The Investigation of the Ways in Which Gender Stereotypes are Perpetuated through Questioning and Assessment Strategies in Inquiry-Based Science Classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate the questioning strategies of preservice teachers whenteaching science as inquiry. The guiding questions for this research were: In what ways do the questioning strategies of preservice teachers differ for male and female elementary students when teaching science as inquiry and how is Bloom’s Taxonomy evident within the questioning strategies of preservice teachers? Examination of the data indicated that participants asked a total of 4,158 questions to their elementary aged students. Of these questions, 974 (23%) were asked to boys, and 991 (24%) were asked to girls. The remaining questions (53%) were asked to the class as a whole, therefore no gender could be assigned to these questions. In relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy, 74% of the questions were basic knowledge, 15% were secondary comprehension, 2% were application, 4% were analysis, 1% were synthesis, and 3% were evaluation.

Promoting Amphibian Conservation through the College Classroom: Detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis among Local Amphibians

Many global amphibian declines have been linked to the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The knowledge on Bd distribution provides a fundamental basis for amphibian conservation planning. Yet, such Bd distribution information is currently insufficient, in particular at a regional scale. The college classroom provides an excellent opportunity to expand the knowledge of Bd distribution. Here we provide an example of such research projects to detect Bd prevalence among local amphibians in a college course setting and present the results of work conducted in central Pennsylvania, USA. We collected toe clips and conducted PCR assays of six species, Plethodon cinereus, Desmognathus fuscus, Notophthalmus viridescens, Lithobates catesbeianus, L. clamitans, and L. sylvaticus (59 individuals). Four groups of students independently conducted entire projects, orally presented their findings, and submitted manuscripts to the professor at the end of the semester. This example demonstrates that it is feasible for an undergraduate class to complete a Bd-detection project within a single semester. Such a project not only contributes to Bd research but also promotes conservation education among students through hands-on research experiences. We found Bd infection in only one sample of N. viridescens, but no sign of infection in the rest of the samples. As a relatively high prevalence of Bd has been reported in surrounding areas, our results suggest spatial heterogeneity in Bd occurrence at a regional scale and thus, the need for continued efforts to monitor Bd prevalence.

Fidelity of Implementation of Research-Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS) in Engineering Science Courses

Background Increasing attention is being paid to improvement in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education through increased adoption of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS), but high-quality measures of faculty instructional practice do not exist to monitor progress. Purpose/Hypothesis The measure of how well an implemented intervention follows the original is called fidelity of implementation. This theory was used to address the research questions: What is the fidelity of implementation of selected RBIS in engineering science courses? That is, how closely does engineering science classroom practice reflect the intentions of the original developers? Do the critical components that characterize an RBIS discriminate between engineering science faculty members who claimed use of the RBIS and those who did not? Design/Method A survey of 387 U.S. faculty teaching engineering science courses (e.g., statics, circuits, thermodynamics) included questions about class time spent on 16 critical components and use of 11 corresponding RBIS. Fidelity was quantified as the percentage of RBIS users who also spent time on corresponding critical components. Discrimination between users and nonusers was tested using chi square. Results Overall fidelity of the 11 RBIS ranged from 11% to 80% of users spending time on all required components. Fidelity was highest for RBIS with one required component: case-based teaching, just-in-time teaching, and inquiry learning. Thirteen of 16 critical components discriminated between users and nonusers for all RBIS to which they were mapped. Conclusions Results were consistent with initial mapping of critical components to RBIS. Fidelity of implementation is a potentially useful framework for future work in STEM undergraduate education.

INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSROOM FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Active participation is as essential a skill to children with autism as it is for children without autism, as children are expected to engage in these skills both in and outside the classroom. Without participation skills, children are at a disadvantage when it comes to school and other settings, such as extracurricular activities and the workforce. Recent research has shown that there are interventions available that aim to improve the social skills of children in the home and in the school. These interventions can be delivered in varying forms with the primary caregiver as the interventionist, the specialist as the interventionist, and naturalistic interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate one of the naturalistic interventions, the Competent Learner Model, and determine its effects on the participation and social skills of students with autism. Three middle school male students diagnosed with autism from a rural northeast middle school participated in the study. They were assessed using the Competent Learner Repertoire Assessments of the Competent Learner Model and the adaptive measures of the Vineland-II and ABAS-II. The results showed improvement for one of the three students and little to no improvement for the other two students.