Matching Items (24)
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- All Subjects: Education
- All Subjects: Software Development
- Creators: Walters, Molina
Description
Teamwork and project management (TPM) tools are important components of sustainability science curricula designed using problem- and project-base learning (PPBL). Tools are additional materials, beyond lectures, readings, and assignments, that structure and facilitate students' learning; they can enhance student teams' ability to complete projects and achieve learning outcomes and, if instructors can find appropriate existing tools, can reduce time needed for class design and preparation. This research uses a case study approach to evaluate the effectiveness of five TPM tools in two Arizona State University (ASU) sustainability classes: an introductory (100-level) and a capstone (400-level) class. Data was collected from student evaluations and instructor observations in both classes during Spring 2013 and qualitatively analyzed to identify patterns in tool use and effectiveness. Results suggest how instructors might improve tool effectiveness in other sustainability classes. Work plans and meeting agendas were the most effective TPM tools in the 100-level class, while work plans and codes of collaboration were most effective at the 400 level. Common factors in tool effectiveness include active use and integration of tools into class activities. Suggestions for improving tool effectiveness at both levels include introducing tools earlier in the course, incorporating tools into activities, and helping students link a tool's value to sustainability problem-solving competence. Polling students on prior use and incorporating tool use into project assignments may increase 100 level tool effectiveness; and at the 400 level, improvements may be achieved by introducing tools earlier and coaching students to select, find, and develop relevant tools.
ContributorsTrippel, Dorothy (Author) / Redman, Charles L. (Thesis advisor) / Pijawka, K. David (Committee member) / Walters, Molina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
There is still a major underrepresentation of females in STEM fields, with many girls beginning to lose interest as early as middle school. This is due to a variety of factors including lack of role models, stereotypes, ineffective teaching methods, and peer influence. A popular way to increase female interest is through day camps and other programs where girls complete a variety of activities related to science and engineering. These activities are usually designed around problem-based learning, a student-lead approach to teaching that requires students to work collaboratively and use background knowledge to solve some sort of given problem. In this project, a day camp for middle school girls was created and implemented to increase student interest in STEM through three problem-based learning activities. By analyzing survey data, it was concluded that the camp was successful in increasing interest and changing participants' attitudes towards science. This approach to learning could be applied to other subject areas, including mathematics, to increase the interest of both male and female students at the secondary level.
ContributorsVitale, Nathalie Maria (Author) / Walters, Molina (Thesis director) / Oliver, Jill (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
There are two types of understanding when it comes to learning math: procedural understanding and conceptual understanding. I grew up with a rigorous learning curriculum and learned math through endless drills and practices. I was less motivated to understand the reason behind those procedures. I think both types of understanding are equally important in learning mathematics. Procedural fluency is the "ability to apply procedures accurately, efficiently, and flexibly... to build or modify procedures from other procedures" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2015). Procedural understanding may perceive as merely about the understanding of the arithmetic and memorizing the steps with no understanding but in reality, students need to decide which procedure to use for a given situation; here is where the conceptual understanding comes in handy. Students need the skills to integrate concepts and procedures to develop their own ways to solve a problem, they need to know how to do it and why they do it that way. The purpose of this 5-day unit is teaching with conceptual understanding through hands-on activities and the use of tools to learn geometry. Through these lesson plans, students should be able to develop the conceptual understanding of the angles created by parallel lines and transversal, interior and exterior angles of triangles and polygons, and the use of similar triangles, while developing the procedural understanding. These lesson plans are created to align with the eighth grade Common Core Standards. Students are learning angles through the use of protractor and patty paper, making a conjecture based on their data and experience, and real-life problem solving. The lesson plans used the direct instruction and the 5E inquiry template from the iTeachAZ program. The direct instruction lesson plan includes instructional input, guided practice and individual practice. The 5E inquiry lesson plan has five sections: engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate.
ContributorsLeung, Miranda Wing-Mei (Author) / Kurz, Terri (Thesis director) / Walters, Molina (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
As technology's influence pushes every industry to change, healthcare professionals must move to a more connected model. The nearly ubiquitous presence of smartphones presents a unique opportunity for physicians to collect and process data from their patients more frequently. The Mayo Clinic, in partnership with the Barrett Honors College, has designed and developed a prototype smartphone application targeting palliative care patients. The application collects symptom data from the patients and presents it to the doctors. This development project serves as a proof-of-concept for the application, and shows how such an application might look and function. Additionally, the project has revealed significant possibilities for the future of the application.
ContributorsGaney, David Howard (Author) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Thesis director) / Lipinski, Christopher (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
DescriptionThis project largely focuses on the Latino population and how Hispanic parents should become more involved with their student's education in order to have them prosper in today's society.
ContributorsSanchez Ruiz, Dorian Nazaret (Author) / Walters, Molina (Thesis director) / Oliver, Jill (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Fiddlevent is an event searching website written in Ruby on Rails. Fiddlevent enables any person to go online and find local events that interest him. Fiddlevent also enables merchants to post their events online. Fiddlevent explores all challenges of website development, such as project management, database design, user interface design, deployment and the software development lifecycle. Fiddlevent aims to utilize best practices for website and software development.
ContributorsThornton, Christopher Gordon (Author) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Thesis director) / Nakamura, Mutsumi (Committee member) / Hurst, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
ContributorsShah, Beejal (Author) / Nakamura, Mutsumi (Thesis director) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Committee member) / Wilkerson, Kelly (Committee member) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
Experiential learning is the process of gaining new information by participating in some sort of experience. One way this can occur inside the classroom, as in the inquiry model or problem-based learning. It can also occur outside of the classroom, as in outdoor education or field trips. Recently, virtual experiential learning opportunities have surfaced, including virtual field trips, experiments, and manipulatives. This project aims to define experiential learning, including examples in every context. Then, it describes current elementary school teachers' perceptions of experiential learning via survey results. The final product also includes an Appendix which is made up of experiential learning lesson plans for each context.
ContributorsMccoy, Maddilyn (Author) / Walters, Molina (Thesis director) / Oliver, Jill (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Web Solutions for Scholastic Tracking is a project which aims to develop a website in order to help the scholarship committee of an Arizona State University sorority save time. Details and flaws of the former approaches to scholastic tracking for the sorority \u2014 such as scattered data, low visibility, and the need for manual calculations \u2014 are provided. Based on these flaws and the requirements of the scholarship committee, a new approach was designed and developed in order to track scholastics online in a more efficient manner. A study hours tracking website was developed utilizing Apache, PHP, and MySQL in order to create an efficient approach to tracking scholastics. The developed website allows sorority members to view their required weekly study hours and submit hours for approval online to specific proctors. The scholarship committee members can then approve or reject the submitted hours that they proctor. This approach has improved the visibility of the required and remaining weekly study hours for each sorority member while also decreasing the time it takes for proctors to approve hours. These improvements serve as examples of the various ways that this project has met its initial goal of increasing the efficiency of the sorority's scholarship program. Additional results as well as the requirements, development approach, technologies used, and testing methods are described in detail throughout this document.
ContributorsKral, Ryan David (Author) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Thesis director) / Burger, Kevin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The specific focus of the curriculum guide is to encourage inquiry and exploration of sustainability with middle school students. Children need to be explicitly taught how to analyze findings, how to work together, and teachers need to begin to lay the foundation of finding ideal solutions that best serve all people. The sooner that we introduce our students to these concepts in conjunction with science concepts the better prepared they will be to face the upcoming challenges and the better developed their scientific literacy.
ContributorsSibley, Amanda Marie (Author) / Walters, Molina (Thesis director) / Oliver, Jill (Committee member) / Kurz, Terri (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2014-05