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K-12 science teachers in the United States are encouraged to teach their students engineering. When incorporating engineering into their science curricula, teachers commonly either focus on (1) engineering and lace science throughout or (2) science and lace engineering throughout. This study explores middle school students' nature of engineering understanding before and after instruction with different engineering foci through the collection and analysis of student surveys (n∼200) and interviews (n = 16). Findings demonstrated centering science while lacing engineering throughout allowed for a slight increase in the understanding that engineers use science and math, however, centering engineering allowed students to understand many more attributes of engineers (i.e., engineers invent/design/create, improve things, fix, and solve problems) after instruction than they did prior to instruction. These findings and their limitations are discussed in relation to the developing Nature of Engineering framework and the new content demands of the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At Texas A&M University, business librarians have formed a partnership with the institutional career center which has given librarians the opportunity to share how business resources can be used in job searches and career exploration. This research sought to understand how other business librarians are collaborating with career centers, what forms these partnerships take, and how the collaborative efforts are received by faculty and staff. Responses from librarians at 43 different institutions revealed a high number of career center/business librarian partnerships that were as varied as the institutions themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed 260 syllabi representing a year of the undergraduate curriculum from a business school. The syllabi were examined based on the mentions of the library from across three categories: spaces, resources, and services, as well as possible opportunities for engagement that librarians could target for collaboration. In this study, the library was mentioned 79 times, mostly in relation to library resources. There were also 479 opportunities for engagement coded. This study found that the majority of undergraduate syllabi do not mention the library, but that there are considerable opportunities that librarians can target for future engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors compare three teachers' adaptations and implementation of a lunar modeling lesson to explain marked differences in student learning outcomes on a spatial-scientific lunar assessment. They used a modified version of the Practices of Science Observation Protocol (P-SOP; Forbes, Biggers, & Zangori, 2013) to identify ways in which features of inquiry were emphasized in each classroom. Additionally, classroom communities of practice were categorized as task-based or practice-based (Riel & Polin, 2004). The authors found that student learning outcomes were related to the fidelity with which the teachers implemented the lesson. Teachers with higher P-SOP scores fostered more of a practice-based learning community than task-based one, which also paralleled greater student learning gains. Although the students' scores did not differ by teacher on the preassessment, they did differ significantly on the postassessment, indicating that the curricular choices and learning communities developed by the teachers impacted what students were able to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relationships between sixth grade students' moon journaling and students' spatial-scientific reasoning after implementation of an Earth/Space unit were examined. Teachers used the project-based Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning curriculum. We used a regression model to analyze the relationship between the students' Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) post-test score variables and several predictors, including moon journal score, number of moon journal entries, student gender, teacher experience, and pre-test score. The model shows that students who performed better on moon journals, both in terms of overall score and number of entries, tended to score higher on the LPCI. For every 1 point increase in the overall moon journal score, participants scored 0.18 points (out of 20) or nearly 1% point higher on the LPCI post-test when holding constant the effects of the other two predictors. Similarly, students who increased their scores by 1 point in the overall moon journal score scored approximately 1% higher in the Periodic Patterns (PP) and Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) domains of the LPCI. Also, student gender and teacher experience were shown to be significant predictors of post-GSV scores on the LPCI in addition to the pre-test scores, overall moon journal score, and number of entries that were also significant predictors on the LPCI overall score and the PP domain. This study is unique in the purposeful link created between student moon observations and spatial skills. The use of moon journals distinguishes this study further by fostering scientific observation along with skills from across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors examined differences between 2 groups of students’ spatial-scientific reasoning from pre- to postimplementation of an Earth/Space unit. Using a quasi-experimental design, researchers explored how instructional method and gender affected learning. Treatment teachers employed an integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum while the control teacher implemented her regular Earth/Space unit. The Geometric Spatial Assessment (GSA), the Purdue-Spatial Visualization Rotation Test, and the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) were used to assess learning. Experimental groups made gains on periodicity LPCI domains while the control made gains on geometric spatial visualization LPCI domains. Only girls made gains on GSA items. This is the first quasi-experimental study to examine students’ spatial reasoning as they participate in Earth/Space units and to discover gender's role in this spatial development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports an examination on gender differences in lunar phases understanding of 123 students (70 females and 53 males). Middle-level students interacted with the Moon through observations, sketching, journalling, two-dimensional and three-dimensional modelling, and classroom discussions. These lunar lessons were adapted from the Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning (REAL) curriculum. Students' conceptual understandings were measured through analysis of pre-test and post-test results on a Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) and a Geometric Spatial Assessment (GSA). The LPCI was used to assess conceptual learning of eight science and four mathematics domains. The GSA was used to assess learning of the same four mathematical domains; however, the GSA test items were not posed within a lunar context. Results showed both male and female groups to make significant gains in understanding on the overall LPCI test scores as well as significant gains on five of the eight science domains and on three of the four mathematics domains. The males scored significantly higher than the females on the science domain, phase—Sun/Earth/Moon positions, and on the mathematics domain geometric spatial visualisation. GSA results found both male and female groups achieving a significant increase in their test scores on the overall GSA. Females made significant gains on the GSA mathematics domains, periodic patterns and cardinal directions, while males made significant gains on only the periodic patterns domain. Findings suggest that both scientific and mathematical understandings can be significantly improved for both sexes through the use of spatially focused, inquiry-oriented curriculum such as REAL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that student understanding is either confirmed or reformed when given opportunities to share what they know. This study was conducted to answer the research question: Will classroom dialogue facilitate students' understanding of lunar concepts related to geometric spatial visualisation? Ninety-two middle school students engaged in classroom discussion about the two-dimensional models of the Sun-Earth-Moon system they created at the end of an inquiry Moon unit. Their responses to selected questions of the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory were also analysed. Findings indicate that classroom discourse provides the optimal setting for students to deeply ponder their long-held misconceptions and reconstruct their understanding regarding the cause of lunar phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this design study, the authors documented means by which preservice teachers experienced mathematics and science associated with understanding the Moon and sky as they participated in project work within their mathematics and science methods course. The authors examined the way preservice teachers applied mathematics needed to accomplish project tasks in an astronomical context and compared project work of 6 groups. The groups experienced difficulties applying basic mathematics such as scaling, ratios, and sine curves, requiring just-in-time scaffolding lessons to facilitate project progress. In their analysis of participants' pre- and post-scientific and mathematical understandings needed to grasp lunar concepts, authors found that preservice teachers made significant gains in both areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study designed to probe the abstraction ability that US Algebra I students can achieve in moving the concepts rate of change and accumulation between motion and money contexts. The Algebra I students used the technologies motion detectors and Interactive Banking software during a replacement unit focused on slope, ratio, and rate of change. Clinical interviews were conducted with four students at the end of the replacement unit testing their abstraction ability across the two contexts. Results revealed that some students do not have to completely understand the relationship between rate of change and accumulation within a single context in order to be able to understand and project the concepts separately into multiple contexts. Using multiple rate of change contexts allowed the learners the opportunity to see the 'like' in the contextually unlike situation, enabling them to project these concepts into novel situations. Few research studies have examined students' understanding of rate of change outside of the motion context, and therefore no studies, to the authors' knowledge, have explored students' abstraction ability between two different rate of change contexts. This paper reports a study designed to probe the abstraction ability that students can achieve in moving between the motion and money contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the ideas of systemic reform and implementation research in which university researchers team up with teachers and schools to implement reform initiatives and improve student learning in an urban high-school mathematics department. Model of systemic reform; Core elements of systemic research; Professional development with implementation research.