Education, STEM Doctoral Work

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    Exploring the Complex Relationships among Reasoning, Content Understanding, and Intuition in Physics
    (North Dakota State University, 2018) Gette, Cody
    Physics education research over the past few decades has made significant advances toward improving instructional practices and developing effective instructional materials for physics classrooms. In some contexts, however, after multiple instructional refinements difficulties can remain persistent. Recent findings in PER suggest that many of these difficulties are consistent with reasoning paths accounted for by dual process theories of reasoning. Students often appear to be able to employ correct conceptual understanding in one context, but neglect to demonstrate the same understanding in another closely related context. This thesis explores the use of dual-process theories of reasoning as a lens for interpreting observed patterns of student reasoning. First, we examined both the impact of problem design and the impact of instruction targeting accessible intuitive ideas in the context of sinking and floating. We found that targeted instruction which directly addressed everyday experiences had a significant impact on student performance in that context. We also found that changes to problem design and instruction emphasizing correct approaches had little impact on performance. Further investigations into the cognitive mechanisms behind student reasoning patterns found a positive relationship between student cognitive reflection skills and performance on Newton's third law problems. Findings suggest that those with higher cognitive reflection skills, as measured by the CRT, are more likely to 1) answer correctly on problems which elicit intuitively appealing but incorrect answers 2) provide correct and complete physical justification to problem solutions and 3) answer problems consistently. Finally, we examined student reasoning patterns in the context of mechanical waves. We attempted to influence intuitive approaches with video simulations of the physical situation. We found that students tended to reason with mathematical approaches and had difficulty overcoming intuitive ideas even after viewing the physical simulation.
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    Examining Portfolio-Based Assessment in an Upper-Level Biology Course
    (North Dakota State University, 2012) Ziegler, Brittany
    Historically, students have been viewed as empty vessels and passive participants in the learning process but students actually are active forming their own conceptions. One way student learning is impacted is through assessment. Alternative assessment, which contrasts traditional assessment methods, takes into account how students learn by promoting engagement and construction of knowledge. This dissertation explores portfolio-based assessment, a method of alternative assessment, which requires students to compose a purposeful collection of work demonstrating their knowledge in an upper-level biology course. The research objectives include characterizing and contributing to the understanding of portfolio-based assessment in higher education, examining reflection and inquiry portfolio components, determining student knowledge of biological concepts, and investigating student integrative thinking through the transformation of reflections into concept webs. One main finding includes the majority of reflections categorized as naive or novice in quality. There was no difference in quality of reflections among biological topic. There was a relatively equal amount of high and low cognitive level questions. Students' knowledge of biological concepts significantly increased from the beginning to end of the course. Student written reflections were transformed into concept webs to allow for examination of student integrative thinking. Concepts, relationships, and interconnections in concept webs showed variation but declined by the end of the semester. This study is one of the first examining portfolio-based assessment in an upper-level biology course. We do not contend that this method of assessment is the only way to promote student learning but portfolio-based assessment may be a tool that can transform science education but currently the role of portfolio-based assessment in science education remains unclear. Additional research needs to be conducted before we will fully understand and be able characterize this type of assessment.