Theme Numeracy, Scientific Reasoning and Inquiry

Team Members Mark Aulls Sylvia Apollonia Helena Dedic Leslie Dickie StevenRosenfield Bruce Shore

Recent Doctoral Students Camelia Berlian Charles Hou Yuan-jin Hong Nathaniel Lasry Krista Redden Cassiday Sayer Rebecca Simon

Current Numeracy and Scientific Reasoning Research Studies The overall goal of this research proposal is to understand how different learning environments interact with student characteristics in order that we may then promote student attraction to and perseverance towards eventual careers in the sciences, engineering or science education. Study 1: The objectives of this study are related to student perception of the mathematics and science classroom learning environments in high school Study 2: The objectives of this study are related to student perception of the learning environments experienced in the mathematics and science classrooms of their first term in CÉGEP Study 3: The objectives of this study are all related to the learning environment science and mathematics faculty wish to establish in their classrooms, and to their epistemological beliefs regarding teaching/learning of science and the nature of their discipline Study 4: The objective of this study is to more deeply understand what CÉGEP math and science teachers perceive to be their best instructional practices and what barriers they perceive to those practices Study 5: The objective of this study is to describe how beginning biology students construct and manipulate verbal models in the study of the complex adaptive system

Current Inquiry Research Studies The overall objectives of our research program is to understand inquiry as educational event. Study 1: The identification of inquiry learning and teaching outcomes in the academic-cognitive, social, and affective domain Study 2: To determine the roles of teachers’ pedagogical versus subject- matter expertise and epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning in the actual evaluation of inquiry outcomes Study 3: To describe inquiry outcomes and their evaluation in higher education Study 4: Do groups of preservice teachers who received different types of teacher preparation have different understanding of inquiry as a concept and inquiry oriented education as reflected in their formal course work? Study 5: The circumstance associated with meaningful outcomes and educational psychology courses Study 6: Constructive alignment in teacher education: Identifying contextually dependent student presage factors and associated with learning outcomes Study 7: Predicting persistence in CÉGEP math and science program: A comparison between genders on the basis of affect, self-efficacy and motivation, perceptions of learning environment and goal-orientation

Future Directions for 2006 Current Numeracy and Scientific Reasoning Research Studies The objectives of this study are all related to the interaction between faculty perceptions and characteristics (Study 3 above) and student perceptions and characteristics (Studies 1 and 2 above). Inquiry Research Studies To further develop the Aulls-Shore Model of Inquiry as content, context, process and strategy by including evaluation as a new construct