NARST Invited Presentations
The Publications Advisory Committee invited Ross H. Nehm to join other editors of
science education journals in the Sponsored Symposium “How to Get Your Research Published
in Science Education Journals.”
NARST 2017 Attendees and Titles
Congratulations to the following students who have had their talks or posters accepted
at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching
(NARST) in San Antonio, TX this April!
Jennifer Gatz, “Middle School Girls’ Science Achievement and Cognition: Effects of an Informal
Science Program,” (Poster Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: Middle school is a critical period in the cognitive and academic development of young
women, and a time when their performance and interest in science may decline. This
study was conducted to address how an informal science and physical activity intervention
in previously sedentary middle school girls contributed to the improvement of executive
functioning involved in science learning.Interdependent cognitive control processes may influence metacognition and exert a
determinative influence on goal-directed pursuits. We applied this model to an after
school program and measured its impact on students’ cognition and science achievement.
A 20-week informal nutritional science and triathlon training program served as the
intervention for at-risk female middle school students. The comparison group of females
was randomly drawn from middle school students of a similar demographic. Wilcoxon
signed-rank tests were conducted on the intervention group for comparison of pre-
and post-intervention scores. ANCOVA was used to determine the effect of the intervention
on standardized measures of cognitive processes and science achievement. The intervention
contributed to a statistically significant improvement in cognition and science achievement.
These results suggest that an informal science program with a fitness component may
produce improvement in the cognitive processes involved in science learning.
Richard Gearns, “Impacts of an Electrical Engineering Outreach Program for High Needs Secondary
Students,” (Poster Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: There has been a chronic shortage of engineering talent in the U.S., and
more diverse students must be attracted and retained to expand the technological workforce.
To address this challenge, university educators and researchers designed and implemented
an electrical engineering program for high needs secondary students using a theoretical
framework which synthesized elements of the expectancy-value model and the theory
of planned behavior. The goal of the six-week afterschool program was to expose sophomores
and juniors to the challenge, passion, and opportunity of engineering by introducing
students to core engineering concepts and guiding them to design and modify innovative
projects in electrical engineering. Students also met engineering professionals and
discussed academic pathways for engineering careers. Research questions addressed
students’ perceptions about participation and success in engineering. The study is
descriptive-exploratory research that lays the groundwork for assessing the outcomes
of an out-of-school-time electrical engineering program that may be later replicated
and scaled. Qualitative data from 24 focus group participants revealed improved student
attitudes towards engineering study and careers. Coded focus group transcripts revealed
three themes among participants that included engineering related interests, engaging
programmatic aspects, and positional academic and career advantage. These themes
will be further analyzed and implications discussed.
Jessica Mintz, “Science Teacher and Administrator Perspectives of Teacher Evaluation Systems,”
(Poster Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: The goal of this study is to investigate the current Annual Professional
Performance Review (APPR) system for science teachers in New York from the perspective
of science teachers and administrators. Science teachers are unique among high school
educators in that they specialize in sub-disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics,
or Earth science), and in the case of New York State, their students must take high
stakes science exams at the culmination of each course. Thus, student performance
has consequential validity in the rating system, despite the fact that there are no
adjustments for variations in student preparation and other characteristics. In order
to make policy recommendations regarding evaluation practices, science teachers and
administrators were interviewed to examine their perceptions of the current process.
The researchers interviewed five science teacher/administrator pairs from select school
districts with varied ranges of experience and content area certification. The study
investigated the unintended consequences the teachers and administrators experienced
using the performance rating system. Insights from the initial evaluation of these data are encouraging for making recommendations
for revamping science teacher evaluation policy. With science teacher and administrator
input and support, designing a comprehensive system of evaluation is achievable and
desirable to maximize buy-in among key stakeholders.
Dawn Nachtigall, Realizing the Vision: Evidence for STEM Teacher Leadership Identity Development,
(Oral Presentation), advised by Prof. Rushton
Abstract: Since 2010, our NSF-funded STEM Master Teacher project has had the mission
of supporting sixteen physics and chemistry teachers from high-needs schools in becoming
teacher leaders. STEM teachers with no prior leadership experience, participated in
~100 hours of professional development designed around a framework previously described
by the authors (Authors, 2015, 2016). In this study, we analyzed coded transcriptions
of professional development sessions and focus group materials to determine the extent
by which Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs) have internalized our conceptual framework.
To further demonstrate the internalization of the framework, we endeavored to connect
the MTFs discourse with leadership roles they pursue within the program and in the
educational community. The analysis indicated that the leadership identities and roles
of the MTFs have changed throughout the five years of this project. The MTFs not only
internalized the key constructs of the model, they have begun to externalize this
leadership identity as teacher leaders in their schools, counties and at professional
conferences. By showing how the MTF’s leadership identity has evolved allowing them
to actively pursue leadership opportunities, we provide insight on how to develop
a professional development program to create STEM teacher leaders.
Stephanie O’Brien, “Master Teachers’ Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) of Electrochemistry,”
(Oral Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: This study evaluated the means by which eight chemistry master teachers
demonstrated their PCK to transform chemistry content within the topics of oxidation,
reduction and electrochemistry, thus this examination establishes a framework for
topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) in redox and electrochemistry.
The first phase of the study called for teachers to complete a validated TSPCK instrument
in redox and electrochemistry. The exam responses were coded to align with particular
components of TSPCK they assessed. The second phase consisted of interviews with each
of the research participants to gain an understanding of how their TSPCK in redox
and electrochemistry guided their decision-making. The chemistry master teachers displayed
varying levels of TSPCK in redox and electrochemistry, as evidenced by their knowledge
of student misconceptions, curricular saliency, and knowledge of what makes the topic
difficult to teach. There was evidence of master teachers lacking in certain areas
of TSPCK, such as inability to identify student misconceptions, suggesting the need
for programmatic improvements in pre-service and in-service training to address the
needs of current and future chemistry teachers. To facilitate TSPCK development, new
strategies need to be developed to connect research to practice.
Linda Padwa, Keith Sheppard. “All Alone - A Study of Isolation of Chemistry Teachers in New York State,” (Oral Presentation),
advised by Prof. Sheppard
Abstract: Prior research has focused on teacher isolation as a common yet undesirable
characteristic of teaching. The isolation of teachers limits opportunities for professional
engagement and hampers efforts at educational reform. Isolation is often cited as
being prevalent in rural locations, though rarely is any quantitative data used to
support such claims. This study investigates the isolation of chemistry teachers in
New York State, i.e. teachers who are the only teachers of chemistry in their school.
Using data from the New York State Education Department, isolated chemistry teachers
were identified throughout the state in rural, urban and suburban locations, in schools
of different sizes and in schools with varying socio-economic backgrounds. Findings
indicate that more than 20% of all New York chemistry teachers are isolated and while
these teachers are commonly found in rural schools, they are also widely found in
urban schools. Similarly, the isolated teachers are more prevalent in small and high
needs schools. The data show that isolated chemistry teachers are often novice teachers
and those who teach out-of-field. Recommendations are made for potential changes in
teacher preparation and teaching assignments. Further study is called for to explore
the impact of teacher isolation on chemistry instruction.
Hope Sasway, “Factors that Influence Community College Students’ Interest in Science Coursework,”
(Oral Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: There is a need for science education research that explores student, instructor and
course characteristics that influence student interest and motivation to study science
at the community college level. How to increase student enrollment in and persistence
in STEM is a national concern. Nearly half of all college graduates have passed through
a community college at some point in their higher education, therefore, studying this
unique population of adults is relevant. This study at a large, ethnically diverse,
suburban community college showed that student interest tends to change over the course
of a semester, and these changes are related to student, instructor, and course variables.
Student characteristics that were significant included age, full/part-time status,
parental status, and whether the student already held a post-secondary degree. Significant
instructor characteristics included whether the instructor taught full or part-time,
and whether the instructor taught high school. The type of biology course and if that
course had a required library assignment were significant course-level characteristics
that affected student interest. These data suggest that interventions may be beneficial
for increasing interest and motivation, ultimately leading to more community college
students persisting in the pipeline to join in the STEM workforce or transfer to four-year
colleges.
Robin Tornabene, Philipp Schmiemann, Ross H. Nehm. “Testing the Impact of Situational Features on
Measures of Biology Students' Genetics Understanding.” (Oral Presentation), Advised
by Prof. Nehm.
A substantial literature in cognitive psychology has produced strong evidence that
assessment task features--the framing, context, or situation in which problems are
posed--can impact the retrieval of knowledge and resulting measures of understanding.
The overarching goal of our study was to explore the potential role that situational
features play in the measurement of students’ understandings of Mendelian genetics.
77 items differing in situational features were administered to 444 undergraduate
students using a multi-matrix test packet design. Rasch analysis of scores produced
good item fit. ANOVA and Pearson correlation tests found no significant differences
in performance between genders (F(1,416)=0.009, p=0.926) or between ethnic groups
(F(5,412)=0.412, p=0.834). There were no significant correlations between students’
performances and ages (r=-0.02, p=0.747) or the number of biology courses taken (r=-0.030.
p=0.533). Surprisingly, we found no significant differences among animal, plant, and
human item contexts (H(2)=0.805, p=0.668) or between fictitious and real item contexts
(U=624, p=0.398). Our findings are an important first step for better understanding
which situational features play significant roles in the measurement of students’
genetics reasoning.
Stephanie Wortel, “‘I like STEM, but am I a STEM person?’ Effects of Informal Learning and Mentors
on STEM Identity,” (Oral Presentation), advised by Prof. Kelly
Abstract: An afterschool STEM mentoring program was launched as a public-private partnership
in a large city in the U.S. with two goals: 1) to provide no-cost, informal science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enrichment to underserved middle school
students; and 2) to build the teaching and communication skills of a large number
of STEM undergraduate students through a clinical service learning opportunity. The
qualitative portion of the study evaluated the efficacy of local undergraduates as
role models, and how the experience of the year-long program influenced the STEM identity
of traditionally underserved middle school participants. As defined by the theoretical
framework, STEM Identity is comprised of the sub-constructs of STEM interest, academic
self-concept, and the influence of relatable STEM mentors. This paper presents the
initial findings of the qualitative portion of the study with respect to outcomes
for a sample of eight middle school students participating in the program taught by
undergraduate STEM majors from underrepresented backgrounds in the afterschool classroom.
A grounded theory approach was used to analyze semi-structured interview transcripts.
Preliminary findings from middle school interviews indicate a stronger reported sense
of interest, a more engaged STEM academic self-concept, and an appreciation for having
access to consistent, relatable mentors.
OTHER NARST PRESENTATIONS ADVISED BY SCIENCE EDUCATION FACULTY
Gena Sbeglia, “Does evolution acceptance differ across biological scales? A Rasch analysis of
the I-SEA.” (Oral Presentation), Advised by Prof. Nehm.
Evolutionary theory is central to biological literacy but has been shown to be widely
misunderstood. One reason that has been advanced for this challenging situation is
that acceptance of evolution may play a significant role in learning about evolution.
Consequently, biology educators have attempted to define the construct of evolution
acceptance and empirically measure it using survey instruments such as the MATE (Rutledge
and Warden 1999). The MATE was criticized by Nadelson and Southerland (2012) for not
carefully separating the measurement of student acceptance of microevolution, macroevolution,
and human evolution. Consequently, they developed a 24-item, likert-scale instrument
know as the Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance (I-SEA), which assesses acceptance
of evolution on three subscales: microevolution, macroevolution, and human evolution.
Although a large body of psychometric evidence was used to support the validity of
the I-SEA, all of the evidence relied on parametric tests of raw data; no tests confirmed
that the Likert items were linear or were expressed on an equal-interval scale prior
to the psychometric analyses. Our study performs a Rasch analysis of a large sample
of I-SEA scores in order reexamine psychometric validity and test whether scores support
prior claims that student acceptance differs across biological scales.
Xiaoying Yang, Jesse Colton, Gena Sbeglia, Steve Finch, and Ross H. Nehm. “Longitudinal Learning Dynamics and the Conceptual Restructuring of Evolutionary
Understanding.” (Oral Presentation).Advised by Prof. Nehm.
Although a large body of work in undergraduate biology education has revealed important
insights into student learning difficulties about natural selection using pre-post
multiple-choice tests, much less work has explored longitudinal learning patterns
using rich measures of conceptual understanding (such as those derived from constructed
response assessments). Our study explores longitudinal learning patterns about natural
selection in a large introductory biology course. We used two approaches to characterize
students’ longitudinal performance patterns: (1) Sankey plots and (2) Trajectory analyses.
We collected students’ written responses to two ACORNS assessment items at five timepoints
throughout the semester and scored their key concepts, naive ideas, and reasoning
model types for different evolutionary contexts (animal and plant, trait gain and
loss). Classes from 2015 (n = 360) and 2016 (n = 440) were studied. We found that
(1) student performance patterns were not uniform within classes or throughout semesters,
(2) performance gains achieved early in the course in some cases declined later (and,
in some cases, rebounded), and (3) significant performance gains continued to occur
long after targeted instruction. Our results suggest that pre-post testing can obscure
important learning dynamics central to understanding how instruction impacts student
learning.
