Embodied cognition posits that physical interactions with the environment play a crucial role in learning, including complex, abstract concepts in STEM disciplines. This is relevant for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) learners who often utilize sign language, which is a naturally embodied, visuospatial mode of communication. My dissertation…

This dissertation asks how to improve science education and science communication, and suggests that digital storytelling techniques can be used to better engage learners in the process of knowledge making. Digital storytelling refers to both the use of high-quality digital media content as learning materials, and also to the use of social…

Ninth-grade students with learning difficulties typically underperform those without learning difficulties, particularly in an integrated geoscience course. Despite the growing demand for STEM careers, science remains challenging to understand and inaccessible to many, especially those with learning difficulties (Vavougios et al., 2016).…

This study explored the science learning experiences of elementary English Language Learners (ELLs) in a fourth-grade mainstream science classroom in an urban setting. Informed by ethnographic research and case study design, this study interrogated the celebrated and marginalized practices within common classroom procedures and what…

This quasi-experimental study sought to use flipped learning to examine if there was a difference in student performance in a middle school science classroom for students in a flipped classroom versus those students in a nonflipped classroom. This study will contribute to the growing body of literature on flipped learning as school leaders can…

Due to the unique and advantageous physiochemical properties of nanoparticles, they have been increasingly incorporated into consumer products and emerging technologies. The manufacture, wear and tear of use, and disposal of these nano-enabled products will likely result in the release of nanoparticles into the environment. Unfortunately,…

Teaching students to construct scientific understanding is complex. Teachers who develop noticing skills can attend and respond to students' science ideas to move understanding forward. Traditional professional development (PD) approaches limit teachers' opportunities to develop noticing skills. This study examined what aspects of a collaborative…

This study investigated whether or not lab type, traditional lab or virtual lab, influenced students' engagement. To measure student engagement six students were videoed over the course of an 18-week semester while conducting 10 lab experiments. To analyze student engagement, a systematic visual comparison in the tradition of single case research…

This study examined the interactions between parents and their typically developing fourth grade children as they shared science trade books together at home. The aim of this research was to understand how parents and children make meaning together in this context and how parent-child talk related to children's developing scientific views. Four…

Research is not clear on how to address the difficulty students have conceptualizing geologic processes and phenomena. This study investigated how animations coupled with seductive details effect learners' situational interest and emotions. A quantitative quasi-experimental study employing an independent-measures factorial design was used. The…

This experimental investigation evaluated the impact of educational songs on a child's ability to recall scientific content from an educational television program. Preschoolers' comprehension of the educational content was examined by measuring children's ability to recall the featured science content (the function of a pulley and…

Children naturally use observations and everyday thinking to construct explanations as to why phenomena happen in the world. Science instruction can benefit by starting with these ideas to help children build coherent scientific understandings of how the physical world works. To do so, science teaching must involve attending to students'…

Cognitive load theory (CLT) (Sweller 1988, 1998, 2010) provides us a guiding framework for designing instructional materials. CLT differentiates three subtypes of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. The three cognitive loads are theorized based on the number of simultaneously processed elements in working memory.…

This research investigates students' learning about the electron transport chain (ETC) process in photosynthesis by watching a video followed by playing a serious board game-Electron Chute- that models the ETC process. To accomplish this goal, several learning outcomes regarding the misconceptions students' hold about photosynthesis and the ETC…

Designing professional development that effectively supports teachers in learning new and often challenging practices remains a dilemma for teacher educators. Within the context of current reform efforts in science education, such as the "Next Generation Science Standards," teacher educators are faced with managing the dilemma of how to…