Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Models of curriculum development'

This dissertation describes a mathematics curriculum and instruction design experiment involving a series of embodied mathematical activities conducted in two Colorado elementary schools Activities designed for this experiment include multi-scalar number line models focused on supporting students’ understanding of elementary mathematics. Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) served as a roadmap for the development of models and problem contexts during the design process, and maintained the focus on mathematics as human activity. Key ideas and insights from scholars who have employed embodied, enactive, ecological, multimodal, and inclusive materialist theories of mathematical activity/cognition on spatiality, human vision, and perception also informed the work. Departing from the sedentary approach to U.S. elementary school mathematics learning and instruction, the designed activities intentionally required students to use their bodies and tools in space to coordinate solutions to mathematical problems. As a design experiment, the research took place in two phases over the course of a year. Phase 1 occurred over 17 days in a suburban 2^nd grade public school classroom, and phase 2 consisted of six 55-minute clinical interviews with six student pairs from two 3 ^rd grade classrooms in an urban public school. Findings from this research included students using the designed models to support mathematical arguments and to increase levels of precision in their mathematical activity. Themes also emerged around the ways that students responded to affordances and constraints of the models, by shifting orientations, authority, and re-purposing and creating new tools. Multi-scalar mathematical models, activities, and activity spaces afforded novel and intentionally embodied ways for students to participate in model-centric mathematical activity.

The purpose of this study was to examine online community college student completion and the effectiveness of student learning in online courses, which was measured through the anticipated final online course grade using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework. The researcher collected completion rate data for both online and face-to-face courses from the 10-day roster to the end of the semester. Surveys consisting of questions from the CoI survey, demographic questions, and the student’s anticipated final course grade were administered by the Illinois Easter Community College (IECC) district to online students near the end of spring semester. The first research question examined the difference in completion rates for online and face-to-face courses. There was a statistically significant difference with students less likely to complete an online course in comparison to a face-to-face course. Three research questions assessed the relationship between the three components of CoI and a student’s anticipated final course grade. There was no statistically significant correlation between social presence and the student’s anticipated final online course grade. Cognitive presence and teaching presence both had a positive statistically significant relationship with the student’s anticipated final course grade. The final three research questions that guided this study used multiple regression to examine a predictive relationship between the social, cognitive, and teaching presence and a student’s anticipated final course grade. Cognitive presence was the only component of the CoI model that had a statistically significant predictive value on the student’s final course grade. Based on the findings from this study, the IECC district and other community colleges should focus more attention on completion efforts on online courses compared to face-to-face courses and develop and teach online courses that enhance the cognitive presence and teaching presence in an online course.

Large numbers of novice programmers have been failing postsecondary introductory computer science programming (CS1) courses for nearly four decades. Student learning is much worse in secondary programming courses of similar or even lesser rigor. This has critical implications for efforts to reclassify Computer Science (CS) as a core secondary subject. State departments of education have little incentive to do so until it can be demonstrated that most grade-level students will not only pass such classes, but will be well-prepared to succeed in subsequent vertically aligned coursework.

One rarely considered cause for such massive failure is insufficient pedagogic attention to teaching a programming language (PL) as a language, per se. Students who struggle with acquiring proficiency in using a PL can be likened to students who flounder in a French class due to a poor grasp of the language's syntactic or semantic features. Though natural languages (NL) and PLs differ in many key respects, a recently reported (2014) fMRI study has demonstrated that comprehension of computer programs primarily utilizes regions of the brain involved in language processing, not math. The implications for CS pedagogy are that, if PLs are learned in ways fundamentally similar to how second languages (L2) are acquired, foreign language pedagogies (FLP) and second language acquisition (SLA) theories can be key sources for informing the crafting of effective PL teaching strategies.

In this regard, key features of contemporary L2 pedagogies relevant to effective PL instruction—reflecting the late 20^th-century shift in emphasis from cognitive learning that stressed grammatical knowledge, to one that facilitates communication and practical uses of the language—are: (1) repetitive and comprehensible input in a variety of contexts, and (2) motivated, meaningful communication and interaction.

Informed by these principles, four language-based strategies adapted for PL instruction are described, the first to help students acquire syntax and three others for learning semantics: (a) memorization; (b) setting components in relief; (c) transformations; and (d) ongoing exposure.

Anecdotal observations in my classroom have long indicated that memorization of small programs and program fragments can immediately and drastically reduce the occurrence of syntax errors among novice pre-AP Java programming students. A modest first experiment attempting to confirm the effect was statistically unconvincing: for students most likely to struggle, the Pearson coefficient of −0.474 (p < 0.064) suggested a low-modest inverse correlation. A follow-up study will be better designed. Still, a possible explanation for the anecdotal phenomenon is that the repetition required for proficient memorization activates the same subconscious language acquisition processes that construct NL grammars when learners are exposed to language data.

Dismal retention rates subsequent to the introductory programming course have historically also been a persistent problem. One key factor impacting attrition is a student's intrinsic motivation, which is shaped both by interest in, and self-efficacy with regards to, the subject matter. Interest involves not just CS concepts, but also context, the domains used to illustrate how one can apply those concepts. One way to tap into a wide range of student interests is to demonstrate the capacity of CS to explore, model, simulate and solve non-trivial problems in domains across the academic spectrum, fields that students already value and whose basic concepts they already understand.

An original University of California "G" elective (UCOP "a-g" approved) pre-AP programming course along these principles is described. In this graphics-based Processing course, students are guided through the process of writing and studying small dynamic art programs, progressing to mid-size graphics programs that model or simulate real-world problems and phenomena in geography, biology, political science and astronomy. The contextualized course content combined with the language-specific strategies outlined above address both interest and self-efficacy. Although anecdotally these appear to have a positive effect on student understanding and retention, studies need to be done on a larger scale to validate these outcomes.

Finally, a critique is offered of the movement to replace rigorous secondary programming instruction with survey courses—particularly Exploring Computer Science and APCS Principles—under the guise of "democratizing" secondary CS education or to address the severe and persistent demographic disparities. This group of educators has promulgated a nonsensical fiction that programming is simply one of many subdisciplines of the field, rather than the core skill needed to understand all other CS topics in any deep and meaningful way. These courses present a facade of mitigating demographic disparities, but leave participants no better prepared for subsequent CS study.

Modeling is an important scientific practice through which scientists generate, evaluate, and revise scientific knowledge, and it can be translated into science classrooms as a means for engaging students in authentic scientific practice. Much of the research investigating modeling in classrooms focuses on student learning, leaving a gap in understanding how teachers enact this important practice. This dissertation draws on data collected through a model-based curricular project to uncover instructional moves teachers made to enact modeling, to describe factors influencing enactment, and to discuss a framework for designing and enacting modeling lessons.

I framed my analysis and interpretation of data within the varying perceptions of modeling found in the science studies and science education literature. Largely, modeling is described to varying degrees as a means to engage students in sense-making or as a means to deliver content to students. This frame revealed how the instructional moves teachers used to enact modeling may have influenced its portrayal as a reasoning practice. I found that teachers’ responses to their students’ ideas or questions may have important consequences for students’ engagement in modeling, and thus, sense-making.

To investigate factors influencing the portrayal of modeling, I analyzed teacher interviews and writings for what they perceived affected instruction. My findings illustrate alignments and misalignments between what teachers perceive modeling to be and what they do through instruction. In particular, teachers valued providing their students with time to collaborate and to share their ideas, but when time was perceived as a constraint, instruction shifted towards delivering content. Additionally, teachers’ perceptions of students’ capacity to engage in modeling is also related to if and how they provided opportunities for students to make sense of phenomena.

The dissertation closes with a discussion of a framework for designing and enacting lessons for engaging students in modeling. I draw on examples from this study to provide context for how the framework can support teachers in engaging students in modeling. Altogether, this dissertation describes how teachers facilitate modeling and why varying enactments may be observed, filling a gap in researchers’ understanding of how teachers enact modeling in science classrooms.

Cursive writing is a skill that contributes to learning, yet in the digital age it is no longer considered a necessary part of the curriculum in America’s schools. Research demonstrates the importance of handwriting, particularly cursive, in the development of fluency, compositional complexity, and literacy skills. Because of the ever-expanding use of technology, it is necessary to understand the value that cursive brings to the thinking and writing process.

This study compared the differences in fluency and compositional quality between two modes of transcription (cursive and keyboard) among fifth- and eighth-grade students. It also examined the attitudes and beliefs of today’s educators and students regarding cursive’s value and benefits as compared with the value and benefits of keyboarding. Students from three private schools in the midwestern United States wrote two stories each, one in cursive and one by keyboard using the Test of Written Language-4. The researcher tabulated the total word count (fluency) for each story and compared the results by grade level and mode of transcription. The researcher also compared the standard scores for each story measuring compositional quality by mode of transcription, grade levels, and schools. The students and their teachers completed a survey expressing their views on cursive writing and the use of a keyboard. The teachers also participated in follow-up phone interviews.

The researcher conducted a series of parametric and non-parametric tests, and the results indicated that the keyboard-generated stories in both the fifth and eighth grade generally scored higher in fluency and compositional quality over the cursive stories. In contrast, the teachers and students placed a substantial value on learning and using cursive as indicated by the qualitative data. Future studies should focus on understanding this dichotomy and how cursive writing may enhance best practices in educating the next generation of digital natives.