Learning to plan modeling-based investigations (MBIs) presents significant challenges for pre-service elementary teachers. Although they understand disciplinary core ideas and modeling practices, they address both as competing learning goals and, as novices, they have not experienced how to structure MBIs for their future students. In the context…

A STEM education program entitled "Come rain or shine" implemented in a primary rural school in southern Greece as part of the "Diffusion of STEM (DI-STEM)" project and the results of its implementation are presented in this paper. The educational program deepened in weather education and intended to develop eight scientific…

A focus of reforms in standards, learning environments, teacher preparation programs and professional development is to support teachers' and students' engagement with scientific practices such as argumentation, modeling and generating explanations for real-world phenomena (NRC, 2011). Engaging in these practices in authentic ways…

This applied dissertation was designed to provide perceptual teacher data as well as summative testing data to educational leaders concerning the effects of implementing Investigations in Number, Data, and Space® (Investigations) in three Title I elementary school settings, two Title I schools, and one non-Title I school. Data collected during…

Variability in strategy selection is an important characteristic of learning new skills such as mathematical skills. Strategies gradually come and go during this development. In 1996, Siegler described this phenomenon as ''overlapping waves.'' In the current microgenetic study, we attempted to model these overlapping waves statistically. In…

Representations play a key role in mathematical thinking: They offer "a medium" to express mathematical knowledge or organize mathematical information and to discern mathematical relationships (e.g., relative household expenditures on a pie chart) using text, symbols, or graphics. They also furnish "tools" for mathematical processes (e.g., use of…

One author shares the unique opportunity to be immersed in the science of "sound at work" through participation in NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea Program. A third- through fifth-grade learning outcome within the Nature of Science section of the "Next Generation Science Standards"…

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of Bandura's (1997) theorized sources of self-efficacy on the academic and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs of 3rd-grade elementary school students (N = 395) in France, to examine whether classroom context might explain a significant portion of the variation in self-efficacy, and to assess…

In this position paper, we examine the science teaching orientation component of the S. Magnusson, J. Krajcik, and H. Borko (1999) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) model for science teaching. We trace the origin of the construct in the literature, identifying multiple definitions that have lead to ambiguity. After examining published studies…

Aim: This study investigated prediction of separate cognitive abilities at the age of 5 years by cognitive development at the ages of both 2 and 3 years, and the agreement between these measurements, in very preterm children. Methods: Preterm children (n=102; 44 males; 58 females) with a gestational age less than 30 weeks and/or birthweight less…

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) research suggests that the adult capacity is limited to three or four multifeature object representations. Despite evidence supporting a developmental increase in capacity, it remains unclear what the unit of capacity is in children. The current study employed the change detection paradigm to investigate both the…

This study investigated the effectiveness of an Early Childhood Education science methods course that focused exclusively on providing various mastery (i.e., enactive, cognitive content, and cognitive pedagogical) and vicarious experiences (i.e., cognitive self-modeling, symbolic modeling, and simulated modeling) in increasing preservice…

This study involved the investigation of the effects of the Total Cluster Grouping Model on the achievement and identification of urban, elementary students and to learn about the classroom practices of and perceptions classroom teachers had of their students' ability levels over the course of the study. Proportionality of representation in…

This study sought to understand the process of change elementary teachers experienced as they participated in mathematics professional development. This investigation explored the impact of mathematics professional development on teachers' content knowledge for teaching, their ability to implement innovative pedagogical practices, and the…

This paper investigates the impact of a two-year professional development program on teacher self-efficacy for inquiry-based instruction. The program utilizes scientist-teacher partnerships to develop content knowledge, inquiry-based instruction, and leadership skills for in-service STEM teachers. Participating teachers are administered a survey…