Browsing by Subject "K-12"
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Item Integration of Engineering education by high school teachers to meet standards in the physics classroom(2013-08) Kersten, Jennifer AnnaIn recent years there has been increasing interest in engineering education at the K-12 level, which has resulted in states adopting engineering standards as a part of their academic science standards. From a national perspective, the basis for research into engineering education at the K-12 level is the belief that it is of benefit to student learning, including to "improve student learning and achievement in science and mathematics; increase awareness of engineering and the work of engineers; boost youth interest in pursuing engineering as a career; and increase the technological literacy of all students" (National Research Council, 2009a, p. 1). The above has led to a need to understand how teachers are currently implementing engineering education in their classrooms. High school physics teachers have a history of implementing engineering design projects in their classrooms, thus providing an appropriate setting to look for evidence of quality engineering education at the high school level. Understanding the characteristics of quality engineering integration can inform curricular and professional development efforts for teachers asked to implement engineering in their classrooms. Thus, the question that guided this study is: How, and to what extent, do physics teachers represent quality engineering in a physics unit focused on engineering? A case study research design was implemented for this project. Three high school physics teachers were participants in this study focused on the integration of engineering education into the physics classroom. The data collected included observations, interviews, and classroom documents that were analyzed using the Framework for Quality K-12 Engineering Education (Moore, Glancy et al., 2013). The results provided information about the areas of the K-12 engineering framework addressed during these engineering design projects, and detailed the quality of these lesson components. The results indicate that all of the design projects contained components of the indicators central to engineering education, although with varied degrees of success. In addition, each design project contained aspects important to the development of students' understanding of engineering and that promote important professional skills used by engineers. The implications of this work are discussed at the teacher, school, professional development, and policy levels.Item Minnesota Science Teachers Education Project (MnSTEP)(Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2010-06) Michlin, Michael; Kalke, Nan; Gdula, JulieThe Minnesota Science Teachers Education Project (MnSTEP) was a series of rigorous, content-focused, summer science institutes offered regionally throughout Minnesota for K-12 teachers of science. Institutes were provided in biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and scientific inquiry – addressing the Minnesota Science Standards in each area – with at least one K-5 and one 6-12 institute offered in each of five regions each summer. MnSTEP completed the third and final year of summer institutes and school year follow-up for Minnesota K-12 science teachers, including licensure programs in both high school physics and chemistry. Over three years, MnSTEP delivered 47 standardsbased science content institutes involving 914 teachers, who then taught more than 85,000 students. This report presents information on performance outcomes for year three of the project including results of pre- and post-assessment data for the year two cohort of teacher participants in the summer 2008 institutes. We presented an evaluation of the year one cohort in the 2008 MnSTEP Evaluation Report. We provide performance outcomes for the year one cohort in this report as a supplement to the 2008 report and for comparison purposes to the year two cohort.Item Minutes: Senate Committee on Social Concerns: November 4, 2002(2002-11-04) University of Minnesota: Senate Committee on Social ConcernsItem Motivations of Pre-Service Teachers in Physical Education to Incorporate Outdoor Education in K-12 Physical Education School Programs(2012) Kohlin, Patrick MThere is strong national endorsement for including outdoor adventure and challenge activities in the physical education classroom yet, for whatever reasons, PE practitioners still cling to the traditional sport oriented method of physical education. Still, sports and games remain in the realm of PE and outdoor skills activities remain in the realm of OE. This behavior implies a misperception of where and how to incorporate outdoor education focused physical skills lessons. This study describes how current PE and OE pre-service teachers perceive the PE/OE pre-service landscape, and the motivations leading them to choose one program major over the other. Students who are currently enrolled in degree required courses in either PE or OE teacher preparation programs at the University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Wisconsin Lacrosse and the University of Wisconsin Steven’s Point were surveyed. The findings of this study reveals that there are college student who have an interest in providing outdoor education, but are not particularly interested in teaching it to kids in the formal school setting. And that there are college student who are interested in teaching kids in a formal school setting, but are not be particularly interested in providing outdoor education. Developing students who have both an interest in outdoor education and an interest in teaching in the formal setting is just one important step. Equally important is that all parties invested in the health and well being of our children create an environment within our physical education system that is accepting of outdoor education principles and supportive of its advocates.Item NEXT GENERATION EDUCATION: Implications For Technical Communicators(2018) Canon, SarahThe revolution has arrived. Technology is advancing, the classroom is evolving, and the role of the technical communicator is shifting. With all of these changes, the next generation has great potential for their educational experience. How might technical communicators play a role in developing the future of our society through these next generation students? This study documents the shift in the educational paradigm due to technological advancements, analyses of the future of learning technologies, and examines methods of teaching and learning with specific attention to the role of the technical communicator. The objective is to understand how the role of the technical communicator has and will change, add value to learning technologies, and mediate gaps in terms of developing and implementing learning technologies. As a whole, the project provides insight into the overlap of emerging technologies, classroom education, and technical communication.Item Reforming Teacher Contracts: A Look at the Impact of Q Comp on Student Achievement in Minnesota(University of Minnesota, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2015-07) Mykerezi, Elton; Sojourner, Aaron; West, KristineUntil recently, teacher employment and pay across the United States was strictly determined by education and experience, even though research shows that teachers with similar credentials and experience vary widely in their ability to influence student outcomes. As a result, there has been a surge in interest nationally in “pay-for-performance” contracts that tie pay to various measures of performance. Critics of pay-for-performance, often including teacher unions, raise concerns about incentives to narrow curricula (aka “teaching to the test”) and adverse effects on teacher collaboration, among others. Minnesota’s Q Comp is one of the nation’s largest and longest-lasting pay-for-performance programs; it delivers reform via a voluntary “grantor-grantee” format that ensures political feasibility. Districts design alternative contracts with their unions, then propose them to the state for extra funding. We studied the effect that adoption of Q Comp in Minnesota districts had on student achievement growth and found program adoption leads to an additional month’s worth of learning, on average, in reading scores. Similar gains were observed in math scores, but with less statistical precision. We found no notable evidence of student or teacher movements in response to the program, nor any significant evidence of “teaching to the test.” We concluded that the program increased test scores by providing incumbent teachers with the incentives and tools to adjust their practices in ways that increase test scores. Gains were obtained at relatively low cost, so the program is cost effective. However, the size of the gain was not sufficiently large for such voluntary pay-for-performance to be relied on as the only tool for improving education quality. A well-designed “grantor-grantee” type pay-for-performance program can be a valuable tool in policymaker’s arsenals, for improving education quality.