Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Metacognitive strategies in an earth science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Knochenhauer, Laura Ashley; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisThe purpose of this research was to determine whether teaching about the levels of thinking along with the intentional inclusion of metacognitive strategies would increase the level of thinking of secondary students in an Earth science course. Of secondary interest was the impact of these practices on the confidence level of students. Students first participated in a non-treatment unit where they were not taught about Bloom's Taxonomy or levels of thinking nor were reflections included in their classroom practice. Students took a pre-unit and post-unit Thinking Test, Thinking Survey, and Confidence Survey during the non-treatment unit to determine the normal gain during a unit of instruction. Following the non-treatment unit, students learned about the levels of thinking through direct instruction and classroom activities. Throughout the unit, students reflected on what they learned, how the learned, and practiced writing high level questions about the content they learned that week. Again, the pre- and post-unit Thinking Test, Thinking Survey, and Confidence survey were administered to determine if the treatment had an effect on students' abilities to think at higher levels. The results indicated that students significantly improved their ability to answer higher level questions following treatment. However, no significant difference was found in student confidence. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that learning about the levels of thinking and implementing metacognitive strategies positively influences students' ability to think at and use higher levels of thinking but does not impact student confidence.Item The effect of training in question generation on the development of better questions posed by seventh grade science students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Tiboldo, Crista E.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisStudent generation of good questions provides many benefits for students, including active engagement in learning and development of their curiosity, as well as benefitting the teacher by providing him or her with insight as to the level of comprehension of the student, or enabling the class to dive deeper into content. But how can students develop good questioning skills? This study sought to explore how to develop good questioning skills in my middle school students by implementing the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), and examining how this training affected their ability to comprehend readings and answer open-ended questions. Two groups of students were included in the study, with one group participating in the QFT process throughout one unit of study, and the other group proceeding with traditional teacher-developed questions. Through comparisons between pre- and post-assessments, interviews, observations, surveys, and written assignments, instruction on question generation was found to improve the quality of students' questions, as well as improve their confidence in asking questions.Item A classical approach to science : socratic seminars and data analysis and interpretation(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2014) Smith, Jennifer Anne; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.In this study, Socratic seminars were implemented in chemistry classes for the purpose of promoting data analysis and interpretation. Socratic seminars are deliberate discussions surrounding a text. Students engaged in four separate seminars using a set of data as their text. The effectiveness of Socratic seminars in increasing student confidence, performance and frequency of scientific communication in relation to data analysis and interpretation was analyzed. The study revealed mixed results, especially with relation to achievement in data analysis and interpretation skills. Confidence levels generally increased. The greatest gains were made in student participation and the frequency and value of comments.Item Promoting more effective student questions through specific questioning strategies(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2011) Buck, David Hidden; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.This project addresses the question "Do students understand key scientific concepts better with training in the use of specific questioning strategies?" Students were trained specifically in composing questions using the cognitive domain of Bloom's Taxonomy, as well as in developing experiments, inventions and models using Cothron's Four Question Strategy. Students engaged in several inquiry activities, both independently and in large and small groups, to practice these strategies and approaches. The results of this research suggest that there is a strong correlation between employing these strategies to improve students' questioning skills and the students' understanding of key concepts surrounding questioning and inquiry.