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An examination of how middle school science teachers conduct collaborative inquiry and reflection about students’ conceptual understanding
Title
An examination of how middle school science teachers conduct collaborative inquiry and reflection about students’ conceptual understanding.
Creator
Todd-Gibson, Christine, Weber, Roberta K., College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Abstract/Description
This qualitative case study examined how middle school science teachers conducted collaborative inquiry and reflection about students’ conceptual understanding, and how individual teachers in the middle school science group acted and made reflections in response to their collaborative inquiry. It also examined external influences that affected the teachers’ ability to engage in collaborative inquiry. Observational, written, and interview data were collected from observations of teachers’ face...
Show moreThis qualitative case study examined how middle school science teachers conducted collaborative inquiry and reflection about students’ conceptual understanding, and how individual teachers in the middle school science group acted and made reflections in response to their collaborative inquiry. It also examined external influences that affected the teachers’ ability to engage in collaborative inquiry. Observational, written, and interview data were collected from observations of teachers’ face-to-face meetings and reflections, individual interviews, a focus group interview, and online reflections. The results of this study revealed that collaborative inquiry is a form of professional development that includes answering curricular questions through observation, communication, action, and reflection. This approach was developed and implemented by middle school science teachers. The premise of an inquiry is based on a need with students. Middle school science teachers came to consensus about actions to affect students’ conceptual understanding, took action as stated, and shared their reflections of the actions taken with consideration to current and upcoming school activities. Activities involved teachers brainstorming and sharing with one another, talking about how the variables were merged into their curriculum, and how they impacted students’ conceptual understanding. Teachers valued talking with one another about science content and pedagogy, but did find the inquiry portion of the approach to require more development. The greatest challenge to conducting collaborative inquiry and reflection was embedding teacher inquiry within a prescribed inquiry that was already being conducted by the Sundown School District. Collaborative inquiry should be structured so that it meets the needs of teachers in order to attend to the needs of students. A conducive atmosphere for collaborative inquiry and reflection is one in which administrators make the process mandatory and facilitate the process by removing an existing inquiry.
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Date Issued
2013
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA0004066
Subject Headings
Achievement in education, Concept learning -- Study and teaching (Middle school), Inquiry (Theory of knowledge), Middle school teaching, Science -- Study and teaching (Middle school), Team learning approach in education
Format
Document (PDF)
Machina ex deo
Title
Machina ex deo: embodiments of evil in Dan Simmon's Hyperion Cantos.
Creator
Stewart, Zachary., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
Dan Simmons's far-future science fiction epic Hyperion Cantos, in which seven disparate individuals become enmeshed in a convoluted plot to enslave humanity, provides extensive support for British theologian John Hick's theory of transcendental pluralism. Using the central figures of the Shrike, a mysterious killing machine, and the Technocore, a collective of autonomous artificial intelligences, Simmons demonstrates Hick's postulation that all major Western religions actually focus on the...
Show moreDan Simmons's far-future science fiction epic Hyperion Cantos, in which seven disparate individuals become enmeshed in a convoluted plot to enslave humanity, provides extensive support for British theologian John Hick's theory of transcendental pluralism. Using the central figures of the Shrike, a mysterious killing machine, and the Technocore, a collective of autonomous artificial intelligences, Simmons demonstrates Hick's postulation that all major Western religions actually focus on the same divine being (God) by creating a negative divine being, akin to Satan, to which characters of various religions react in similar ways. Simmons's pilgrims each represent a particular spiritual outlook, from specific organized religions to less-defined positions such as secularism and agnosticism, but each pilgrim's tale contributes to the evidence of transcendental pluralism. This thesis explores each characters' experiences as they relate to the Shrike, the Technocore, and, ultimately the theory of transcendental pluralism.
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Date Issued
2013
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3361261
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Hyperion (Imaginary place), Inquiry (Theory of knowledge), Pluralism, Metaphysics, Philosophy of mind, Good and evil, History of doctrines
Format
Document (PDF)