This study examined the effectiveness of three instructional and assessment strategies on conceptual understanding of the DNA molecule. Specifically, a model building task was utilized to determine if physical model construction, digital model construction with a touchscreen tablet computer, or paper worksheet activity effected conceptual…

The American School Counselors Association National Model (ASCANM), developed by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), serves as the framework that governs the roles of all school counselors. In particular, the ASCANM provides guidelines that school counselors should follow to ensure they perform in the counseling roles that enhance…

Optimization is a component critical to method development. Mathematical modeling of physical phenomena enables an efficient search for the parameters and conditions that optimize methods and systems. Here, optimization of methods in sonoelectrochemistry, electrochemical separations, electrochemical education, and assessment of diabetic status are…

Accurately assessing youth mental health involves obtaining reports from multiple informants who typically display low levels of correspondence. This low correspondence may reflect "situational specificity." That is, youth vary as to where they display mental health concerns and informants vary as to where and from what perspective they…

The school turnaround initiative and school reform have been focal points of the national education conversation since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was enacted by Congress under the Johnson Administration. No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) built upon the concept of equal access to a high-quality education for all…

The application of diagnostic classification models (DCMs) in the field of educational measurement is getting more attention in recent years. To make a valid inference from the model, it is important to ensure that the model fits the data. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the performance of the limited information…

The recruitment and retention of agriculture teachers has been a persistent problem for several decades, requiring unique approaches to solving this issue. This study sought to garner a unique prospective of why and how one enters the profession by understanding why second generation agriculture teachers (SGATs) chose to enter the profession after…

Systems thinking in chemistry education (STICE) has been proposed as an approach that could better equip students with abilities to connect their chemistry knowledge with other disciplines and with the skills needed to tackle complex global issues. However, educational change in chemistry is a complex effort that involves many interconnected…

An educational lattice model is proposed for the investigation of the influence of the density and indirectly of the pressure on the chemical equilibrium of the ideal gas phase reaction A [equilibrium] 2B. The model can be introduced by a board game simulating a stochastic process. This game can also be used to set up a corresponding computer…

To remain globally competitive, education in the United States must focus on retaining students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As laboratory courses have the potential to be powerful attractors or deterrents to a field, developing effective laboratory pedagogies is important to retain students in STEM. A course-based…

The underrepresentation of women in the school superintendency in the United States may be attributed to a lack of role models, mentoring, and educational networking. The problem that this study addressed is the lack of insight into how mentoring influences women's attainment of the superintendency. The purpose of this qualitative case study was…

One of the core dimensions of historical and social science inquiry is "[d]eveloping questions and planning inquiries" according to the National Council for the Social Studies' College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. Yet existing education research, instructional resources, and assessment have ignored how students frame problems…

This case study was an exploration of how sport coaches, teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators use video analysis to improve performance. The study helped to reveal the usage of video analysis and its perceived advantages and barriers. The case study helped to determine frameworks for practical use by school districts or individual…

Developmental education is critical in the future of higher education and for the large numbers of college and university students entering higher education. Developmental education sometimes carries a negative connotation, one that is misappropriated to developmental education itself, the students, and the colleges or universities they attend.…

How early do children produce multiword utterances? Do children's early utterances reflect abstract syntactic knowledge or are they the result of data-driven learning? We examine this issue through corpus analysis, computational modeling, and adult simulation experiments. Chapter 1 investigates when children start producing multiword utterances;…