Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item The effects of student choice on achievement in the high school science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Larsen, Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter WoolbaughEducation has changed from a one-size-fits-all approach to learning to an approach that caters to the individual student. Teachers regularly employ strategies in their classroom to ensure students are exposed to the content on a variety of platforms. The purpose of this study was to explore how students' achievement in science class was affected when given a choice of classroom activities to complete based off their interests. Secondary questions included how student attitudes towards learning science changed when given choice and how teaching practices changed as a result of implementation of student choice activities. The research was accomplished using a student choice-board, a matrix of activities from which students chose based on personal interests. After completion of a prescribed number of activities, student achievement was measured using pre- and post-test data. Qualitative data were acquired through student interviews, observations, Likert-style surveys, and journaling. The results of the study indicated that there was no appreciable difference in achievement when students learned by choosing their activities and when traditional teaching methods were employed. Student attitudes towards learning science showed either an increase in positive attitude or were neutral. The most definitive result of the study was how teaching style changed.Item Factors which contribute to the adolescent selection of and persistence in college(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1991) Groseth, Jaynee Drange; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sandra OsborneItem The sensitivity of expected utility violations to the experimental design : how context affects risky choice(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1994) Roberts, Michael James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David E. Buschena.Expected Utility Theory is tested under different question contexts. It is hypothesized that previously cited independence violations may result from experimental biases rather than a shortcoming of the Theory. An experimental survey presents risky choice questions as lotteries and as "real life" scenarios to test the relative frequency of independence violations under different test conditions. Simple proportion-difference test statistics show that some choice pairs elicit significantly different choices under the scenario contexts. A more sophisticated analysis, using logit regression models, finds that the scenario contexts reduce choice biases caused by the similarity of the alternatives. Choices over scenario-contexts are found to be consistent with Expected Utility Theory. Violations of Expected Utility Theory over lottery contexts are attributed to the similarity of the alternatives.