ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Determining the Measurement Quality of a Montessori High School Teacher Evaluation Survey
Author: Setari, Anthony Philip
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Montessori Schools,High Schools,Secondary School Teachers,Teacher Evaluation,Measurement,Psychometrics,Test Validity,Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance,Difficulty Level,Test Items,Surveys,Test Construction,Test Reliability,High School Students,Statistical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to conduct a psychometric validation of a course evaluation instrument, known as a student evaluation of teaching (SET), implemented in a Montessori high school. The authors demonstrate to the Montessori community how to rigorously examine the measurement and assessment quality of instruments used within Montessori schools. The Montessori high school community needs an SET that has been rigorously examined for measurement issues. The examined SET was developed by a Montessori high school, and the sample data were collected from Montessori high school students. Using a Rasch partial credit model, the results of the analysis identified several measurement issues, including multidimensionality, misfit items, and inappropriate item difficulty levels. A revised version of the SET underwent the same analysis procedure, and the results indicated that measurement issues persisted. The authors suggest several ways to improve the overall measurement quality of the instrument while keeping the Montessori foundation. Additional validation studies with a revised version of the SET will be needed before the instrument can be endorsed for full implementation in a Montessori setting.
The Montessori Experiment in Rhode Island (1913-1940): Tracing Theory to Implementation over 25 Years
Author: Zoll, Susan
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Montessori Method,Montessori Schools,Educational Experiments,Educational History,State History,Curriculum Implementation,Longitudinal Studies,Educational Policy,Government Role,State Boards of Education,Outcomes of Education,Access to Information,Curriculum Development,Validated Programs,Nationalism,Educational Objectives

This article highlights archived documents pertaining to a 25-year experimental classroom implemented by Clara Craig, then supervisor of training at the Rhode Island Normal School. Craig is notable as she was the only participant in the first International Montessori Training Course in Rome, Italy, in 1913, to gain approval from the Rhode Island Board of Education to study the Montessori Method. Her administrative position at the Rhode Island Normal School provided her with a rare opportunity to influence both teacher preparation and classroom curriculum upon her return. The article traces implementation of the Montessori Method and its Americanized revision, serving as one of the earliest longitudinal examples (1913-1940) of a state-sanctioned Montessori classroom, well beyond the acknowledged first-wave era (1911-1917). Craig's experience provides a historical perspective that can inform current Montessori initiatives working within complex education and policy contexts.
Place-Based Education in Geoscience: Theory, Research, Practice, and Assessment
Author: Semken, Steven
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Place Based Education,Earth Science,Teaching Methods,Indigenous Populations,Science Education,Research and Development,Theory Practice Relationship,Literature Reviews

Place-based education (PBE) is a situated, context-rich, transdisciplinary teaching and learning modality distinguished by its unequivocal relationship to place, which is any locality that people have imbued with meanings and personal attachments through actual or vicarious experiences. As an observational and historical science, geoscience is highly dependent on place, and place-based curricula and instructional methods apply to geoscience education. The sense of place operationalizes the human connection to place and functions as a definable and measurable learning outcome for PBE. Although PBE is rooted in historic and indigenous teaching philosophies, it has gained particular notice and traction in concert with more recent interest in environmental education, sustainability, and diversity in geoscience. This paper presents a current review of theory and research methods that have directly informed development of curriculum and instruction in, authentic assessment of, and implementation of PBE in geoscience sensu lato (Earth-system and environmental sciences); a survey of place-based teaching in geoscience currently or recently practiced across different grade levels and situated in different places, regions, and cultures; information about teaching and assessment methods for those who may be interested in adopting the place-based modality; and suggested future directions for research, practice, and assessment in PBE in geoscience.
Theoretical Perspectives on Increasing Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Students in the Geosciences
Author: Callahan, Caitlin N.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Recruitment,School Holding Power,Disproportionate Representation,Earth Science,Models,Majors (Students),Graduation Rate,Minority Group Students,STEM Education,Self Efficacy,Science Instruction,College Students,College Science,Literature Reviews

For decades, programs targeting the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities (URM) have had local success in broadening participation in the geosciences. Meanwhile, national graduation rates of URM geoscience majors fall below the national graduation rates of URM STEM majors, generally. In this literature review, we summarize methods used to investigate the efficacy of geoscience recruitment and retention programs, and we propose avenues of future investigation into why programs are successful. First, we categorize a decade of recent publications in the &quot;Journal of Geoscience Education&quot; (JGE) according to Astin's Input-Environment-Output (IEO) model. This model offers a classification scheme to evaluate how inputs (e.g., student characteristics) and environment (e.g., program attributes) may influence desired outputs (e.g., results of programs). Next, we discuss a set of social, cognitive, and psychological theories that support deeper investigation into the reasons why recruitment and retention programs are successful with particular groups. There is an observable trend in the geoscience literature after 2009 toward interventions that include all components of the IEO model and random assignment (i.e., &quot;natural experiments&quot;). We argue that self-efficacy, identity, microaggressions, stereotype threat, and social cognitive career theory offer perspectives that can guide future programmatic interventions and support the geoscience community in broadening participation in the geosciences.
The Role of Geoscience Education Research in the Consilience between Science of the Mind and Science of the Natural World
Author: Shipley, Thomas F.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Earth Science,Cognitive Science,Models,Science Instruction,Prediction,Natural Sciences,Observation,Expertise

This manuscript addresses the potential role of geoscience education research in understanding geoscience expert practice. We note the similarity between the perception-action framework of Ulric Neisser (Neisser, 1976) and the observation-prediction framework used by geoscience practitioners. The consilience between these two approaches is that learning takes place when links are formed between predictions and observations and that this linkage is formed through conceptual models. Use of conceptual models facilitates learning at all levels; hence, there is little difference between learning in expert practice and student learning at all levels. The field of geoscience education is uniquely poised to enhance geoscience practice through investigation of expert learning, both in traditional field research and when experts adopt new tools and techniques. The consilience of expert practice, student learning, and cognitive science outcomes provides a rich opportunity to enhance both the intellectual merit of research and the direct and indirect broader impacts.
Applying the Geoscience Education Research Strength of Evidence Pyramid: Developing a Rubric to Characterize Existing Geoscience Teaching Assistant Training Studies
Author: Bitting, Kelsey S.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Earth Science,Science Education,Educational Research,Evidence,Scoring Rubrics,Teaching Assistants,Training,Research Design,Literature Reviews

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are responsible for direct instruction of geoscience undergraduate students at an array of universities and have a major effect on the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of their students. GTAs benefit from in-department training in both beliefs and practices that align with the existing literature on teaching and learning in the discipline, and such training can have long-standing effects when GTAs transition into faculty roles. However, the most recent review, in 2003, revealed little literature examining outcomes of geoscience GTA training programs. Using the framework of the GER Strength of Evidence Pyramid, this article outlines the development and application of a rubric to allow the user to analyze the existing geoscience GTA training literature and provide example study designs at each level of strength. Extending back to 1980, we discovered a total of three peer-reviewed articles describing and empirically evaluating the effect of GTA training programs in the geosciences. Thus, this article also draws from other science disciplines to provide examples for the levels of the rubric not currently represented in the geoscience literature, providing a set of contextually similar models that future designers of geoscience GTA training might draw on to maximize their strength of evidence, given specific institutional and programmatic constraints. Furthermore, we describe ways in which the use of the rubric provides a framework for characterizing the GTA training literature, which revealed areas of research and characteristics of rigor needed for future work.
Looking in the Right Places: Minority-Serving Institutions as Sources of Diverse Earth Science Learners
Author: McDaris, John R.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Earth Science,Minority Group Students,Colleges,STEM Education,College Role,Disproportionate Representation,Academic Degrees,Interdisciplinary Approach,Student Diversity,Student Characteristics,Web Sites,Courses,Academic Persistence

Despite gains over the last decade, the geoscience student population in the United States today continues to lag other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines in terms of diversity. Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) can play an important role in efforts to broaden underrepresented student engagement with Earth Science content, especially in collaborations with other institutions and organizations that allow MSIs to share their expertise. Knowing which MSIs have Earth-related degree programs can help facilitate such collaboration. This commentary describes an effort to find and raise the visibility of these programs. In 2013, the abundance of geoscience departments at MSIs was roughly half that seen in U.S. higher-education institutions. Yet we found that nearly a third of MSIs offered one or more Earth-related degree programs. In addition, more than half of the academic units offering Earth-related degrees were interdisciplinary rather than traditional geoscience departments. It is clear that students are learning about the Earth in a wider variety of places than geology programs. These programs could provide models for supporting diverse students in the geosciences, as well as sites for potential collaborations aimed at further increasing the diversity of the geoscience workforce.
Learning about Spatial and Temporal Scale: Current Research, Psychological Processes, and Classroom Implications
Author: Cheek, Kim A.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Earth Science,Spatial Ability,Time,Scientific Concepts,Elementary Secondary Education,Postsecondary Education,Literature Reviews,Concept Formation,Higher Education,Astronomy,Biology,Chemistry,Engineering,Mathematics,Knowledge Level,Scaling,Psychological Studies,Thinking Skills,Teaching Methods

Geoscientists analyze and integrate spatial and temporal information at a range of scales to understand Earth processes. Despite this, the concept of scale is ill defined and taught unevenly across the K-16 continuum. This literature review focuses on two meanings of scale: one as the magnitude of the extent of a dimension and the other as a relationship between objects or events. We review 42 papers from science education and discipline-based education research (DBER) literature on students' conceptions related to one or both meanings of scale. Analysis of this prior work reveals a broader (though still limited) research base on domain general concepts of scale as magnitude and scant research on scale as a relationship. Learners begin reasoning about spatial and temporal magnitudes categorically by working with scales based on standard units and nonmetric values, such as body length. Concepts of scale magnitudes outside human experience are nonlinear. Facility with fractions and proportional reasoning are positively associated with the ability to reason about scale as a relationship. Two constructs from the psychological literature, structure mapping and the category adjustment model, offer theoretical accounts for these findings. We borrow a typology from the psychological literature to frame common geoscience instructional models in the context of spatial and temporal scale and suggest how instructors might facilitate students' reasoning about scale models. We identify a number of avenues for possible future research, including a critical need to understand how conceptual understanding of scale develops across the K-16 continuum.
The Spatial Thinking Workbook: A Research-Validated Spatial Skills Curriculum for Geology Majors
Author: Ormand, Carol J.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Spatial Ability,Visualization,Curriculum,Geology,Majors (Students),Undergraduate Students,Teaching Methods,Skill Development,Learning Activities,Workbooks,Pretests Posttests,Student Evaluation,Thinking Skills,Problem Solving,Scientific Concepts,Concept Formation,Mineralogy,Statistical Analysis

Spatial visualization is an essential prerequisite for understanding geological features at all scales, such as the atomic structures of minerals, the geometry of a complex fault system, or the architecture of sedimentary deposits. Undergraduate geoscience majors bring a range of spatial skill levels to upper-level courses. Fortunately, spatial thinking improves with practice, and students benefit from intentional training. Several promising teaching strategies have emerged from recent cognitive science research into spatial thinking: gesturing, predictive sketching, and comparison, including analogy and alignment. Geoscience educators have traditionally incorporated many of these tools in their teaching, though not always consciously, intentionally, and in the most effective ways. Our research team, composed of geoscientists and cognitive psychologists, has collaborated to develop curricular materials for mineralogy, structural geology, and sedimentology and stratigraphy courses that incorporate these strategies intentionally and purposefully, supporting student understanding of the spatially challenging concepts and skills in these courses. Collectively, these two dozen learning activities comprise the Spatial Thinking Workbook (http://serc.carleton.edu/spatialworkbook/index.html). Pre- to posttest gains on a suite of assessment instruments, as well as embedded assessments, show that these curricular materials boost students' spatial thinking skills and strengthen their ability to solve geological problems with a spatial component.
A Synthesis of Instructional Strategies in Geoscience Education Literature That Address Barriers to Inclusion for Students with Disabilities
Author: Carabajal, Ivan G.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Disabilities,Barriers,Teaching Methods,Equal Education,Accessibility (for Disabled),Earth Science,Literature Reviews,Curriculum Design,Student Participation,Experiential Learning,Field Trips,Student Needs,Inclusion,Science Laboratories,Classroom Environment,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education

People with disabilities make up the largest minority population in the U.S. yet remain sorely underrepresented in scientific disciplines that require components of field-based training such as the geosciences. This paper provides a critical analysis of broadening participation within geoscience education literature through the use of accessible and inclusive instructional practices that support students with physical and sensory disabilities. Common physical and nonphysical barriers that discourage the full participation of students with disabilities in classroom, laboratory, and field activities are illustrated in this review. In areas of limited reportable data relevant in the geoscience-focused literature, a broader science, technology, engineering, and mathematics perspective is provided. Gaps in the literature were identified to include limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of inclusive curricular design and the limited opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in advanced, multiday geoscience field trips. The purpose of highlighting this collection of literature is to encourage the use of more equitable and inclusive instructional strategies, including alternative strategies and virtual learning environments that increase access and enhance participation for students with physical and sensory disabilities.
The Strength of Evidence Pyramid: One Approach for Characterizing the Strength of Evidence of Geoscience Education Research (GER) Community Claims
Author: St. John, Kristen
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Earth Science,Science Instruction,Expertise,Professional Personnel,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Case Studies,Cohort Analysis,Meta Analysis,Literature Reviews,Educational Research,Teachers,Evidence,Research Methodology

During the past two decades, the Geoscience Education Research (GER) community has been increasingly recognized as an evidence-based research subdiscipline in the geoscience and in the larger discipline-based education research (DBER) field. Most recently, the GER community has begun to address the current state of the field and discuss the best course forward so that it can have the greatest collective impact on advancing teaching and learning in the geosciences. The community has formally recognized that practice should be evidence based and that the strengths and limitations of community-level research claims should be transparent. As such, this commentary article describes a conceptual model--the Strength of Evidence Pyramid--as a pathway to organize the strength of evidence in the GER community of generalizable claims generated by both geo-Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and geo-DBER efforts. Its design is informed by a rubric and the outcomes of a DBER synthesis, as well as by parallels we see in the concept of evidence-based medicine in the health sciences. The proposed GER Strength of Evidence Pyramid uses five levels to categorize GER-community claims: (1) practitioner wisdom/expert opinion; original qualitative and quantitative studies, including (2) case studies and (3) cohort studies; and analyzed published literature in the form of (4) meta-analyses and (5) systematic reviews. The goal of the Pyramid is to assist geoscience-education researchers and geoscience educators to visualize, organize their thinking, and evaluate the quality of the evidence of GER-community claims. The potential applications and limitations of the model for use in the GER community are described.
The Roles of Working Memory and Cognitive Load in Geoscience Learning
Author: Jaeger, Allison J.
Date: 2017-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Short Term Memory,Cognitive Processes,Difficulty Level,Earth Science,Science Instruction,Individual Differences,Teaching Methods,STEM Education

Working memory is a cognitive system that allows for the simultaneous storage and processing of active information. While working memory has been implicated as an important element for success in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, its specific role in geoscience learning is not fully understood. The major goal of this article is to examine the potential role that working memory plays in successful geoscience learning. We start by reviewing two popular approaches to studying working memory in science learning--the individual differences approach and the cognitive load approach--and consider how these two approaches have been utilized in geosciences education research. Next, we highlight examples of various activities and curricular materials that have been used in geoscience classrooms in an effort to improve student learning and offload working memory resources, including using concept sketches and providing varying levels of scaffolding. We outline recommendations about how to structure geoscience classrooms and labs to maximize student learning and suggest potential avenues for future research aimed at investigating the role of working memory in geoscience learning.
Students of Color and Public Montessori Schools: A Review of the Literature
Author: Debs, Mira C.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Minority Group Students,Montessori Schools,Culturally Relevant Education,Teaching Methods,Educational Benefits,Educational Experience,Executive Function,Academic Achievement,Preschool Children,Special Education,Disproportionate Representation,Discipline,Teacher Education,Urban Education,School Choice,Educational Research,Literature Reviews

Students of color comprise a majority in public Montessori school enrollments around the United States, and practitioners are often asked for evidence of the Montessori Method's benefits for these students. This article examines the relevant literature related to the experiences of students of color in public Montessori schools. Research finds Montessori education offers both opportunities and limitations for students of color in attending diverse schools, developing executive functions, achieving academically, accessing early childhood education and culturally responsive education, minimizing racially disproportionate discipline, and limiting overidentification for special education. Public Montessori education's efficacy with students of color may be limited by several factors: the lack of diversity of the teaching staff and culturally responsive teacher education, schools that struggle to maintain racially diverse enrollments, and the challenge of communicating Montessori's benefits to families with alternative views of education. The review concludes with directions for future research.