Equity in science education is a central goal for many educators, researchers, policymakers, learning institutions, community organizations, and more. Scholars are increasingly looking to critical, intersectional, transdisciplinary, and dialectical theories to better understand the tensions that promote or limit equitable science education…

Extant literature lacks an explanation of the thought processes used by secondary school science teachers to interpret students' scientific models that are comprised of drawing activities. In this exploratory study, a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) was developed to generate an interpretive understanding. The CGT was generated from…

This dissertation explores the integration of Place-Based Scientific Inquiry (PBSI) into science education through participatory design-based professional development for instructors at Sky School, an outdoor education program in southern Arizona. PBSI emphasizes student-centered, inquiry-driven, experiential learning grounded in outdoor contexts.…

In randomized control trials (RCT), the recent focus has shifted to how an intervention yields positive results on its intended outcome. This aligns with the recent push of implementation science in healthcare (Bauer et al., 2015) but goes beyond this. RCTs have moved to evaluating the theoretical framing of the intervention as well as differing…

Scientific literacy is an important and relevant 21st century skill. People with a strong scientific literacy are better equipped to be involved in public discourse which can drive social and political decision-making processes and are more adept at determining valid scientific information. Unfortunately, American citizens have consistently…

US public schools often do not provide multilingual (ML) students with the support necessary to be successful in science education or deny ML students the opportunity to participate altogether. Recent science and English Learner Development (ELD) standards adoptions in California require teachers to change their practices, creating the potential…

Students use causal reasoning in their everyday lives to generate hypotheses as to why an event occurred, or to create predictions about future events. Also, causal reasoning skills are critical in the laboratory setting and are needed to (1) look for patterns in collected data, (2) determine if relationships exist between variables, and (3)…

Motivation is a central variable in science education research. The Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II) is an instrument designed to measure student motivation to learn science. Nearly all peer-reviewed studies (n = 26) of the SMQ II have used Classical Test Theory frameworks despite known limitations with this approach. The present study…

Science teachers in the United States are not prepared to teach the students in their classrooms. Teachers are most often White females, while the children in their classrooms are from diverse backgrounds. Multicultural pedagogies exist, but teachers must be educated during their teacher preparation courses to understand their own relationship…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interaction between people's fundamental Christian beliefs and scientific explanations. When people with fundamental Christian beliefs encounter scientific explanations, such explanations may interact with their deeply rooted beliefs in a way that is likely to produce tensions. It is expedient to…

Black African women are grossly underrepresented as academic staff in engineering programs at South African universities. The problem is exacerbated at historically White institutions (HWI) where Black women are simply absent as engineering research and teaching staff. The absence of Black African women in the academy occurs despite Black African…

African American female representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, has not significantly increased during the years, despite a number of educational initiatives and reforms promoting participation in the STEM pipeline. As the underrepresentation of African American females' interest in science increases,…

We used an "approach to learning" theoretical framework to explicate the ways students engage in scientific modeling. Approach to learning theory suggests that when students approach learning deeply, they link science concepts with prior knowledge and experiences. Conversely, when students engage in a surface approach to learning, they…

This study is an examination and evaluation of the outcomes of a series of courses that I helped build to create a graduate certificate. Specifically, I wanted to evaluate whether or not the online iteration of the "Informal Science Institutions Environmental Education Graduate Certificate Program" truly provided the long term…

This dissertation explores the context of urban science education as it relates to the achievement and engagement of urban youth. This study provides a framework for Hip-Hop Pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning anchored in the creative elements of Hip-Hop culture, in STEM as an innovative approach to teaching and learning demonstrates…