The Effects of Project‐Based Learning on Students' Academic Achievement,Attitude, and Retention of Knowledge: The Subject of “Electricity in Our Lives”

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of project‐based learning on students' academic achievement, attitude, and retention of knowledge in relation to the subject of “Electricity in Our Lives” in a fourth‐grade science course. The study was conducted in a quasi‐experimental design as a “pre‐test, post‐test with control group.” In the experimental group, the unit was taught through the project‐based learning method. The measuring tools were administered to both groups before and after the applications. To perfectly analyze the “process” of the method, seven different learning assessment “forms” were administered to the students. The findings of the forms indicated that the students learn to construct their own learning and to evaluate changes in their own behavior through the application of the method. The application of different methods between both groups had a statistically significant effect in terms of academic achievement, (F(1,112) = 46.78, p = .000) and of retention of knowledge (F(1,112) = 35.24, p = .000). However, there were no statistically significant effects from being in different groups for the attitudes of students (F(1,112) = .99, p = .321). For the students, being in the project‐based learning groups resulted in better academic achievement and retention of knowledge than being in the traditional teaching group.     

Gender and Racial Differences: Development of Sixth Grade Students' Geometric Spatial Visualization within an Earth/Space Unit

This study investigated sixth‐grade middle‐level students' geometric spatial development by gender and race within and between control and experimental groups at two middle schools as they participated in an Earth/Space unit. The control group utilized a regular Earth/Space curriculum and the experimental group used a National Aeronautics and Space Administration‐based curriculum. The quantitative data sources included the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory, Geometric Spatial Assessment, and the Purdue Spatial Visualization–Rotation Test. The results indicated the experimental males and females, and the students of color and white students in the experimental group showed significant gains in their understanding of geometric spatial visualization from pre‐ to post‐implementation. However, for the control group, the significant gains were limited to the males and the white students. The findings reveal that support is needed for males, females, and all racial groups to have the opportunity to develop their spatial reasoning, which in turn, increases students' scientific understanding.     

An Extended Examination of Preservice Elementary Teachers' Science Teaching Self‐Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to examine programmatic factors that positively impact changes in elementary preservice teachers' teaching self‐efficacy beliefs. Specifically, it examined the impact of science methods courses, student teaching, and science content courses on elementary preservice teachers' science teaching self‐efficacy. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument Form B was administered, using a pre/post design, to undergraduate elementary education majors in specific education and science content courses. A total of 399 responses were collected, of which 172 had matching pre/post surveys suitable for analysis. Students in the science content courses and student teaching seminar showed no significant change in either the Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PSTE) or the Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy scales during the time they were enrolled in the classes. Significant gains in PSTE were found for students enrolled in the science methods course. The specific design of the education program and methods course may be responsible for these changes.     

Assessing the Impact of Bridging Analogies in Mechanics

The effects of bridging analogies teaching strategy and gender on Turkish high school students' misconceptions in mechanics were investigated. After a pilot study with 67 students in a nearby high school, the researchers administered the revised Mechanics Misconception Test to 119 high school students as a pretest. Students in the experimental group were instructed by using bridging analogies teaching strategy. At the end of a 3‐week treatment period, the same test was administered to all students as a posttest. The data were analyzed by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The statistical results showed that bridging analogies teaching strategy was an effective means of reducing the number of misconceptions students held about normal forces, frictional forces, tension, gravity, inertia, and Newton's third law.     

An investigation into the use of microcomputers to teach mathematical problem‐solving skills to 13 year olds

This is an account of an experiment to teach mathematical problem‐solving skills to 13‐year‐old students with the aid of microcomputers. Twenty‐one children worked through six microcomputer program‐generated problem situations in two and a half hours. Nine of the children worked ‘hands on’ with microcomputers. Twelve of the children were class taught, with a single microcomputer used for demonstration purposes. A comparison of pre‐test and post‐test scores on tests indicated that no significant gains in achievement were made by either group. Informal observations suggest a positive affective response. The findings are discussed at length and possible explanations for the lack of achievement are conjectured.     

A Collaborative Effort to Improve University Engineering Instruction

This study focused on the instructional development of an assistant professor of environmental engineering in collaboration with science education and higher education faculty members. One semester of data was collected in the assistant professor's environmental engineering laboratory class as he endeavored to address his teaching goals. Data collection included pre and post interviews with the assistant professor, students, and program coordinator, and collection of course documents, such as the course syllabus and assignments. In addition, all of the classroom sessions were observed and videotaped, and a midsemester video stimulated‐recall interview was conducted. Results show the assistant professor made growth in the areas of questioning strategies, “think time” for students, increased class participation, and the implementation of a student‐designed field research project. Implications include that new professors can benefit from peer faculty support, and they and their students can benefit when the new professors recognize the complementary nature of research and teaching.     

Academic achievement with cooperative learning using homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

Cooperative learning is a proven teaching strategy that teachers have been using for over 40 years. Teachers often group students heterogeneously so that students who are lower achieving are learning with and from higher achieving students. The purpose of this study was to test homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping while using cooperative learning teaching structure. This study aimed to answer the question of whether students be grouped homogeneously or heterogeneously while participating in cooperative learning. The primary research design for this study was a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control-group design. A convenience sample of fifth-grade students was drawn from a Georgia elementary school in the 2017–2018 school year. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and paired samples t tests. The ANCOVA was run to compare the scores from the FOSS Survey/Posttest, and the analysis showed no significant difference between the homogeneous and heterogeneous group posttest scores. Both groups made significant gains (as shown by the results of the paired samples t-tests).     

The Effects of Metacognitive Reflective Assessment on Fifth and Sixth Graders' Mathematics Achievement

The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the effects of metacognitive reflective assessment instruction on student achievement in mathematics. The study compared the performance of 141 students who practiced reflective assessment strategies with students who did not. A posttest‐only control group design was employed, and results were analyzed by conducting one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and nonparametric procedures. On both a posttest and a retention test, students who practiced reflective strategies performed significantly higher than students who did not use the strategies. A within‐subjects ANOVA was also conducted six weeks following the intervention to assess how the factor of time affected retention levels. No significant difference was found between the posttest and retention test results for the experimental groups or the control group.     

Examination of the dynamic software-supported learning environment in data analysis

The Fatih Project in Turkey has improved software in mathematics teaching such as data analysis software. As a result, the need to inquire into the efficiency of computer-supported learning environments has emerged. This study aims to examine the effect of dynamic data analysis software-supported learning environments on secondary school students’ achievement and attitude. The research method employs a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test, post-test control group. Basic topics related to data analysis were introduced through dynamic statistics software in the experimental group while the students were taught with the help of smart boards, course books and exercises in the control group. Data were collected with an achievement test, attitude scale and semi-structured interviews. Also, interviews were conducted with four students from the experimental group in order to get more detailed information from students. The data gained in the study were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed that statistics teaching through statistics software is more efficient than the one with the traditional method on achievement and attitudes. In accordance with this result, it is suggested that computer-supported statistics software should be used in statistics teaching.     

Improving senior secondary school students’ attitude towards mathematics through self and cooperative-instructional strategies

This study investigated the effects of self and cooperative-instructional strategies on senior secondary school students’ attitude towards Mathematics. The moderating effects of locus of control and gender were also investigated. The study adopted pre-test and post-test, control group quasi-experimental design using a 3 ×?2 ×?2 factorial matrix with two experimental groups and one control group. Three hundred and fifty SSS II students from six purposively selected secondary schools in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State were the subjects. Three instruments were developed, validated and used for data collection. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Scheffé post hoc analysis were the statistics used for data analysis. Findings showed that the treatments had significant main effect on students’ attitude towards Mathematics. The participants exposed to self-instructional strategy had the highest post-test mean attitude score. The study found no significant main effects of locus of control and gender on the participants’ attitude towards Mathematics. It was concluded that Mathematics teachers should be trained to use self and cooperative learning packages in the classroom, since the strategies are more effective in improving students’ attitude towards Mathematics than the conventional method.     

The impact of metacognitive practice and teacher feedback on academic achievement in mathematics

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of metacognitive strategies and content‐specific feedback on student achievement in high school mathematics. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of students in honors geometry. An analysis of variance with repeated measures was employed to address the research questions. For both the posttest and retention test, students in the experimental group significantly outperformed the students in the comparison group. However, students scored lower in the retention test than the posttest. The findings of this study offer a modest contribution to the body of empirical research on the impact of metacognitive practice and content‐specific feedback on academic achievement at the high school level.     

Examining Preservice Teacher Belief Changes in the Context of Coordinated Mathematics Methods Coursework and Classroom Experiences

The purpose of this study was to compare changes in beliefs of two groups of preservice teachers involved in two types of opportunities to immediately apply methods for teaching accompanying an elementary mathematics methods course. Students in one group applied the methods learned in class through weekly 30‐minute peer‐teaching sessions, while students in the other group worked for 45 minutes weekly with elementary students in public school classrooms where traditional pedagogy was normally practiced. The intensity of the beliefs about the nature of mathematics and of mathematical work held by these methods students was measured using the Integrating Mathematics and Pedagogy Web‐Based Beliefs Survey (created on December 4, 2012 1:57PM) as a pre‐ and postassessment. While both groups saw significant change in belief intensity across measurement occasions favoring a reform perspective, a significantly greater change was experienced by the group who applied methods in classrooms, despite the traditional practice that usually occurred in them. The authors hypothesize this greater change resulted from the benefits associated with working with children and from the instructor support that may have tended to nullify the effects of teaching in a classroom where traditional pedagogy was the norm.     

Learning study – promoting and hindering factors in mathematics teaching

This article focuses on presenting success factors for a group of teachers in carrying out a learning study in mathematics at their school. The research questions are: what are the actions of the school teaching community during development projects? What factors enable a group of teachers to carry out a learning study at their school? Activity theory provides a holistic framework to investigate relationships among the components present in a learning study. The results are based on analysis of interviews with teachers, students, principal organizers of schools and project coordinators, videotaped lessons, students’ tests and minutes taken at meetings of mathematics projects. The results show that the skills of facilitators, the time devoted to collaborative work, the link to learning theory and avoiding overly comprehensive content when teaching lessons are important promoting factors in mathematics teaching. The findings raise important questions about the way in which teacher work within universities.     

Changing beliefs about reformed teaching in science: Experience matters

Can participation in a 4‐day workshop change science teachers’ beliefs about reformed science teaching? We observe a significant difference between pre‐ and post‐workshop surveys and explore an unexpected relationship involving teaching experience. Results of this exploratory study indicate a significant correlation between high school science teachers’ years of teaching experience and positive changes in beliefs about reformed teaching practices. Novice teachers hold more reformed beliefs pre‐institute, but post‐institute surveys revealed the two groups, experienced and novice, are statistically indistinguishable. We use our observations of the statistically significant changes in biology teachers’ responses on the Beliefs About Reformed Science Teaching and Learning instrument (BARSTL) to support our claim that a 4‐day Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI) in Biology can advance teachers’ beliefs toward more reformed teaching. Furthermore, these findings provided evidence for us to suggest that veteran teachers are more malleable in their beliefs about reformed science teaching than one might expect (AP®, Advanced Placement®, and AP Biology® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this article).     

Science Self‐Efficacy of Preservice Teachers in Face‐to‐Face versus Blended Environments

Using a quasi‐experimental mixed methods concurrent design, this study measured the science self‐efficacy of pre‐service elementary teachers before and after a survey of science content course. Further, this course was delivered in two different formats: face‐to‐face and hybrid (approximately 50% online), and compared pre‐and post‐science self‐efficacy of students in the two different course formats. Our quantitative results showed increases in personal efficacy, but not outcome expectancy for both formats, and no significant differences between the increases for either format. Our qualitative data showed that participants attributed their increased levels of personal efficacy to the hands‐on components of the course, as well as perceived teacher attitudes toward science, both of which would be challenging to replicate in a purely online format, as opposed to the hybrid format included in this study.     

Students' Retention of Mathematical Knowledge and Skills in Differential Equations

This study investigates students' retention of mathematical knowledge and skills in two differential equations classes. Posttests and delayed posttests after 1 year were administered to students in inquiry‐oriented and traditional classes. The results show that students in the inquiry‐oriented class retained conceptual knowledge, as seen by their performance on modeling problems, and retained equal proficiency in procedural problems, when compared with students in the traditionally taught classes. The results of this study add additional support to the claim that teaching for conceptual understanding can lead to longer retention of mathematical knowledge.     

Evaluating efficacy of environmental education programming

The Clark Fork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP) goals are: (a) increasing students’ understanding of the nature of ecological impacts within their watershed as related to historic mining damage; and (b) increasing students’ sense of stewardship of newly restored landscapes. Data from 2012 to 2016 were evaluated for student knowledge gains (46 trials representing 2,395 student pre‐surveys; 2,409 student post‐surveys). Data from 2013 to 2016 were evaluated for students’ attitudes toward science and disposition toward caring for the environment (38 trials representing 1,479 pre‐surveys; 1,460 post‐surveys). The results of this study support that the program’s goals are being achieved. Students achieved statistically significant gains on knowledge surveys with a 33.4% overall gain pre‐ to posttest (p < 0.0001). Students also moved toward greater positive responses in both attitudes toward science and disposition toward caring for the environment with Cohen’s d effect sizes of “medium effect” for caring toward the environment (d = 0.52) and “small effect” of positive disposition toward science (d = 0.24).     

Prevailing educational practices for area measurement and students’ failure in measuring areas

The present research was carried out with the participation of 106 students in their last grade in Elementary School and revealed certain problems that these students faced in understanding the concept of area measurement. The students in the sample persisted on using measurement strategies that often led to failure.Our research plan comprises a comparison between the strategies for area measurement strategies used by two groups: the experimental group (E.G.) and the control group (C.G.). The experimental group attended a special teaching course, which stressed the conceptual characteristics of the area measurement process.The present research aims at revealing the students’ understanding, strategies, and misconceptions regarding area measurement. In addition to that, we examine whether the special teaching course and the use of different measurement tools may lead the two research groups to adopt different measurement strategies.     

Teaching Multiple Modes of Representation in Middle‐School Science Classrooms: Impact on Student Learning and Multimodal Use

This quasi‐experimental study investigated how explicit instruction about multiple modes of representation (MMR) impacted grades 7 (n = 61) and 8 (n = 141) students’ learning and multimodal use on end‐of‐unit assessments. Half of each teacher's (n = 3) students received an intervention consisting of explicit instruction on MMR in science discourse, in addition to regular science instruction enhanced by a focus on MMR; comparison groups of students received regular science instruction. Three ordinary least squares regression models used student demographic variables and whether or not students received the intervention to predict students’ (a) gain scores on end‐of‐unit tests, (b) voluntary use of embedded MMR on unit tests, and (c) retention of science knowledge as measured by a state end‐of‐level criterion‐referenced assessment. Analyses showed that explicit instruction on MMR did not make a significant impact on student gain scores, the amount of embeddedness on unit tests, or end‐of‐level scores. However, Models 2 and 3 showed Hispanics and females used MMR more on end‐of‐unit tests than Whites or males, respectively, whether or not they received the intervention. Hispanics and females scored lower than Whites or males, respectively, on end‐of‐level, multiple‐choice assessments. Implications for classroom teachers and educational researchers in relation to these underserved populations are discussed.     

MANAGING HARVESTING TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF EPIDEMICS ON WILD FISH STOCKS

ABSTRACT. Epidemic diseases inflict substantial damage to stocks of harvested species. Epidemic waves can be predictable away from their origin. I use a classical epidemiology model to investigate the interaction of harvesting strategy with an epidemic. The effect of reducing populations by harvesting before the epidemic depends upon the nature of the epidemic's survivors. If these have recovered following infection, then pre‐epidemic fishing optimizes the harvest, but reduces long‐term survival. However, if these survivors avoided infection, then increased pre‐epidemic fishing effort can increase post‐epidemic populations; survival is maximized by reducing the pre‐epidemic population to the threshold required to propagate infection. Post‐epidemic harvesting provides poor returns and damages stocks. Optimal stock management strategy in the face of a predicted epidemic depends upon balancing harvesting and conservation of stocks complimentary or antagonistic goals, depending on the nature of the epidemic.