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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
The National Research Council developed and published the Framework for K-12 Science Education, a new set of concepts that many states were planning on adopting. Part of this new endeavor included a set of science and engineering crosscutting concepts to be incorporated into science materials and activities, a first in science standards history. With the recent development of the Framework came the arduous task of evaluating current lessons for alignment with the new crosscutting concepts. This study took on that task in a small, yet important area of available lessons on the internet. Lessons, to be used by K-12 educators and students, were produced by different organizations and research efforts. This study focused specifically on Earth science lessons as they related to earthquakes. To answer the question as to the extent current and available lessons met the new crosscutting concepts; an evaluation rubric was developed and used to examine teacher and student lessons. Lessons were evaluated on evidence of the science, engineering and application of the engineering for each of the seven crosscutting concepts in the Framework. Each lesson was also evaluated for grade level appropriateness to determine if the lesson was suitable for the intended grade level(s) designated by the lesson. The study demonstrated that the majority of lesson items contained science applications of the crosscutting concepts. However, few contained evidence of engineering applications of the crosscutting concepts. Not only was there lack of evidence for engineering examples of the crosscutting concepts, but a lack of application engineering concepts as well. To evaluate application of the engineering concepts, the activities were examined for characteristics of the engineering design process. Results indicated that student activities were limited in both the nature of the activity and the quantity of lessons that contained activities. The majority of lessons were found to be grade appropriate. This study demonstrated the need to redesign current lessons to incorporate more engineering-specific examples from the crosscutting concepts. Furthermore, it provided evidence the current model of material development was out dated and should be revised to include engineering concepts to meet the needs of the new science standards.
ContributorsSchwab, Patrick (Author) / Baker, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Semken, Steve (Committee member) / Jordan, Shawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In-person field education through exploration is fundamental in geoscience, but equal access is limited by time, cost, safety, distance, physical ability, and instructor variability. Technology advances allow students to explore pedagogically rich but inaccessible places through virtual field trips (VFTs). Studies show that VFTs result in significant learning gains and are an effective learning modality. Most research has focused on instructor-generated VFTs disseminated through a top-down model, whereas technological innovations are making user-generated VFTs more practical. This longitudinal, mixed-methods study decentralized the production of VFTs by teaching students and educators to build their own VFTs for place-based education via the proposed Virtual Field Trip Production Process for Place-Based Education. Students and educators produced seven place-based VFTs reviewed by subject-matter experts that are currently being used as digital learning experiences in high school and college settings. Place-based education (PBE) traditionally occurs in actual places, while VFTs convey an actual place virtually and can share the same learning objectives as their in-person counterparts. Sense of place, the combination of meanings and attachments an individual or group ascribes to a given place, is a measurable learning outcome of PBE with cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Participants were administered the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Place Attachment Inventory (PAI), and Young’s Place Meaning Survey (YPMS). Regression analysis showed statistically significant increases in positive affect (PA) and statistically significant decreases in negative affect (NA) as well as statistically significant gains in sense of place and content knowledge. In both geology and PBE, drawing is an important tool for learning, teaching, and assessing. Current VFT software environments do not allow users to digitally draw within the platform. This study examined differences in learning outcomes and final grades between students submitting mechanical versus digital drawings, geologic maps, and concept sketches. Regression analysis of the drawing, geologic map, and concept sketch exercises revealed no statistically significant differences between mechanical and digital drawing modalities in both learning outcomes and final grades. Geoscience educators can confidently allow students to submit digital drawings while software programmers and learning designers should consider adding this capability to their VFT platforms.
ContributorsRuberto, Thomas (Author) / Semken, Steve (Thesis advisor) / Anbar, Ariel (Committee member) / Reynolds, Steve (Committee member) / Johnson, Julia (Committee member) / DeVecchio, Duane (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023