoretical and methodological problems with the Stanford prison experiment (SPE) in a sample of introductory psychology textbooks. Categories included the interpretation and replication of the study, variance in guard behavior, participant selection bias, the presence of demand characteristics…
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Effectively Using Discussion Boards to Engage Students in Introductory Leadership Courses
Smith, Deborah N.
2015-01-01
This article discusses the use of online asynchronous discussion boards as a valuable tool for connecting students to leadership concepts, theories, and models in introductory leadership survey courses. Recommendations are given for designing effective discussion boards that engage students and enhance their learning. Student outcomes include…
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Influence of Course Delivery Method and Proctoring on Performance in Introductory Economics
Wachenheim, Cheryl J.
2011-01-01
This work was published in the Review of Agricultural Economics. See Wachenheim, C.J. 2009. Final Exam Scores in Introductory Economics Courses: Effect of Course Delivery Method and Proctoring. Review of Agricultural Economics 31(3), pp. 640-652.
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The Approaches to Studying of Portuguese Students of Introductory Accounting
Teixeira, Cláudia; Gomes, Delfina; Borges, Janete
2013-01-01
The focus of this paper is an investigation into the approaches to studying of Portuguese students of introductory accounting using the short version of the ASSIST instrument. In doing so, it also examined the impact upon the strategy adopted of the discipline area of students and gender. The results validate the use of the inventory with students…
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The Effect of Stereotype Threat on Undergraduates in AN Introductory Astronomy Class
Hufnagel, Beth; Deming, Grace L.; Landato, Janet M.; Hodari, Apriel K.
This quantitative study tests the hypothesis that undergraduates taking an introductory astronomy class for nonscience majors are susceptible to stereotype threat (ST). The Astronomy Diagnostic Test (ADT), a conceptual survey designed for introductory astronomy classes, was administered pre- and postcourse to two pairs (control and threatened) of the same class taught by the same professors, one pair at a public, suburban community college and the other pair at a large, state research university. One class of each pair was threatened postcourse by telling the students that their gender mattered on the ADT. The results showed no ST effect on the women in the university class. The college women underperformed and the men overperformed at a low statistical significance. The authors infer that Steele's requirement for domain identification as a condition is also required to strongly invoke ST for this sample of nonscience students.
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English, Fenwick W.
This report determined the results of the implementation of flexible instructional organization (F10) or staff differentiation at Venice Junior High School, Sarasota, Florida. The introductory portion concerns the report purpose, procedures and scope as well as background material. Results of interviews, conferences, surveys, observations, and…
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McInerney, J.D.
1998-08-31
This project led to the development of an instructional module designed for use in high school biology classes. The module contains two major components. The first is an overview for teachers, which introduces the module, describes the Human Genome Project, and addresses issues in the philosophy of science and some of the ethical, legal, and social implications of research in genetics. It provides a survey of fundamental genetics concepts and of new, nontraditional concepts of inheritance. The second component provides six instructional activities appropriate for high school or introductory college students.
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Selli, Cigdem; Yildirim, Gokce; Kaymak, Aysegul; Karacicek, Bilge; Ogut, Deniz; Gungor, Turkan; Erem, Erdem; Ege, Mehmet; Bümen, Nilay; Tosun, Metiner
2014-01-01
This study includes the results of a 2-day education project titled "Molecular Biology Laboratory Summer School, MoBiLYO." The project was held at a University Research Center by scientists from Department of Pharmacology and graduate students. The project was composed of introductory lectures, model construction, DNA isolation,…
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Introductory lectures on Chern-Simons theories
Zanelli, Jorge
2012-02-01
The Chern-Simons (CS) form evolved from an obstruction in mathematics into an important object in theoretical physics. In fact, the presence of CS terms in physics is more common than one may think. They are found in the studies of anomalies in quantum field theories and as Lagrangians for gauge fields, including gravity and supergravity. They seem to play an important role in high Tc superconductivity and in recently discovered topological insulators. CS forms are also the natural generalization of the minimal coupling between the electromagnetic field and a point charge when the source is not point-like but an extended fundamental object, a membrane. A cursory review of these ideas is presented at an introductory level.
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McClelland, J. A. G.
1982-01-01
In part 1 (SE 532 193) an outline of Ausubel's learning theory was given. The application of the theory to elementary school science is addressed in this part, clarifying what elementary science means and indicating how it relates to what may be expected to be already known by elementary school children. (Author/JN)
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Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha
2013-01-01
In this study, we examine introductory physics students' ability to perform analogical reasoning between two isomorphic problems which employ the same underlying physics principles but have different surface features. 382 students from a calculus-based and an algebra-based introductory physics course were administered a quiz in the recitation…
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The Socratic Method in the Introductory PR Course: An Alternative Pedagogy.
Parkinson, Michael G.; Ekachai, Daradirek
2002-01-01
Presents the results of a study comparing student reactions to and perceptions of learning in introductory public relations courses using a traditional lecture format and a Socratic approach. Finds significant differences in the two groups showing that students who received the Socratic instruction reported more opportunities in practicing their…
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An Alternative to the Problematic Macro-Micro Structure of Introductory Economics.
Tinari, Frank D.
The paper explains an alternative structure to teaching micro and macroeconomic theory and describes the characteristics that make it an effective framework for introductory and principles courses. The teaching of economics principles typically proceeds by separating macroeconomic theory and microeconomic theory. But the use of the macro-micro…
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Explaining Electromagnetic Plane Waves in a Vacuum at the Introductory Level
Allred, Clark L.; Della-Rose, Devin J.; Flusche, Brian M.; Kiziah, Rex R.; Lee, David J.
2010-01-01
A typical introduction to electromagnetic waves in vacuum is illustrated by the following quote from an introductory physics text: "Maxwell's equations predict that an electromagnetic wave consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. The changing fields induce each other, which maintains the propagation of the wave; a changing electric…
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"Big Questions" in the Introductory Religion Classroom: Expanding the Integrative Approach
Deffenbaugh, Daniel G.
2011-01-01
Recent research by Barbara Walvoord suggests a perceived disparity between faculty learning objectives and students' desire to engage "big questions" in the introductory religion classroom. Faculty opinions of such questions are varied, ranging from a refusal to employ any approach that diverts attention away from critical thinking, to a…
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Teaching Critical Thinking: An Investigation of a Task in Introductory Macroeconomics
Jones, Anna
2004-01-01
This paper is an investigation of understandings of critical thinking from two teaching perspectives: academic staff and tutors. It explores critical thinking as situated within an assessment task in introductory macroeconomics. This study found that while the two academic staff conceptualized critical thinking as a set of concrete cognitive…
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Batz, Zachary; Olsen, Brian J; Dumont, Jonathan; Dastoor, Farahad; Smith, Michelle K
2015-01-01
The high attrition rate among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors has long been an area of concern for institutions and educational researchers. The transition from introductory to advanced courses has been identified as a particularly "leaky" point along the STEM pipeline, and students who struggle early in an introductory STEM course are predominantly at risk. Peer-tutoring programs offered to all students in a course have been widely found to help STEM students during this critical transition, but hiring a sufficient number of tutors may not be an option for some institutions. As an alternative, this study examines the viability of an optional peer-tutoring program offered to students who are struggling in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course. Struggling students who regularly attended peer tutoring increased exam performance, expert-like perceptions of biology, and course persistence relative to their struggling peers who were not attending the peer-tutoring sessions. The results of this study provide information to instructors who want to design targeted academic assistance for students who are struggling in introductory courses. © 2015 Z. Batz et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2015 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).
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Gates, Peter J; Norberg, Melissa M; Dillon, Paul; Manocha, Ramesh
2013-01-01
The high prevalence of cannabis use by Australian secondary school students makes schools an ideal setting for the delivery of substance use prevention programs. Although efficacious school-based cannabis prevention programs exist, there is scant research investigating the perceived role legitimacy and role importance of school staff. As such, this study surveyed a sample of 1691 Australian school staff by utilizing Generation Next seminars which are attended by professionals working with young people. The self-completed survey identified that, despite elevated contact with students relative to other school staff, teachers reported the least role importance and legitimacy of all school staff. Further, teachers reported the lowest level of staff drug education training, which was an important predictor of an increased feeling of role importance and legitimacy among school staff.
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Instructional strategies for online introductory college physics based on learning styles
Ekwue, Eleazer U.
The practical nature of physics and its reliance on mathematical presentations and problem solving pose a challenge toward presentation of the course in an online environment for effective learning experience. Most first-time introductory college physics students fail to grasp the basic concepts of the course and the problem solving skills if the instructional strategy used to deliver the course is not compatible with the learners' preferred learning styles. This study investigates the effect of four instructional strategies based on four learning styles (listening, reading, iconic, and direct-experience) to improve learning for introductory college physics in an online environment. Learning styles of 146 participants were determined with Canfield Learning Style inventory. Of the 85 learners who completed the study, research results showed a statistically significant increase in learning performance following the online instruction in all four learning style groups. No statistically significant differences in learning were found among the four groups. However, greater significant academic improvement was found among learners with iconic and direct-experience modes of learning. Learners in all four groups expressed that the design of the unit presentation to match their individual learning styles contributed most to their learning experience. They were satisfied with learning a new physics concept online that, in their opinion, is either comparable or better than an instructor-led classroom experience. Findings from this study suggest that learners' performance and satisfaction in an online introductory physics course could be improved by using instructional designs that are tailored to learners' preferred ways of learning. It could contribute toward the challenge of providing viable online physics instruction in colleges and universities.
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Shawl, S.
1996-12-01
The concept of single-sex education for science and mathematics has recently received renewed discussion in both the popular and professional literature. So important is the topic within higher education that the Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy sponsored a symposium called "Gender & The Higher Education Classroom: Maximizing the Learning Environment" in February 1996 (http://www.duke.edu/ jrd4/djgcnf96.htm). The concept is especially controversial in publicly supported educational institutions. The idea of offering an optional discussion session limited to a single sex in a university-level introductory astronomy course at a State-supported school was considered through discussions with a number of faculty and administrators, and through a questionnaire aimed at determining student attitudes toward the concept. The results of the student questionnaire will be presented. (While the questionnaire results will be seen to be in favor of such an optional discussion session, such sessions have not been offered.)
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The State's Role in Addressing the School Facility Funding Crisis.
Sielke, Catherine C.
2000-01-01
Between 1994 and 1998, capital outlay funding bills for school facilities, tax bases, and taxation bills experienced the greatest growth in state legislative activity. This article discusses the reasons for increased funding activity, various state-aid mechanisms to fund capital outlay, and future capital funding directions. (MLH)
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The Application of VARK Learning Styles in Introductory Level Economics Units
Wright, Sarah; Stokes, Anthony
2015-01-01
The issues of developing strategies and approaches to teaching introductory level economics courses at university have been long standing. With the development of economics learning standards in Australia, this is a time to consider teaching and learning approaches to engage students and develop skills in economics. This paper considers that to…
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Analyzing Conceptual Gains in Introductory Calculus with Interactively-Engaged Teaching Styles
Thomas, Matthew
2013-01-01
This dissertation examines the relationship between an instructional style called Interactive-Engagement (IE) and gains on a measure of conceptual knowledge called the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI). The data comes from two semesters of introductory calculus courses (Fall 2010 and Spring 2011), consisting of a total of 482 students from the…
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Exploring the Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Retention in Introductory Physics
Sawtelle, Vashti; Brewe, Eric; Kramer, Laird H.
2012-01-01
The quantitative results of Sources of Self-Efficacy in Science Courses-Physics (SOSESC-P) are presented as a logistic regression predicting the passing of students in introductory Physics with Calculus I, overall as well as disaggregated by gender. Self-efficacy as a theory to explain human behavior change [Bandura [1977] "Psychological…
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Development and Assessment of a Preliminary Randomization-Based Introductory Statistics Curriculum
Tintle, Nathan; VanderStoep, Jill; Holmes, Vicki-Lynn; Quisenberry, Brooke; Swanson, Todd
2011-01-01
The algebra-based introductory statistics course is the most popular undergraduate course in statistics. While there is a general consensus for the content of the curriculum, the recent Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) have challenged the pedagogy of this course. Additionally, some arguments have been made…
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Effect of Task Presentation on Students' Performances in Introductory Statistics Courses
Tomasetto, Carlo; Matteucci, Maria Cristina; Carugati, Felice; Selleri, Patrizia
2009-01-01
Research on academic learning indicates that many students experience major difficulties with introductory statistics and methodology courses. We hypothesized that students' difficulties may depend in part on the fact that statistics tasks are commonly viewed as related to the threatening domain of math. In two field experiments which we carried…
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Steinberg, Richard; Cormier, Sebastien
2013-01-01
This study reports on a content course for science immersion teacher candidates that emphasized authentic practice of science and thinking scientifically in the context of introductory astrophysics. We explore how 122 science teacher candidates spanning three cohorts did and did not reason scientifically and how this evolved in our program. Our…
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A qualitative characterization of an introductory college nonmajors biology laboratory
Lee, Cherin Ann
The nature of an undergraduate, nonmajors biology laboratory was investigated in this study. Student participants were enrolled in a general education biology laboratory course at the University of Northern Iowa. The researcher's purpose was to gain a characterization of the instructional format and laboratory activities experienced by students. Interpretation of student and instructor responses enabled an insider's view of the biology laboratory. The laboratory period was consistently described by both students and instructors as having three parts, Beginning, Middle, and End, with the End being of special importance for conceptual development. The instructional format of the three instructors differed within the three portions of the laboratory period, ranging from an inquiry-oriented, partial learning cycle to a fairly expository model labeled inform/verify/practice. There was striking similarity in intrasectional student and teacher descriptions of instructional format. Additionally, students experiencing the alternate instructor provided the same characterizations of instructional format as those provided by the instructor's usual students. There were no discernible patterns of instructional format based on sex or reasoning level. In addition to the central role of instructional format, three areas of importance emerged: the social aspects of learning, the collaborative and cooperative nature of laboratory work and learning, and the role of self-efficacy. Theory developed from and grounded in the data showed six factors important in the introductory college biology laboratory: collaborative and cooperative learning, student-student and teacher-student interactions, attitude and self-efficacy, learning process and learning style, effective instructional format, and science content. These factors were found to be similar to factors identified in the literature as important in K-12 science education. These factors were set in the context of schooling and learning
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The physical basis of electronics an introductory course
Harris, D J; Hammond, P
1975-01-01
The Physical Basis of Electronics: An Introductory Course, Second Edition is an 11-chapter text that discusses the physical concepts of electronic devices. This edition deals with the considerable advances in electronic techniques, from the introduction of field effect transistors to the development of integrated circuits. The opening chapters discuss the fundamentals of vacuum electronics and solid-state electronics. The subsequent chapters deal with the other components of electronic devices and their functions, including semiconductor diode and transistor as an amplifier and a switch. The d
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Using Visual Analogies To Teach Introductory Statistical Concepts
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jessica S. Ancker
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Introductory statistical concepts are some of the most challenging to convey in quantitative literacy courses. Analogies supplemented by visual illustrations can be highly effective teaching tools. This literature review shows that to exploit the power of analogies, teachers must select analogies familiar to the audience, explicitly link the analog with the target concept, and avert misconceptions by explaining where the analogy fails. We provide guidance for instructors and a series of visual analogies for use in teaching medical and health statistics.
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Assessment for Exemplary Schools: Productive School Management
Johnson, William L.; Johnson, Annabel M.
2009-01-01
The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, has been called the most far-reaching federal education bill in nearly four decades. The law's comprehensive assessment provisions address areas from school choice to low-performing schools and increased…
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Understanding and addressing the Schoolies phenomenon.
Pettigrew, Simone; Biagioni, Nicole; Daube, Mike; Jones, Sandra C; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Kirby, Gary
2015-04-01
This study qualitatively explored Western Australian school leavers' alcohol-related experiences during the Schoolies period to generate insights for the purpose of intervention design. This is in the context of an impending change in the age of Western Australian students completing secondary school which, for the first time, will see around half being of legal age to purchase alcohol. Fifty-four 18-21-year-olds provided reflections via an emailed introspection on their experiences in the immediate post-school period. This provided access to the views of those who chose to attend events and consume large amounts of alcohol, those who attended events but refrained from excessive alcohol consumption, and those who elected to either avoid Schoolies events or engage in alternative celebrations. The data were coded and analysed using NVivo10. Three primary themes were identified that related to the perceived role of alcohol during Schoolies, the range of associated rite-of-passage rituals, and the strategies used by some Leavers to avoid alcohol and its consequences during the Schoolies period. Students and parents constitute important target groups for interventions designed to address alcohol-related harms during Schoolies. In the WA context, legislation on secondary supply and controlled purchase, as recommended by health and police authorities, could reduce harms that are likely to result from the change in the age of school leavers. Suggestions for alternative pastimes to promote to school leavers are provided. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.
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Parrish, Alan R; Daniels, Dennis E; Hester, R Kelly; Colenda, Christopher C
2008-05-01
Imperative to increasing diversity in the physician workforce is increasing the pool of qualified underrepresented minority applicants to medical schools. With this goal in mind, the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine (A&M College of Medicine) has partnered with Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a historically black college and university that is a component of the Texas A&M university system, to develop the undergraduate medical academy (UMA). The UMA was established by legislative mandate in 2003 and is a state-funded program. The authors describe the development of partnership between the A&M College of Medicine and PVAMU, focusing on the key attributes that have been identified for success. The administrative structure of the UMA ensures that the presidents of the two institutions collaborate to address issues of program oversight and facilitates a direct relationship between the dean and associate dean for academic affairs of A&M College of Medicine and the director of the UMA to define the program objectives and structure. The authors delineate the admission process to the UMA, as well as the academic requirements of the program. Students attend lecture series during the academic year and participate in summer programs on the A&M College of Medicine campus in addition to receiving intensive academic counseling and opportunities for tutoring in several subjects. The authors also describe the initial success in medical school admissions for UMA students. This partnership provides a model blueprint that can be adopted and adapted by other medical schools focused on increasing diversity in medicine.
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Valdez, Carmen R.; Budge, Stephanie L.
2012-01-01
This study evaluated an adolescent depression in-service training for school staff in the United States. A total of 252 school staff (e.g., teachers, principals, counselors) completed assessments prior to and following the in-service and a subsample of these staff participated in focus groups following the in-service and three months later.…
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Kost-Smith, Lauren
2011-04-01
Despite males and females being equally represented at the college level in several STEM disciplines (including biology, chemistry and mathematics), females continue to be under-represented in physics. Our research documents and addresses this participation gender gap in the introductory, calculus-based physics courses at the University of Colorado. We characterize gender differences in performance, psychological factors (including attitudes and beliefs) and retention that exist in Physics 1 and 2 [L. E. Kost, et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 5, 010101 (2009); L. E. Kost-Smith, et al., Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 6, 020112 (2010)]. We find that the gender differences in performance can largely be accounted for by measurable differences in the physics and mathematics backgrounds and incoming attitudes and beliefs of males and females. But these background factors do not completely account for the gender gaps. We hypothesize, based on gender differences in responses to survey questions about students' sense of physics identity and confidence levels, that identity threat (the fear of confirming a negative characterization about one's identity) is playing a role in our courses. Working with researchers in psychology, we implemented an intervention where students either wrote about their most important values or not, twice at the beginning of the course [A. Miyake, et al., Science, 330, 1234 (2010)]. This ``values affirmation'' activity reduced the male-female performance difference substantially and elevated women's modal grades from the C to B range. Benefits were strongest for women who tended to endorse the stereotype that men do better than women in physics. This brief psychological intervention may be a promising way to address the gender gap in science performance.
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Geology in the Movies: Using Hollywood Films as a Teaching Tool in Introductory Geosciences Courses
Lawrence, K. T.; Malinconico, L. L.
2008-12-01
A common challenge in introductory Geoscience courses is engaging students who often do not have a long- standing interest in science. In recent years Hollywood has produced a number of geoscience-themed films (Dante's Peak, Deep Impact, Day After Tomorrow, Inconvenient Truth), most of which contain kernels of scientific truth as well as gross misrepresentations of scientific reality. In our introductory courses (Geological Disasters: Agents of Chaos and Earth's Climate: Past Present and Future) we have had great success using these films as a way of both engaging students and accomplishing many of our course goals. Even though most of the students in these courses will not become geoscience majors, it is important for them to realize that they can make informed judgments about concepts portrayed in the popular media. We have incorporated short written movie critiques into our suite of introductory course laboratory exercises. Through these movie-critique labs, students have an opportunity to apply their new geoscience expertise to examining the validity of the scientific concepts presented in the film. Along the way, students start to see the relevance of course materials to their everyday lives, think more critically about how science is portrayed by non-scientists, synthesize what they have learned by applying their knowledge to a new problem, and improve their ability to communicate what they have learned. Despite the fact that these movie-critique labs require significantly more out-of-lab effort that our other introductory lab assignments, in our course evaluations many students rate the movie critiques as not only one of the most interesting lab exercises of the semester, but also the lab exercise containing the most educational value.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Matthew J Gibson
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Objectives: The primary objective of the study is to identify the barriers to providing Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs in the hospital setting. Methods: Potential barriers to IPPEs were identified via literature review and interviews with current IPPE preceptors from various institutions. Based on this information, an electronic survey was developed and distributed to IPPE preceptors in order to assess student, preceptor, logistical and college or school of pharmacy related barriers that potentially exist for providing IPPE in the hospital setting. Results: Sixty-eight of the 287 eligible survey respondents (24% completed the electronic survey. Seventy-six percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that available time was a barrier to precepting IPPE students even though a majority of respondents reported spending a third or more of their day with an IPPE student when on rotation. Seventy-three percent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that all preceptors have consistent performance expectations for students, while just 46% agreed or strongly agreed that they had adequate training to precept IPPEs. Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed that IPPE students have the ability to be a participant in patient care and 70% of preceptors believe that IPPE students should be involved in patient care. Conclusions: Conducting IPPEs in the institutional setting comes with challenges. Based on the results of this study, experiential directors and colleges/schools of pharmacy could make a positive impact on the quality and consistency of IPPEs by setting student expectations and training preceptors on appropriate and consistent expectations for students. Type: Original Research
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Strategies for addressing bullying with the school-age child who stutters.
Murphy, William P; Quesal, Robert W
2002-08-01
This article outlines basic principles for helping school-age children who stutter to deal with bullying. Bullying may affect children's school performance and feelings of self-worth and lead to depression and feelings of helplessness and loneliness. Bullying can also exacerbate stuttering behavior, increase negative emotions and negative thoughts, and reduce therapy progress. A variety of techniques can be implemented as part of the overall treatment process to help children deal with bullying. These techniques can improve children's overall success in treatment by helping them develop socially appropriate responses to bullying, reduce or prevent negative emotion that may result from stuttering, and feel more comfortable in applying speech management skills learned in treatment.
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Instructional Strategies for Online Introductory College Physics Based on Learning Styles
Ekwue, Eleazer U.
2013-01-01
The practical nature of physics and its reliance on mathematical presentations and problem solving pose a challenge toward presentation of the course in an online environment for effective learning experience. Most first-time introductory college physics students fail to grasp the basic concepts of the course and the problem solving skills if the…
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Content Analysis of Introductory Interior Design College Textbooks: A Study Revisited
Temple, Julie A.; Potthoff, Joy K.
2013-01-01
Introductory interior design texts adopted by design educators present information relevant to both historical and contemporary issues in interior design. According to one author, they provide a "survey of the field of interior design as it now exists" (Pile, 2007). A comparison of the content of contemporary texts with those of more…
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Do Introductory Statistics Courses in the United States Improve Students' Attitudes?
Schau, Candace; Emmioglu, Esma
2012-01-01
We examined the attitudes of about 2200 students enrolled in 101 sections of post-secondary introductory statistics service courses located across the United States. Using the "Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics-36," we assessed students' attitudes when they entered and left their courses, as well as changes in attitudes across their courses.…
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Mental Health Services in Public Schools: A Preliminary Study of School Counselor Perceptions
Carlson, Laurie A.; Kees, Nathalie L.
2013-01-01
This descriptive survey research study (N = 120) examined the self-reported comfort level of school counselors in addressing the mental health needs of their students and school counselor perceptions regarding working relationships with school-based therapists. Survey results indicated that school counselors are generally confident in their…
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High Pressure Reform: Examining Urban Schools' Response to Multiple School Choice Policies
Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Carkhum, Rian; Rangel, Virginia Snodgrass
2013-01-01
Over the past several decades, policymakers have sought to address the problem of school failure by exposing traditional public schools to competitive market forces. In this analysis, we examine how two traditional public schools in a "high pressure/high choice" urban school cluster in Texas responded to a number of overlapping choice…
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Kaufman, Julia H.; Seelam, Rachana; Woodbridge, Michelle W.; Sontag-Padilla, Lisa; Osilla, Karen Chan; Stein, Bradley D.
2016-01-01
Reports results of a survey of K–12 principals to take inventory of student mental health and wellness needs and the types of programs schools are most often implementing to help students in California's public schools.
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Gates, Peter J.; Norberg, Melissa M.; Dillon, Paul; Manocha, Ramesh
2013-01-01
The high prevalence of cannabis use by Australian secondary school students makes schools an ideal setting for the delivery of substance use prevention programs. Although efficacious school-based cannabis prevention programs exist, there is scant research investigating the perceived role legitimacy and role importance of school staff. As such,…
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The joy of stats a short guide to introductory statistics in the social sciences
Garner, Roberta
2010-01-01
"This is a great book for social science students. Clearly written, with many examples, Garner certainly makes learning and teaching introductory statistics a joy!" - Nikolaos Liodakis, Wilfrid Laurier University.
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A Theory Based Introductory Programming Course
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hansen, Michael Reichhardt; Kristensen, Jens Thyge; Rischel, Hans
1999-01-01
This paper presents an introductory programming course designed to teach programming as an intellectual activity. The course emphasizes understandable concepts which can be useful in designing programs, while the oddities of today's technology are considered of secondary importance. An important...... goal is to fight the trial-and-error approach to programming which is a result of the students battles with horribly designed and documented systems and languages prior to their studies at university. Instead, the authors strive for giving the students a good experience of programming as a systematic......, intellectual activity where the solution of a programming problem can be described in an understandable way. The approach is illustrated by an example which is a commented solution of a problem posed to the students in the course....
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Use of a Laboratory Field Project in an Introductory Crop Science Course.
Lane, Robert A.
1986-01-01
Assesses the benefits resulting from a laboratory field project and report for agricultural students in an introductory crop science course. Student responses to evaluation statements indicated that the project helped them identify crops, understand cultural and management practices, and recognize environmental influences that affect crop…
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A Cost-Effective Two-Part Experiment for Teaching Introductory Organic Chemistry Techniques
Sadek, Christopher M.; Brown, Brenna A.; Wan, Hayley
2011-01-01
This two-part laboratory experiment is designed to be a cost-effective method for teaching basic organic laboratory techniques (recrystallization, thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography, vacuum filtration, and melting point determination) to large classes of introductory organic chemistry students. Students are exposed to different…
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Active and Collaborative Learning in an Introductory Electrical and Computer Engineering Course
Kotru, Sushma; Burkett, Susan L.; Jackson, David Jeff
2010-01-01
Active and collaborative learning instruments were introduced into an introductory electrical and computer engineering course. These instruments were designed to assess specific learning objectives and program outcomes. Results show that students developed an understanding comparable to that of more advanced students assessed later in the…
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Ahmad, Khuloud Nasser
2012-01-01
A reexamination of the traditional instruction of introductory computer science (CS) courses is becoming a necessity. Introductory CS courses tend to have high attrition rates and low success rates. In many universities, the CS department suffered from low enrollment for several years compared to other majors. Multiple studies have linked these…
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Catholic Social Teaching: Addressing Globalization in Catholic Business Education
Ball, James B.; Martinez, Zaida; Toyne, Brian
2009-01-01
Although business schools are increasingly aware of the importance of globalization in educating future business leaders, their business programs have addressed globalization from a limited perspective that fails to provide students with a broader understanding of its impact on societies and its moral consequences. The conventional approach to the…
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Examining the Role of School Resource Officers on School Safety and Crisis Response Teams
Eklund, Katie; Meyer, Lauren; Bosworth, Kris
2018-01-01
School resource officers (SROs) are being increasingly employed in schools to respond to incidents of school violence and to help address safety concerns among students and staff. While previous research on school safety and crisis teams has examined the role of school mental health professionals' and administrators, fewer studies have evaluated…
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Students' conceptions of evidence during a university introductory forensic science course
Yeshion, Theodore Elliot
Students' Conceptions of Science, Scientific Evidence, and Forensic Evidence during a University Introductory Forensic Science Course This study was designed to examine and understand what conceptions undergraduate students taking an introductory forensic science course had about scientific evidence. Because the relationships between the nature of science, the nature of evidence, and the nature of forensic evidence are not well understood in the science education literature, this study sought to understand how these concepts interact and affect students' understanding of scientific evidence. Four participants were purposefully selected for this study from among 89 students enrolled in two sections of an introductory forensic science course taught during the fall 2005 semester. Of the 89 students, 84 were criminal justice majors with minimal science background and five were chemistry majors with academic backgrounds in the natural and physical sciences. All 89 students completed a biographical data sheet and a pre-instruction Likert scale survey consisting of twenty questions relating to the nature of scientific evidence. An evaluation of these two documents resulted in a purposeful selection of four varied student participants, each of whom was interviewed three times throughout the semester about the nature of science, the nature of evidence, and the nature of forensic evidence. The same survey was administered to the participants again at the end of the semester-long course. This study examined students' assumptions, prior knowledge, their understanding of scientific inference, scientific theory, and methodology. Examination of the data found few differences with regard to how the criminal justice majors and the chemistry majors responded to interview questions about forensic evidence. There were qualitative differences, however, when the same participants answered interview questions relating to traditional scientific evidence. Furthermore, suggestions are