A current trend in educational reform requires teachers to be proficient in employing technology in their classrooms. As a result of this trend, teachers need to be prepared to integrate technology into their teaching, and teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to prepare their students accordingly. The handheld computer (PDA)...
In April of 1997 it was pointed out at an NSF Engineering Education Innovators conference that “… education appears to ignore the need for connections and for integration – which should be at the core of an engineering education.” In order to solve this problem a group named ‘TekBotsTM’ was...
This dissertation details an experiment designed to identify gender differences in learning using three experimental treatments: animation, static graphics, and verbal instruction alone. Three learning presentations were used in testing of 332 university students. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA, binomial tests for differences of proportion, and descriptive statistics. Results...
Field trips are well recognized by researchers as an educational approach with the potential to complement and enhance classroom science teaching by exposing students to unique activities, resources, and content in informal settings. The following investigation addresses teachers' field trip practices in three related manuscripts:
(1) A study examining the...
Communicating dynamic motion content, such as exercise, with a static medium, such as paper, is difficult. The technology exists for presenting 3D animated exercise content to patients; however, the tools for allowing exercise domain experts to effectively author the content do not exist. We conducted two formative studies with exercise...
This thesis develops a manual for interpreters at six National Park Service areas established to preserve and interpret fossils of the Cenozoic Era: Fossil Butte National Monument (Wyoming), John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon), Badlands National Park (South Dakota), Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Colorado), Agate Fossil Beds National...
Behavioral self-regulation has emerged as an important predictor of academic success as early as preschool. Few studies, however, have examined ways to improve children's behavioral self-regulation in preschool, prior to formal school entry. This dissertation includes two studies examining a pilot intervention using classroom games to improve behavioral self-regulation with...
This study investigated associations among teachers' pedagogical content beliefs,
approaches to teaching, and their students' achievement in a high school Advanced
Placement (AP) Calculus setting. The three major research questions concerned: (a)
how well Al' calculus teachers' pedagogical beliefs about mathematics, curriculum, and
instruction aligned with a constuctivist point of...
Over the last few decades, the methods and tools through which humans collaborate, share knowledge and generally communicate have been advancing at a rapid pace. Thanks mostly to advances in broadband internet, cheap data storage and fast microprocessors, humans now have the ability to work together in ways that even...
The Rural Science Education Program is a partnership between Oregon State University and rural K–12 schools for enrichment of the science curriculum with hands-on science activities. The curricula include simple, innovative inquiry- and site-based experiments that encourage critical thinking in K–12 students about the impacts of agriculture on the environment...