ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
To Teach or Not to Teach Astronomy, That Is the Question: Results of a Survey of Québec&apos;s Elementary Teachers
Author: Chastenay, Pierre
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Astronomy,Science Instruction,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Science,Foreign Countries,Teacher Surveys,Preservice Teacher Education,Inservice Teacher Education,Elementary Schools,Teacher Attitudes,Science Teachers

To determine the extent of astronomy teaching in Quebec's schools, we conducted an online survey of 500 Québec's elementary (K-6) teachers between January and March 2015. With a 35-items questionnaire, we wanted to find out how these elementary teachers teach astronomy (or not) to their classrooms, what is their background in Science &amp; Technology (S&amp;T), what pre-service education they received, the reasons why they teach astronomy or not to their students, the resources and materials they have at their disposal, their perception of the effectiveness of pre- and in-service training they received, and their perceived needs for in-service training. Results show that the majority of teachers surveyed didn't study science beyond high school and have had no experience in S&amp;T employment before becoming a teacher. We also found that only half of the teachers surveyed actually teach astronomy to their class, mostly by using reading and writing material, and that 39% of &quot;Astronomy teachers&quot; in our sample teach astronomy to their class between 6 and 10 hours per year. Major hurdles to astronomy teaching perceived by the teachers in our survey are a lack of experience and training in astronomy, a lack of resources and equipment, inadequate classroom arrangement, and their own, self-perceived incompetence in astronomy. Pre-service education in astronomy, in science and in science teaching is also considered mainly unsatisfactory, or non-existent in the case of astronomy; in-service training in astronomy is mainly composed of conversations with colleagues. Most respondents thus consider in-service training in astronomy to be inefficient or inexistent.
Evaluating Strategies to Collect Micrometeorites from Rainwater for Citizen Scientists
Author: Blake, Mel
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Citizen Participation,Scientific Research,Data Collection,Astronomy,Earth Science,Water,STEM Education,Science Activities,Science Education,Outreach Programs,Magnets,High School Students,Measurement Equipment,Science Equipment

Micrometeorites originate from small pieces of rock from space colliding with the Earth's atmosphere at high velocity, such as the Perseid meteors which hit the atmosphere at 60 km/s. When they do so, they burn up, causing a flash of light that we see as a meteor. Many groups have been successful collecting these particles using various devices. Such activities make great science projects for middle and high school students, and we plan to start a program to train students in the collecting methods and get them interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. Various methods are used to collect micrometeorites from rainwater, but little work has been done to assess the most efficient method of collecting these particles from space and then analyzing them. Before we began our citizen science project, we determined that it was necessary to conduct a pilot project to determine the most effective method of collecting micrometeorites from rainwater. Four collecting methods were tried and the method that collected the most micrometeorites was also the simplest, that being a simple bucket under the downspout of the gutter system of a house and a magnet which is then run through the bucket to gather the meteorites.
Exploring Differences among Student Populations during Climate Graph Reading Tasks: An Eye Tracking Study
Author: Atkins, Rachel M.
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Eye Movements,Reading Processes,Climate,Graphs,Graduate Students,Earth Science,Undergraduate Students,Novices,Expertise,Task Analysis,Pretests Posttests,Comparative Analysis,Maps,Heat,Measurement

Communicating climate information is challenging due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic along with compounding cognitive and affective learning challenges. Graphs are a common representation used by scientists to communicate evidence of climate change. However, it is important to identify how and why individuals on the continuum of expertise navigate graphical data differently as this has implications for effective communication of this information. We collected and analyzed eye-tracking metrics of geoscience graduate students and novice undergraduate students while viewing graphs displaying climate information. Our findings indicate that during fact-extraction tasks, novice undergraduates focus proportionally more attention on the question, title and axes graph elements, whereas geoscience graduate students spend proportionally more time viewing and interpreting data. This same finding was enhanced during extrapolation tasks. Undergraduate novices were also more likely to describe general trends, while graduate students identified more specific patterns. Undergraduates who performed high on the pre-test measuring graphing skill, viewed graphs more similar to graduate students than their peers who performed lower on the pre-test.
Video Killed the Writing Assignment
Author: Zellner, Nicolle
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,College Science,Nonmajors,Astronomy,Science Education,Introductory Courses,Science Activities,Class Activities,Video Technology,Film Production,Science Process Skills,Assignments,Grading,Student Evaluation,Creativity

An introductory Astronomy survey course is often taken to satisfy a college graduation requirement for non-science majors at colleges around the United States. In this course, material that can be broadly categorized into topics related to &quot;the sky&quot;, &quot;the Solar System&quot;, &quot;the Galaxy&quot;, and &quot;cosmology&quot; is discussed. Even with the wide variety of topics in these categories, though, students may not be 100% interested in the course content, and it is almost certain that a specific topic about which a student wishes to learn is not covered. To at least partly address these issues, to appeal to all of the students in this class, and to allow students to explore topics of their choice, a video project has been assigned to students at Albion College as a class activity. In this assignment, students are asked to create a video of a famous (or not) astronomer, astronomical object or discovery, or telescope observatory to present to the class. Students work in pairs to create a video that is original and imaginative and includes accurate scientific content. For this project, then, students use a familiar technology and exercise their creativity while learning a little (or a lot of) science along the way. Herein data on types and topics of videos, examples of videos, assignment requirements and grading rubrics, lessons learned, and student comments will be discussed and shared.
Conceptual versus Procedural Approaches to Ordering Fractions
Author: Wiest, Lynda
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grade 7,Mathematics Instruction,Females,Fractions,Mathematics Achievement,Disadvantaged Schools,Achievement Gap,Race,Ethnicity,Socioeconomic Status,Freehand Drawing,Concept Formation,Mathematical Concepts,Benchmarking,Teaching Methods,Learning Strategies,Residential Programs,Middle School Students,Problem Solving,Summer Programs

This paper reports the performance of 30 rising seventh-grade girls on a task in which they were asked to order four fractions from least to greatest. Less than three-fifths attained correct answers. The performance gap was widest between students who attended Title I schools and those who did not, the latter being much more likely to attain correct answers. The achievement gap was less prominent by race/ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, and community type (suburban/urban versus rural). Participants tended to use conceptual and procedural approaches equally, but conceptual approaches were more successful. The most common conceptual strategy was making drawings that illustrated part-whole concepts, and the most common procedural strategy was converting fractions to equivalent fractions. The most problematic fractions to place in order of relative size were the two middle fractions, which were somewhat closer to each other in size than other adjacent pairs and were farthest from the benchmarks of 0 or 1. Based on these and other research findings, we conclude that it would benefit students to possess a greater repertoire of specific strategies, especially conceptual strategies such as use of number lines, benchmarks, and set models, for working with fractions.
We Don&apos;t Know What We Don&apos;t Know: Post Adoption Support of Families Caring for Traumatized Children
Author: Lantis, Patricia
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adoption,Trauma,Foster Care,Experience,Family Role,Child Rearing,Parent Role,Child Development,Child Behavior,Community Involvement,Physical Health,Mental Health,Child Welfare

Parents adopting traumatized children from foster care or from other settings have unique needs for post adoption support. This paper seeks to present those needs from the unique viewpoint of an adoptive physician mother. Circles of care around the child include the family, the community and wider systems of support.
Understanding Health Risks for Adolescents in Protective Custody
Author: Beal, Sarah J.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Child Welfare,Foster Care,Child Health,At Risk Persons,Quality of Life,Health Behavior,Young Adults,Mental Disorders,Substance Abuse,Sexually Transmitted Diseases,Pregnancy,Chronic Illness,Prevention,Intervention,Youth,Depression (Psychology),Behavior Disorders,Allergy,Obesity,Visual Impairments,Hearing Impairments,Gender Differences,Independent Living,Adolescents,Child Abuse

Children in child welfare protective custody (e.g., foster care) are known to have increased health concerns compared to children not in protective custody. The poor health documented for children in protective custody persists well into adulthood; young adults who emancipate from protective custody report poorer health, lower quality of life, and increased health risk behaviors compared to young adults in the general population. This includes increased mental health concerns, substance use, sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancy, and HIV diagnosis. Identifying youth in protective custody with mental health concerns, chronic medical conditions, and increased health risk behaviors while they remain in custody would provide the opportunity to target prevention and intervention efforts to curtail poor health outcomes while youth are still connected to health and social services. This study leveraged linked electronic health records and child welfare administrative records for 351 youth ages 15 and older to identify young people in custody who were experiencing mental health conditions, chronic medical conditions, and health risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, sexual risk). Results indicate that 41.6% of youth have a mental health diagnosis, with depression and behavior disorders most common. Additionally, 41.3% of youth experience chronic medical conditions, primarily allergies, obesity, and vision and hearing concerns. Finally, 39.6% of youth use substances and 37.0% engage in risky sexual behaviors. Predictors of health risks were examined. Those findings indicate that women, those with longer lengths of stay and more times in custody, and those in independent living and conjugate care settings are at greatest risk for mental health conditions, chronic medical conditions, and health risk behaviors. Results suggest a need to ensure that youth remain connected to health and mental health safety nets, with particular attention needed for adolescents in care for longer and/or those placed in non-family style settings. Understanding who is at risk is critical for developing interventions and policies to target youth who are most vulnerable for increased health concerns that can be implemented while they are in custody and are available to receive services.
Development of a Short Trauma Screening Tool (STST) to Measure Child Trauma Symptoms: Establishing Content Validity
Author: Maguire, Laura L.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Symptoms (Individual Disorders),Trauma,Child Health,Screening Tests,Test Construction,Pediatrics,Child Behavior,Test Items,Aggression,Psychological Patterns,Anxiety,Fear,Sexuality,Physical Health,Depression (Psychology),Mental Disorders,Individual Characteristics

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify major symptom domain variables common to child trauma and create a prototype short trauma symptom screening tool (STST) intended for use in pediatric medical settings. Methods: This manuscript describes the first two phases of an on-going prospective mixed-method instrument development study. Phase 1 exploratory factor analysis was conducted with an archived LONGSCAN CBCL dataset to: (1) identify behavioral symptoms endorsed by children with known trauma exposure; and (2) generate a preliminary STST item pool. During Phase 2, researchers convened an expert panel (N = 10) and conducted Content Validity Index (CVI) procedures with the 20-item preliminary STST item pool, to further inform item retention, elimination and modification for an updated prototype STST. Findings: Expert quantitative scores yielded a CVI of 0.90 for the overall preliminary STST. The first two phases of this study assisted researchers with identifying 12 items that represent nine child trauma symptom domain variables, which include: (1) aggression/anger; (2) anxiety/fear; (3) sexual concerns; (4) elimination concerns; (5) somatic concerns; (6) depression; (7) dissociation; (8) physical acting out; and (9) dysregulation. Conclusions: The first two phases of STST development resulted in development of a brief, empirically-derived prototype screening tool that features 12 items operationalizing nine domains of child trauma symptoms. Developers can now advance to the next phase of STST development; feasibility assessment and psychometric testing.
Putting Families First: How the Opioid Epidemic Is Affecting Children and Families, and the Child Welfare Policy Options to Address It
Author: Waite, Douglas
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Child Welfare,Foster Care,Drug Abuse,Parents,At Risk Persons,Prenatal Influences,Developmental Delays,Behavior Disorders,Alcohol Abuse,Trauma,Child Health,Child Safety,Infants,Clinical Diagnosis,Intervention,Access to Health Care,Attachment Behavior,Child Development,Mothers,Pregnancy,Mental Disorders,Addictive Behavior,Narcotics,Neurological Organization,Brain,Public Policy

Across the country, placements in foster care are rising. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 273,539 children in the U.S. entered foster care. In 34 percent of those cases, parental drug abuse was one of the factors leading to the child's removal from their family. Additionally, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that 400,000 births nationally are affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol and illicit drugs, which represents 10 percent of all live births. As the opioid epidemic continues, increasing numbers of children are at high risk for developmental and behavioral disorders because of their prenatal substance and alcohol exposure. In addition, children who remain at home may endure the challenges and trauma resulting from impaired caregiving due to parental substance use disorders (SUDs). This article explores the intersection of the opioid epidemic and child welfare, examining current research and publicly available data to discuss policy opportunities for better serving families affected by parental SUDs, including: ensuring health and safety for infants prenatally exposed to substances; appropriate identification, diagnosis, and treatment of developmental and behavioral needs; ensuring parents have access to outpatient treatment and services that can allow families to stay together when safe and appropriate; and ensuring sufficient access to inpatient treatment options that can serve parents and children together. [This article was co-written by the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care.]
An Educational Robotics Course: Examination of Educational Potentials and Pre-Service Teachers&apos; Experiences
Author: Sisman, Burak
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Robotics,Preservice Teachers,Student Experience,Educational Technology,Faculty Development,Student Attitudes,Preservice Teacher Education,Elementary Education,Foreign Countries

Educational robotics is a very important instrument because it provides an active learning environment and allows learners to acquire 21st century skills. Teachers need to use this instrument in teaching the science of robotics as well as in helping students master the subject and gain experience. This study aims to reveal pre-service teachers? perceptions and experiences in an educational robotics course. Specifically, the satisfaction, motivation, enjoyment, collaboration, and challenge (SMECC) levels of participants were investigated in this robotics learning process. In addition, pre-service teachers' engagements were revealed. The participants were 30 pre-service teachers. A post activity survey, observation, and interview were used as data collection tools. This study adopted a mixed method approach. The pre-service teachers showed a high level of satisfaction, motivation, enjoyment, and collaboration and also showed no difficulty doing the robotics activities in general. Moreover, strong relationships were found among satisfaction, motivation, and enjoyment. The findings indicated that the ER activities provided an edutainment learning environment and that pre-service teachers were highly engaged in the robotics activities. The most motivating factor for the preservice teachers was teaching what they had learned about the science of robotics to their future students. The pre-service teachers' experiences and engagements are revealed in detail and also discussed. Suggestions are presented here for guiding future educational robotics studies in the context of pre-service teachers' education.
Literacy Events in Writing Play Workshops with Children Aged Three to Five: A Study of Agential Cuts with the Artographic Triple Dimensions as a Lens
Author: Bendiksen, Solveig Åsgard
Date: 2019-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Emergent Literacy,Playwriting,Drama Workshops,Foreign Countries,Preschool Children,Cultural Literacy

The aim of this article is to explore how the multiple perspectives offered by an artographer's lens contribute to three literacy events generated by &quot;writing play&quot; activities for children three to five years old. These events are part of a more comprehensive study of emergent literacy in writing play workshops, focusing on writing in different displays and with different writing tools. The artographer in the comprehensive study is Solveig Åsgard Bendiksen, also the first author in this article. The two other co-authors contribute with artographic methodology and with concepts from agential realism in the analysis of three literacy events. The intra-actions between the artographer, the children, the affects, the affordance of rich materials, and the context as performative agents in diffractive reading produced a number of findings concerning emergent writing literacy, especially concerning emergent cultural literacy.
An Exploratory Survey on Teaching Practices Integrating Nutrition and Mathematics in Australian Primary Schools
Author: Follong, Berit M.
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Mathematics Instruction,Nutrition,Foreign Countries,Elementary School Mathematics,Elementary School Teachers,Mathematical Concepts,Computation,Mathematics Teachers,Integrated Curriculum,Teacher Surveys,Obesity,Nutrition Instruction,Technology Uses in Education,Computer Games

Overweight and obesity prevalence in children has increased worldwide. One factor contributing to this rise is the increase in portion sizes, with individuals potentially having difficulties with portion size estimation. Portion size estimation could be improved with portion size education involving the mathematical concepts of volume and capacity. The current study aimed to explore mathematical teaching practices related to volume and capacity measurement in Australian primary schools, with a focus on use of nutrition related examples and technology. A convenience sample of 101 teachers completed an online exploratory survey reporting information on their teaching background, experience, use of resources, digital games and curricular integration. Results indicated that the teachers surveyed favoured use of Smartboards and cubes to teach volume and capacity, and the majority reported using nutrition-related examples including household measures, recipes and grocery shopping. They also expressed having positive beliefs and interest in using digital games for teaching these concepts. Although mathematics is most commonly integrated with science and technology, the teachers surveyed indicated that a digital game integrating nutrition and mathematics could be very useful. There is potential to investigate ways to integrate portion size estimation activities within mathematics teaching practices which can be facilitated using digital games.
A Conceptual Understanding of How Educational Technology Coaches Help Teachers Integrate iPad Affordances into Their Teaching
Author: Drennan, Gail
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Technology,Coaching (Performance),Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Computer Uses in Education,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Technological Literacy,Technological Advancement,Foreign Countries

Educational technology (ed tech) coaches can help teachers and students integrate iPad affordances into their teaching and learning. A brief overview of affordance theory is provided. While investigating the under-researched practices of ed tech coaches, the authors identified iPad affordances and tabulated these, revealing links between the iPad's technological capabilities, technological affordances and pedagogical affordances. Nine iPad technological capabilities, such as the camera, were aligned with some of their technological affordances, such as taking a photo. These were matched to some pedagogical affordances, such as taking a photo for educational purposes. Finally, different categories in the table were combined into six broad strands unveiling how ed tech coaches use them to change teacher pedagogy with benefits for teachers, students and parents. Ed tech coaches often naturally build teachers' TPACK, mostly through the SAMR model. Specifically, they change teachers' pedagogy by focusing on polysynchronous teaching and learning; digital, transformed learning; student ownership of learning with teachers as facilitators; students as teachers of content and technology; teachers' triple agendas of content elaboration, academic argument, and digital citizenship; and student creativity.