Theses and Dissertations

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2022/20633

This collection contains theses and dissertations from students who have completed Master of Education (M.S.Ed.), Education Specialist (Ed.S.), and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees in the School of Education.

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Akerson, Valarie"

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    DETERMINING THE USEFULNESS OF FAIRY TALES, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES, AND DIGITAL SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS TO INCREASE THE UNDERSTANDING OF NATURE OF SCIENCE IN KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS
    ([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Poindexter, Kristen Anne; Akerson, Valarie
    The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of fairy tales, immersive experiences, and digital science notebooks in increasing the understanding of specific Nature of Science (NOS) aspects in kindergarten students and aimed to fill a gap in the literature where NOS and children’s literature overlap. Seventeen kindergarten students in a suburban classroom participated in this study. It is difficult for classroom teachers to find scientifically accurate children’s literature, potentially leading to misconceptions about science in young children. Previous research (Akerson et al., 2019a; Akerson et al., 2019b; Alan et al., 2018; Avsar Erumit & Akerson, 2022; Buck et al., 2019) has shown that young children are able to attain some understanding of specific NOS aspects including observation, inference, creativity, subjectivity, empirical evidence, and the tentativeness of science. Explicit-reflective instruction is a model that has been studied and has been determined to be a strategy classroom teachers can use to help increase student understanding of NOS aspects (Khishfe & Abd-El-Khalick, 2002, Akerson et. al., 2011). The explicit-reflective model that has been effective in teaching NOS aspects and parallels the work of Vygotsky, where students learn from older, more skilled peers and persist in inquiry (Zuckerman et al., 1998, Trudge, 1990). These models helped the researcher to develop a framework to allow students to be explicitly taught specific NOS aspects, use them as a whole group in practice, discuss with peers, and then reflect upon their learning through weekly reflection and inferring sheets. In this action research, qualitative study, fairy tales combined with immersive experiences (mock crime scenes), and digital science notebooks were used using the explicit-reflective teaching model to increase student understanding of specific NOS aspects. The validated VNOS-E was administered as a pre/posttest/delayed posttest to determine the increase in student understanding and use and the longevity of the understanding and use of specific NOS aspects. Using a five weeklong intervention consisting of five fairy tale centered crimes, students were able to increase their use and understanding of specific NOS aspects as indicated by growth on the VNOS-E and student recording and inferring sheets.
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    EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL BELONGING AND CONNECTEDNESS IN AN ONLINE SCIENCE COURSE: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY
    ([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Londino-Smolar, Gina; Akerson, Valarie
    There is a desire to improve science education in the online learning environment, in which the focus is on students’ connectedness and belonging and with the use of learning technologies, can enhance the current teaching climate of the large enrollment, online, forensic science course. In a popular introductory forensic science online course, students were given opportunities to engage and interact with learning materials, peers, and the instructor using various learning technologies. Specific pedagogies, such as inclusive teaching methods, communication, and building interpersonal relationships, used throughout the course were evaluated in the success to build an online learning community, focusing on the students’ perception on their sense of social connectedness and belonging. Various technology tools were used in the online course to deliver learning materials, engage students in course content, and as a platform for student interaction with peers and the instructor, which were focused on promoting students’ sense of social connectedness and belonging. With the increase in learning technologies used in the online learning environment, discovering the effectiveness of learning tools will help others choose appropriate tools depending on the desired outcome. Students were asked at the start of the course what social belonging and connectedness meant to them and were surveyed to evaluate their current sense of belonging and connectedness at multiple points throughout the course. Specific learning activities were designed to build on students' sense of belonging and connectedness based on student feedback, focusing on creating inclusive teaching practices, communication, and interpersonal relationships. At the end of the learning experience, students were asked again to share their perception of belonging and connectedness with the addition of individual student interviews. The students’ perception of social belonging and connectedness was increased from the beginning of the course. Specific learning technology tools, such as InScribe, Peer-review assignments, and recorded instructor videos vc, were effective in building community through a sense of social belonging and connectedness to both the others in the course, as well as the course content.
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    THE EFFECTS OF ACTIVE LEARNING ON MOTIVATION AND GRADES AMONG A DIVERSE STUDENT POPULATION: MIXED METHODS ACTION RESEARCH OF LARGE, ONLINE, INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY COURSES
    ([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-10) Rothman, Stephanie Marin; Akerson, Valarie
    Equity gaps are a persistent problem in education. The literature points to active learning as an effective way to close equity gaps in large undergraduate biology courses. Theorists suggest that active learning increases student motivation. Through mixed methods action research, I explored how my active learning interventions impacted my online students’ motivation and grades. Analysis revealed that students come to class inherently motivated, which is further bolstered by active learning and hindered by passive learning. Students were mixed on the importance of peer interaction, although the Skeletal Notes combined with engaging lectures increased student expectancy, and the options in the You-pick Assignments offered enjoyable real-world learning. My students’ sense of expectancy and value significantly increased, and their sense of cost significantly decreased after taking my online courses. Among most demographic groups there was little to no significant difference in motivation or grades. There was a significant correlation between students’ final grades and their change in value and cost
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    THE IMPACT OF CONTEXTUALIZED NATURE OF SCIENCE ON STUDENT EPISTEMOLOGICAL MISCONCEPTIONS IN NATURE OF SCIENCE, BONDING AND REACTION CHEMISTRY
    ([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-06) Johnston, Mary F.; Akerson, Valarie
    Nature of science is a vital part of science classrooms. Students and educators often hold misconceptions and uninformed views of science and how it works. High school science classrooms are often remiss to embed nature of science within the content, especially in more abstract courses, such as chemistry. Furthermore, ambiguity exists regarding the efficacy of its incorporation within more abstract content (bonding or reaction chemistry). Students also enter chemistry with alternative understandings of content which are persistent and resist remediation. The goal of this action research study was to mitigate foundational misconceptions in these three area: nature of science, bonding and reaction chemistry, while assessing the benefit of nature of science on content comprehension. During the two-part action research study, student participants first received decontextualized nature of science instruction, followed by two unit chapters on bonding with nature of science embedded within the content in an explicit-reflective manner. In the second part, an introductory unit on reaction chemistry was presented in the absence of contextualized nature of science. All student-participants and non-participants received the same intervention. Three established instruments (pre and post interventional) were administered (Views of Nature of Science Form B, Bonding Representative Inventory and Representational Systems and Chemical Reactions Diagnostic Instrument). In addition, a delayed Views of Nature of Science Form B, with subsequent semi-structured interview were completed. Evidence suggests growth in bonding comprehension which correlates with the apparent academic achievement levels; unanticipated understanding demonstrated by high and medium achieving participants and average to below average understanding demonstrated by the lower achieving student-participants. The introductory chapter on reaction chemistry demonstrated a similar trend in growth; reflecting apparent achievement levels and reduction in common misconceptions. The evidence has suggested that high and medium achieving students are more successful with the short term intervention while lower achieving students may benefit from earlier iterations of nature of science during less abstract chemistry content.