Scholarship & Research
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Item Integrating universal design for learning in online math education: the Desmos experience(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2023) Wiehe, Blake Skyler; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Nick LuxThe Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is a modern neuroscientific approach to creating learning experiences that are highly accessible and engaging for all students. Despite the growing evidence supporting the theory of UDL, the literature significantly lacks examples of the practical application of UDL principles in curricular resources. This study was designed to investigate an online math learning platform that claims to be developed according to the UDL Guidelines. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the practical application of various UDL Guidelines within the Desmos middle school math platform. The UDL Guidelines served as the basis for this analysis, mapping the data collection and analysis according to the checkpoints that substantiate the nine UDL Guidelines. Through the analysis of six randomly chosen Desmos units from sixth through eighth grade, the results suggest that Desmos substantiates their claim to UDL-alignment through a host of interactive, customizable, and highly relevant learning experiences. The Desmos platform lacks certain features like layout customization, hyperlinked vocabulary support, and activation of background knowledge that could further bolster its alignment to the UDL Guidelines. However, the alignment examples discovered offer a window into UDL-aligned design thinking that can serve as inspiration for external curriculum developers and educators looking to create their own UDL learning experiences. This study was a pilot attempt at characterizing UDL design thinking found within an existing curriculum. Future studies analyzing other curricular resources for UDL alignment are warranted, along with further investigations into the impact of those platforms on student achievement.Item Hispanic ELL middle-school students and their teachers: perceptions of three mathematics teaching practices(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2022) Roberts, Christi Szulczewski; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jayne DowneyEven though Hispanic English Language Learners (ELL) are one of the fastest growing student demographics in the United States, limited research exists exploring how Hispanic ELLs benefit from mathematics teaching practices that have been determined to be highly effective. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of Hispanic ELL middle-school students regarding the efficacy of research-informed instructional practices, as embodied in the Mathematics Teaching Practices described by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2012). Capturing Hispanic ELL student perceptions is of great importance due to the challenging situations that many Hispanic ELL students and their families face (Schneider et al., 2006) in the United States. Additionally, the concerning differences have been observed in achievement data for Hispanic and non-Hispanic students and for ELL and non-ELL students. To address the layered challenges that Hispanic ELL students face daily in school, teachers, school leaders, and researchers can turn to student consultation as one way to gather information to inform teaching practices and develop positive mathematical identities. Findings from this multi-phased qualitative case study suggest that both students and teachers value and find benefit in the use of mathematical discourse, posing of purposeful questions, and attention to multiple representations. Additional insights were uncovered as alignments and divergences between perceptions were analyzed. Recommendations for practice include promoting mathematical discourse, posing purposeful questions for multiple purposes, emphasizing multiple representations, including student voice, building mathematical identity through instruction, and leveraging alignments and divergences in perceptions.Item Beginning band instrument selection preferences and performance scores over time(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2019) Quinones, Joseph Ramon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kristin Harney; Nick Lux (co-chair)This quantitative study examines the process of guiding students in beginning band instrument selection at Monforton Middle School, in Bozeman, MT. Data from 46 students was collected to identify if correlations exist between students initial instrument tone production and preference ratings and the students' performance throughout the first 15 months of playing the instrument they selected. Data for this study was collected through instrument tryout forms prior to students selecting and instrument and playing assessment rubrics for each of the 12 playing assessments, all of which were requirements of beginning band class. While data did not suggest that stronger initial tone production and preference ratings correlated with higher scores on playing assessments, there is evidence to suggest the overall instrument selection process was beneficial in guiding students to select an instrument that is well suited to them, as students, on average, scored 82% on their playing assessments. Further research to better prove the effectiveness would likely require a control group of students not receiving guidance in the instrument selection process; this would likely not be possible because student education would be inhibited through the lack of guidance.Item Measuring cognitive engagement and motivation in informal contexts(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2018) Obery, Amanda Christine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael BrodyMiddle school (G5-8) students' cognitive engagement, motivation, and future aspirations in science were quantified within informal contexts (week-long summer camps) with self-reported measures of cognitive strategies, self-regulation, value, self-efficacy, and future aspirations over the course of two phases (N = 152, N =140). The participating middle school students engaged in one of two informal science summer camp opportunities. Informal science experiences may be places which participants can gain science-related capital in equitable ways. This study set out to test the growth in cognitive engagement, motivation, and future aspirations in science differed from students of varying genders, races, and socioeconomic statuses. Survey results over the course of two phases were analyzed via partial-least squares structural equation modeling to explore whether cognitive engagement and motivation predicted future aspirations in science, such as taking high school courses or pursuing a career in the sciences. As operationalized, cognitive engagement (cognitive strategies and self-regulation) and motivational (value and self-efficacy) constructs significantly predicted future aspirations in science (R 2 = 0.29, p < 0.05). Growth in cognitive engagement and motivation were also investigated to understand if students of different genders, races, and socioeconomic statuses have different experiences, with only small differences being uncovered. Results support the claim about the key role that cognitive engagement, motivation, and informal learning experiences may play to encourage future aspirations in science and show the ability of these experiences to foster the development of these skills in equitable ways. Better understanding cognitive engagement and motivation and how these are influenced by informal science experiences could improve the effectiveness of these interventions to foster students' future aspirations in science, a continuing societal priority, in ways that do not fall into the same patterns of inequality that seem to persist in formal education.Item Using activity theory to understand effective writing instruction with high poverty middle school students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2017) Fisher, Heather Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jayne DowneyConveying thoughts, ideas, and solutions through written words has been, and will continue to be, a crucial way to demonstrate thinking and learning in both the academic and professional worlds. Because of its importance, and our students' struggles, writing's place in education has risen to the forefront, leading to more rigorous writing standards and assessment in correspondence with the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards. Thus, this mixed methods study was designed to analyze Montana's middle school Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language writing scores to understand patterns of proficiency in writing across schools and student demographics (gender and socioeconomic status). In part one of the study, quantitative data were analyzed from the 2015-2016 school year and included scores from 338 schools serving grades 6-8 with a total of 29,091 students. In alignment with current literature, findings suggest that Montana's middle school students' of low socioeconomic status, on average, perform lower than their peers on the writing portion of the standardized test. In part two of the study, qualitative data were gathered from a Montana middle school where students achieved proficiency on the Smarter Balanced Assessment English Language Arts Performance Task, to examine the way writing instruction is approached in the school. Engestrom's Activity Theory (1987) was used as a framework to describe the system of teacher instruction used to improve students' writing. Findings illuminate the complex facets of writing instruction from the lens of Activity Theory and provide practical applications for administrators and teachers in navigating a dynamic learning system.Item A comparison of the achievement test scores in the intermediate grades in a school using performance grouping and a school using heterogeneous grouping(Montana State College, Division of Education, 1961) Burton, Priscilla J.The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not a form of ability grouping known as performance grouping had an effect on the students' achievement test scores that would not be obtained in a heterogeneous classroom. The major hypothesis held was that added gains would be shown on the standardized achievement test scores by the students in a school using performance grouping that would not be shown by students in a school using heterogeneous grouping.Item A survey in map study skills of sixth grade students and teachers(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1978) Eakman, Donavan CleveItem English achievement of seventh grade Crow Indian students and proposed ways of improving their language skills in the Hardin public schools(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1963) Dyche, Steven E.Item Comparison of mathematical activities for gifted sixth graders(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1978) Vicevich, Alice Geraldine Murphy; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James G. HauwillerItem Comparison of videotaped instruction in dissection laboratories with the traditional lecture/demonstration method(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1979) Thronson, Roderick Morris; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Henry Negley Worrest