Scholarship & Research
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Item The effects of guiding climate change education through a social justice lens(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Arnold, John Francis; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: C. John GravesClimate change is one of the largest environmental and justice issues facing our world. Many young people are listening to the science and taking action, but many more are not. This project addressed climate change through exploring consequences on society, addressing public health, and impacts on societal infrastructure and stability. The social inequality of climate impacts was highlighted throughout to better engage students. Baseline, survey data was collected before we addressed climate change. After learning about public health concerns, students took the survey again and completed a short reflection. Students finished the study, after learning about impacts on societal infrastructure by taking a third survey, completing a second reflection, and with an interview. Results varied due to inconsistent participation throughout the study. Many students demonstrated an increase in understanding of climate change, but evidence to demonstrate their depth of understanding examples of people most disproportionately affected by climate change was inconsistent. Finally, students underreported eco-anxiety in survey results compared to interview results.Item Implications of reflection on student efficacy and growth in middle school science(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Kessler, Shawn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: C. John GravesStudents are often asked to reflect on their work. Upon finishing a project, students reflect on their experiences and outcomes, focusing on the learning and content of the unit. However, reflection should be a continuous process and include students becoming aware of their learning approaches. If this aspect of reflection was included while learning was taking place, students could become more aware of how they learn and in turn become more confident in how they approach different topics. The goal of this type of reflection would be to increase student efficacy and increase student growth. To test this hypothesis, students first completed a science self-efficacy test. This established a basis for student confidence in science. To establish overall knowledge of the content, students attempted the summative assessment test before beginning the unit. For each task in the unit, students completed a pre and post-test. Associated with each was a reflection process. Students took a brief survey identifying their study habits and confidence levels. Confidence levels were recorded to determine efficacy growth throughout the unit. Data collected for the research showed a weak positive correlation between student self-efficacy and normalized gains. The qualitative analysis resulted in students becoming more detailed in their reflections as the unit progressed. The conclusion was reached that self-efficacy is not a good indicator of performance, however the act of persistent reflection throughout a unit result in overall academic growth.Item Effects of participation in formative assessment on critical thinking skills in a science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Templin, Sarah Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: C. John GravesCritical thinking is a skill that students struggle to master. This skill is useful not only in academics but also in becoming a discerning consumer of information. I wanted to see if student participation in formative assessment with frequent feedback would improve their critical thinking skills as well as their confidence in those skills. The experimental group was given additional questions on each formative assessment that assessed their critical thinking skills. The comparison group was given formative assessments without the added critical thinking questions. Both groups of students were given the same pre- and post-assessments to measure growth in critical thinking skills. Both groups were also given a pre-, mid-, and post-survey to measure confidence. The results of this study showed that participation in formative assessment does not improve student performance of critical thinking skills and did not increase student confidence in those skills. Further study is needed in this area.Item Using current science events in an eighth grade science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Mattus, Kathy Sue; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter WoolbaughStudents become more engaged in science when they see a connection to their individual lives. Through the use of current science event articles, this study investigated the impact the articles had on student interest in science, academic achievement, and awareness of science related careers. Students were evaluated on summaries written, surveys completed, drawings made of scientists, and interviews given. Although the quantitative data showed very little difference in interest before and after the treatment, the qualitative data suggests reading the articles does increase students' interest in science and science related careers.Item Using feedback and self-reflection to empower adult learners in math, reading and writing(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Brown, Katherine Tyler Swaim; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisAdults bring a wealth of accumulated experience to a classroom, and studies have shown that adult students benefit from relevant, student-centered practices that involve them in their education. Assessment methods must be appropriate and offer time to act upon the result. This study looked at the impact that clear learning objectives, timely teacher feedback, and opportunity for student reflection would have on a student's understanding of their own progress towards class advancement in a class that did not offer grades and could be repeated. A portfolio of student work was compiled to judge student effort. Additional factors assessed included attendance, mindset, and attitude toward the teacher and student role in the classroom. The study found that when students are given a clear statement of course goals and feedback about their work through self-reflection and instructor communication, they have a solid understanding of their academic progress. In addition, the instructor has sufficient evidence to make a compatible decision. Students whose move-up decision matched the instructor's tended to have greater attendance and higher mindset motivation scores than those whose decisions did not match the instructor's.Item Elements of reflective and non-reflective discourse in an online induction program for experienced and novice science teachers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2009) Farrar, Beth Lauri; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Elisabeth SwansonReflection is frequently cited in the literature as integral to the type of learning in which professionals engage. However, throughout the literature the concept of reflection has been ill-defined and shown to be difficult to operationalize in studies. Beginning with a comprehensive review of the literature, this study sought to develop a research based way to operationalize reflection. Once reflection was defined and operationalized, a discourse analysis rubric was designed to identify elements of non reflective and reflective discourse used by participants in an online content-based mentoring and induction professional development program, e-Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS). The rubric was used to conduct a content analysis of online discourse between novice and experienced science teachers participating in the eMSS program. Coders determined which elements of non reflective and reflective discourse, including levels of discourse, were used by different types of participants in the various online discussion areas of the eMSS program. The results of this study showed a higher percentage of novice science teachers' messages were coded as containing overall higher levels of reflective discourse. This difference was partly attributed to the different roles experienced and novice science teachers have in this program. The different eMSS online discussion areas had varying percentages of messages identified as containing different levels of reflective discourse. Different discussion area curriculums, including types of discussion prompts and methods of facilitation, partly attributed to these differences. This study showed the importance of being intentional in the wording or modeling of what is expected from participants as they compose their messages. This study also showed that eliciting reflective thought processes from program participants depends on a variety of factors and can be contextual. No single factor stood out as essential to consistently encouraging reflective thought processes. Recommendations are made for designing program curriculums and facilitating the type of learning that results in the use of reflective thought by program participants.