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- All Subjects: Self-efficacy
- All Subjects: Chemistry
Description
Conceptual knowledge and self-efficacy are two research topics that are well-established at universities, however very little has been investigated about these at the community college. A sample of thirty-seven students enrolled in three introductory circuit analysis classes at a large southwestern community college was used to answer questions about conceptual knowledge and self-efficacy of community college engineering students. Measures included a demographic survey and a pre/post three-tiered concept inventory to evaluate student conceptual knowledge of basic DC circuit analysis and self-efficacy for circuit analysis. A group effect was present in the data, so descriptive statistics were used to investigate the relationships among students' personal and academic characteristics and conceptual knowledge of circuit analysis. The a priori attribute approach was used to qualitatively investigate misconceptions students have for circuit analysis. The results suggest that students who take more credit hours score higher on a test of conceptual knowledge of circuit analysis, however additional research is required to confirm this, due to the group effect. No new misconceptions were identified. In addition to these, one group of students received more time to practice using the concepts. Consequently, that group scored higher on the concept inventory, possibly indicating that students who have extra practice time may score higher on a test of conceptual knowledge of circuit analysis. Correlation analysis was used to identify relationships among students' personal and academic characteristics and self-efficacy for circuit analysis, as well as to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy for circuit analysis and conceptual knowledge of circuit analysis. Subject's father's education level was found to be inversely correlated with self-efficacy for circuit analysis, and subject's age was found to be directly correlated with self-efficacy for circuit analysis. Finally, self-efficacy for circuit analysis was found to be positively correlated with conceptual knowledge of circuit analysis.
ContributorsWhitesel, Carl Arthur (Author) / Baker, Dale R. (Thesis advisor) / Reisslein, Martin (Committee member) / Carberry, Adam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This is a qualitative study about sources of self-efficacy and roles of assistive technologies (AT) associated with the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) choice and participation of STEM professionals and graduate students with sensory and orthopedic disabilities. People with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM, which can be traced back along the STEM pipeline to early undergraduate participation in STEM. Little research exists, however, about pathways and factors associated with successful STEM participation for people with disabilities at any point along their trajectories. Eighteen STEM professionals and graduate students with sensory and orthopedic disabilities were interviewed for this study. Sources of self-efficacy were sought from interview transcripts, as were emergent themes associated with the types, uses and roles of AT. Findings suggest that people with sensory and orthopedic disabilities weigh sources of self-efficacy differently from white males without disabilities in STEM and more like other underrepresented minorities in STEM. Social persuasions were most frequently reported and in far more detail than other sources, suggesting that this source may be most impactful in the development of self-efficacy beliefs for this group. Additionally, findings indicate that AT is critical to the successful participation of people with sensory and orthopedic disabilities in STEM at all points along their STEM pathways. Barriers center around issues of access to full engagement in mainstream STEM classrooms and out of school opportunities as well as the impact of ill-informed perceptions about the capabilities of people with disabilities held by parents, teachers and college faculty who can act as gatekeepers along STEM pathways. Gaps in disability specialists' knowledge about STEM-specific assistive technologies, especially at the college level, are also problematic. The prevalence of mainstream public school attendance reported by participants indicates that classroom teachers and disability-related educators have important roles in providing access to STEM mastery experiences as well as providing positive support and high expectations for students with disabilities. STEM and disability-based networks served to provide participants with role models, out of school STEM learning experiences and important long-term social connections in STEM communities.
ContributorsPacheco, Heather A (Author) / Baker, Dale R. (Thesis advisor) / Forouzesh, Mohammed (Committee member) / Pavri, Shireen (Committee member) / Semken, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of a context-based teaching approach (STS) versus a more traditional textbook approach on the attitudes and achievement of community college chemistry students. In studying attitudes toward chemistry within this study, I used a 30-item Likert scale in order to study the importance of chemistry in students' lives, the importance of chemistry, the difficulty of chemistry, interest in chemistry, and the usefulness of chemistry for their future career. Though the STS approach students had higher attitude post scores, there was no significant difference between the STS and textbook students' attitude post scores. It was noted that females had higher postattitude scores in the STS group, while males had higher postattitude scores in the textbook group. With regard to postachievement, I noted that males had higher scores in both groups. A correlation existed between postattitude and postachievement in the STS classroom. In summary, while an association between attitude and achievement was found in the STS classroom, teaching approach or sex was not found to influence attitudes, while sex was also not found to influence achievement. These results, overall, suggest that attitudes are not expected to change on the basis of either teaching approach or gender, and that techniques other than changing the teaching approach would need to be used in order to improve the attitudes of students. Qualitative analysis of an online discussion activity on Energy revealed that STS students were able to apply aspects of chemistry in decision making related to socioscientific issues. Additional analysis of interview and written responses provided insight regarding attitudes toward chemistry, with respect to topics of applicability of chemistry to life, difficulties with chemistry, teaching approach for chemistry, and the intent for enrolling in additional chemistry courses. In addition, the surveys of female students brought out subcategories with regard to emotional and professional characteristics of a good teacher, under the category of characteristics of teaching approach. With respect to the category of course experience, subcategories of useful knowledge to solve real-life problems and knowledge for future career were revealed. The differences between the control group females and STS group females with respect to these characteristics was striking and threw insight into how teacher behavior and teaching approach shape student attitudes to chemistry in case of female students.
ContributorsPerkins, Gita (Author) / Baker, Dale R. (Thesis advisor) / Sloane, Finbarr (Committee member) / Marsh, Josephine P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study examines the effectiveness of two modes of exercise on self-efficacy (SE) in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). Thirty-nine participants were randomly divided into a voluntary cycling group (VC) (i.e., self-selected cadence), an assisted cycling group (ACT) (i.e., at least 30% faster than self-selected cadence accomplished by a motor), or a no exercise group (NC). In each cycling intervention the participant completed 30 minute cycling sessions, three times per week for a total of eight weeks. Two subsets of the Physical Activity and Self Efficacy Survey were administered prior to cycling (i.e., pretest) and after the eight week intervention (i.e., post-test). The results were consistent with the hypothesis that self-efficacy would improve after ACT, however there was not improvement after the VC condition as hypothesized. It was also hypothesized that exercise perception would improve following the ACT intervention; execise perception showed a trend of improvement after ACT, but the data did not reach significance. Limitations include the wide variability of the DS population. This limitation is responsible for the variation in mental age seen in the intervention groups and could be responsible for the non-significance of the exercise perception data. To generalize our results for parents, therapists, teachers, etc., our recommendation is for persons with DS to participate in physical activity that is easy for them at first \u2014 a simplified sport or active game, assisted cycling, brisk walking \u2014 so that they have a positive experience with exercise. Showing individuals with DS that they can be proficient exercisers will likely improve their self-efficacy and motivate them to engage in more PA over time. In conclusion, eight weeks of moderate ACT exercise demonstrated a significant trend for improved self-efficacy in adolescents with DS.
ContributorsWallace, Kellie Carter (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Youngstedt, Shawn (Committee member) / Hoffner, Kristin (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12