This study assessed the influence of three history of science (HOS) courses on college students and preservice science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS), and examined whether participants who entered the investigated HOS courses with a conceptual framework consistent with current NOS views achieved more elaborate NOS understandings....
Although a concern for gender equity provided the framework for this research,
the results of this study highlighted the fact that the question of equity should be
broadened to include concern for the tier of talented women and men who currently
choose not to persist in an undergraduate computer science...
The underlying aim of my dissertation was to contribute knowledge that may better support and foster STEM education improvement initiatives at public research universities. The two research studies included in my dissertation advance knowledge per perspectives of key stakeholders targeted by initiatives attempting to foster change, students and faculty. In...
The purpose of this research was to determine whether
student academic achievement in college computer science
programs in the Republic of China (ROC) could be predicted
by factors reported to be effective in US studies. The
relationship between these factors and course performance in
computer science programs was examined. Gender...
Presented here is a case study of the problem-solving behaviors of upper-division undergraduate physics majors. This study explores the role of visual representations in students' problem solving and provides a foundation for investigating how students' use of visualization changes in the upper-division physics major. Three independent studies were conducted on...
A combination of theoretical perspectives is used to create a rich description of student reasoning when facing a highly-geometric electricity and magnetism problem in an upper-division active-engagement physics classroom at Oregon State University. Geometric reasoning as students encounter problem situations ranging from familiar to novel is described using van Zee...
The purpose was to gain information about the determinants of student behavior with respect to laboratory (lab) and non-laboratory (non-lab) science learning activities. Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action was used to investigate students' salient beliefs, correlations between determinants of intention, and the relative weights of determinants of...
This dissertation consists of two articles to be submitted for publication. The first,
a literature review, makes visible common influences on science teaching self-efficacy
beliefs and also points to potentially invisible validation concerns regarding the
instrument used. The second investigates the participants' invisible science teaching self-efficacy
beliefs and, through the...
The purpose of this study was (a) to develop a valid and reliable attitude
toward science instrument for use with Arabic male students at the secondary
school level, (b) to determine the differences in their attitudes toward science and
in their achievement, and (c) to determine the relationship between measures...
