Science

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative and basic qualitative study was to examine fifth and eighth grade science teachers' responses, perceptions of the role of technology in the classroom, and how they felt that computer applications, tools, and the Internet influence student understanding. The purposeful sample included survey and interview responses from fifth grade and eighth grade general and physical science teachers. Even though they may not be generalizable to other teachers or classrooms due to a low response rate, findings from this study indicated teachers with fewer years of teaching science had a higher level of computer use but less computer access, especially for students, in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers' choice of professional development moderated the relationship between the level of school performance and teachers' knowledge/skills, with the most positive relationship being with workshops that occurred outside of the school. Eighteen interviews revealed that teachers perceived the role of technology in classroom instruction mainly as teacher-centered and supplemental, rather than student-centered activities.

This study examines the themes of alchemy and transformation in Paradise Lost and seventeenth-century thought. Beginning with an overvieiw of the historical roots of alchemy, this study analyzes the ancient, underlying philosophical concepts that marital union produces the birth of the soul and that destruction is necessary for this birth. Alchemical references identified in Paradise Lost include animal lore and direct alchemical images, which demonstrate Milton's knowledge of alchemy and his deliberate use of the alchemical metaphor. These themes support the proposal that Milton, a Christian humanist, uses alchemy as a metaphor described in this study as "divine alchemy," which begins with his belief that Christians, inheriting original sin, must submit themselves to a transformative process similar to transmutation to restore right reason and, ultimately, achieve salvation.

The purpose of this study was to determine if middle school student scientific understanding could be predicted by the variables: standardized 5th grade score in science, standardized 5th grade score in mathematics, standardized 5th grade score in reading, student attitude towards science, socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. The areas of the comprehensive literature review were trends in science learning and teaching, research in the K-12 science education arena, what factors have influenced K-12 science education, scientific understanding, what research has been done on K-12 scientific understanding, and what factors have influenced science understanding in the K-12 arenas. Based on the results of the literature review, the researcher of this study examined a sample of middle school 8th grade students. An Attitude Towards Science Survey (SATS) Simpson & Oliver (1990) and a Survey of Scientific Understandings (Klapper, DeLucia, & Trent, 1993) were administered to these 116 middle school 8th grade students drawn from a total population of 1109 who attend this middle school in a typical county in Florida during the 2010- 2011 school year. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test each sub-hypothesis and to provide a model that attempted to predict student scientific understanding. Seven null sub-hypotheses were formed to determine if there were significant relationships between student scientific understanding and the abovementioned variables. The results of the tests of the seven null sub-hypotheses showed that the sub-hypothesis that involved socioeconomic status was rejected, which indicated that the socioeconomic status of a family does influence the level of scientific understanding of a student.

This study explored the effects of Problem-Based Leaning (PBL) with webanchored instruction in nanotechnology on the science conceptual understanding, the attitude towards science, and the perception of science in society of elementary students. A mixed-methods approach was used. Subjects (N=46) participated in the study for approximately two and a half weeks. A pretest was administered for science conceptual understanding and for attitude towards science. An intervention, web-based nanotechnology anchor, Catching the Rays, followed. Catching the Rays navigated subjects through a nano quest on sunscreen. After the intervention, a posttest was administered for each science conceptual understanding and attitude towards science. Following, a purposeful selection of interviewees (N=6) participated in a Nano Post- Interview. Pretest/posttest data were analyzed using a paired t test. Results of the paired t test for science conceptual understanding (post- being larger than pre-, p <. 01) and attitude towards science (post- being larger than pre-, p < .01) were significant at the p < .05 alpha level. Nano Post-Interview data were coded and analyzed independently by two raters for emerging themes. Two themes of "Risks and Benefits" and "Solves Problems" emerged from subjects' (N=6) responses to perception of science in society questions. The theme of "Risks and Benefits" strongly suggests that subjects have a positive perception that nanotechnology comes with risks and benefits to society. The theme of "Solves Problems" strongly suggests subjects have a positive perception that nanotechnology is governed by society's needs and is used to help solve society's problems. Findings from this study suggest that PBL with web-anchored instruction in nanotechnology had a positive effect on subjects' science conceptual understanding, attitude towards science, and perception of science in society.

This qualitative study examined the nature of 5th-grade students' oral and written discourse in relation to their conceptual learning during six science inquiry-based lessons. Qualitative data were collected using small group observations, transcriptions of small group discourse, students' science notebooks, and student interviews. These data were used to create an in-depth illustration of 5th-grade students' discourse and the impact of that discourse on their science conceptual learning. Findings indicated students spoke in three main discourse classifications during small group inquiries and two of these discourses were also present in the science notebook entries. Findings further indicated gender did not impact the nature of students' oral or written discourse regarding their conceptual learning. Implications for classroom practice and suggestions for further research in elementary science education are offered.

Intermediate elementary students (grades 4 and 5) frequently struggle to become scientifically literate in their general education classrooms. Scientific literacy includes knowing how to access and use information found in science texts. Unfortunately, many students struggle to read and understand science texts (Michalsky, Mevarech, & Haibi, 2009, p. 363). Fortunately, elementary students have shown improvement in reading comprehension when explicitly instructed in cognitive and metacognitive strategies to comprehend expository text in settings that support collaboration and flexible application of comprehension strategies, and have meaningful opportunities for reading and writing (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2004; Palincsar & Klenk, 1992). A method that includes these components is reciprocal teaching (RT; National Reading Panel, 2000). RT has been used during content area instruction to increase reading comprehension skills of intermediate elementary students without disabilities in general education classrooms (King & Johnson, 1999; Lederer, 2000; Lubliner, 2004). These reading comprehension gains have been maintained by students on follow-up tests after the RT intervention has been withdrawn (Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Westera & Moore, 1995). This study examined the effects of RT on the science literacy of intermediate elementary students (grades 4-5) participating in inclusive science classes. Students with learning disabilities (SWLD), students at-risk (AR), and students in general education (GE) participated in this study. General education teachers used RT with science texts to improve science literacy. Pre/post science quizzes were used to assess the effects of the RT intervention, and post/follow-up tests assessed potential maintenance of the RT. s

The purpose of this study was to analyze the biology content, instructional strategies, and assessment methods of 100 biological science websites that were appropriate for Grade 12 educational purposes. For the analysis of each website, an instrument, developed from the National Science Education Standards (NSES) for Grade 12 Life Science coupled with criteria derived from the Web-based Inquiry (WBI) for Learning Science instrument (Bodzin, 2005) and other pertinent published educational literature, was utilized. The analysis focused on elucidating the appropriateness of the biology content, instructional strategies, and assessment tools of selected websites for facilitating the biological science education of Grade 12 students. Frequencies of agreement and disagreement of the content of each selected website with criteria included in the data collection instrument were used for alignment determination of the content of each website with the NSES. Chi-square tests were performed by Microsoft Excel to determine the statistical significance of differences of actual and expected 85% frequencies of alignment of the analyzed website parameters with indicators of alignment to NSES. Chi-square tests indicated that at a 0.05 level of significance there was an overall difference between the actual and expected 85% frequencies of alignment of biology content, instructional strategies and assessment methods with website indicators of alignment with the NSES (p < 0.05). Chi-square tests also indicated that there was a significant difference between the actual and expected frequencies of alignment of analyzed categories (biology content, instructional strategies, and assessment methods) of the sampled websites with website indicators of alignment with the NSES (p < 0.05).

This qualitative study examined seven preservice teachers' perceptions of their science content knowledge, teaching practices, and reflective processes through the use of the metacognitive strategy of concept maps. Included in the paper is a review of literature in the areas of preservice teachers' perceptions of teaching, concept development, concept mapping, science content understanding, and reflective process as a part of metacognition. The key questions addressed include the use of concept maps to indicate organization and understanding of science content, mapping strategies to indicate perceptions of teaching practices, and the influence of concept maps on reflective process. There is also a comparison of preservice teachers' perceptions of concept map usage with the purposes and practices of maps as described by experienced teachers. Data were collected primarily through interviews, observations, a pre- and post-concept mapping activity, and an analysis of those concept maps using a rubric developed for this study. Findings showed that concept map usage clarified students' understanding of the organization and relationships within content area and that the process of creating the concept maps increased participants' understanding of the selected content.

The purpose of this proposed research study was to identify actual teaching practices/instructional strategies for online science courses. The identification of these teaching practices/instructional strategies could be used to compile a set of teaching practices/instructional strategies for virtual high school and online academy science instructors. This study could assist online science instructors by determining which teaching practices/instructional strategies were preferred for the online teaching environment. The literature reviewed the role of online and face-to-face instructional strategies, then discussed and elaborated on the science instructional strategies used by teachers, specifically at the secondary level. The current literature did not reflect an integration of these areas of study. Therefore, the connectedness of these two types of instructional strategies and the creation of a set of preferred instructional practices for online science instruction was deemed necessary. For the purpose of this study, the researcher designed a survey for face-to-face and online teachers to identify preferred teaching practices, instructional strategies, and types of technology used when teaching high school science students. The survey also requested demographic data information from the faculty members, including years of experience, subject(s) taught, and whether the teacher taught in a traditional classroom or online, to determine if any of those elements affect differences in faculty perceptions with regard to the questions under investigation. The findings from the current study added to the literature by demonstrating the differences and the similarities that exist between online and face-to-face instruction. Both forms of instruction tend to rely on student-centered approaches to teaching.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether statistically significant differences existed between high school Honors Physics websites and those of Advanced Placement (AP) Physics in terms of web-design, National Science Education Standards (NSES) Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. The procedure began with the selection of 152 sites comprising two groups with equal sample sizes of 76 for Honors Physics and for Advanced Placement Physics. The websites used in the study were accumulated using the Google[TM] search engine. To find Honors Physics websites, the search words "honors physics high school" were entered as the query into the search engine. To find sites for Advanced Placement Physics, the query, "advanced placement physics high school," was entered into the search engine. The evaluation of each website was performed using an instrument developed by the researcher based on three attributes: Web-design, NSES Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. A "1" was scored if the website was found to have each attribute, otherwise a "0" was given. This process continued until all 76 websites were evaluated for each of the two types of physics websites, Honors and Advanced Placement. Subsequently the data were processed using Excel functions and the SPSS statistical software program. The mean and standard deviation were computed individually for the three attributes under consideration. Three, 2-tailed, independent samples t tests were performed to compare the two groups of physics websites separately on the basis of Web Design, Physics Content, and Science Process. The results of the study indicated that there was only one statistically significant difference between high school Honors Physics websites and those of AP Physics.