Annual Graduate Student Educational Research Symposium (AGSERS)

March 03, 2015 (12:00-5:00 p.m.) | Purdue Memorial Union North Ballroom
Keynote By:
DR. TERRENCE WILEY
PresidentandChiefExecutiveOfficeroftheCenterforAppliedLinguisticsinWashington,D.C.,Special
Professor,DepartmentofTeachingandLearning,PolicyandLeadershipandGraduateSchoolattheUniversityof
Maryland,CollegePark,MD

(Blank page)

Annual Graduate Student Educational Research Symposium (AGSERS)

ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

Purdue Universitys College of Education and the Graduate Education Council
(GSEC) are sponsoring the ninth Annual Graduate Student Educational Research
Symposium (AGSERS), a research symposium for graduate students in
education-related research from across the campus.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

12:00-12:20 PM

Set-Up

12:20-12:30 PM

Opening Remarks

12:30-2:00 PM

Poster Session I

2:00-2:30 PM

Break

2:30-4:00 PM

Poster Session II

4:00-4:45 PM

Keynote Speaker

4:45-5:00 PM

Awards and Closing Remarks

Keynote Speaker

DR.TERRENCEG.WILEY
Dr. Terrence G. Wiley is President of the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC, and he
serves as Special Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and
Leadership and Graduate School, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. He is
also Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, where he served as Executive
Dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education and
Director of the Division of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies. He has also
served as a Visiting Professor in the School of Foreign Languages for Renmin
(Peoples) University of Chinas International Programs.
Dr. Wileys teaching and research have focused on educational and applied
linguistics, concentrating on educational language policies; language diversity and immigrant integration;
teaching English as a second and international language; bilingualism, literacy and biliteracy studies; and
bilingual, heritage and community language education. He received his Ph.D. from the University of
Southern California in Education with an emphasis in Linguistics, has two Masters degrees, in
Linguistics and Asian Studies, and a B.A. in History. He has won numerous awards for scholarship,
teaching, and service, including the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Distinguished
Scholarship and Service Award.
Dr. Wileys scholarly articles and reviews have appeared in the Modern Language Journal, the
TESOL Quarterly, Language in Society, the International Journal of Sociology of Language, Critical
Inquiry in Language Studies, the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, the
Bilingual Research Journal, Educational Policy, and Teachers College Record.
Among his books are: Handbook of Heritage, Community, and Native American Languages:
Research, Policy, and Practice (co-editor, Routledge, 2014). (co-editor, 2009, Multilingual Matters),
Literacy and Language Diversity in the United States, 2nd Ed (author, 2005, Center for Applied
Linguistics), Ebonics in the Urban Education Debate, 2nd Ed (co-editor, 2005, Multilingual Matters). Dr.
Wiley has also published numerous chapters in volumes published by Cambridge and Oxford university
presses, Blackwell, Taylor and Francis, Routledge, Sage, John Wiley & Sons, Lawrence Erlbaum, John
Benjamins, Mouton, UNESCO, the University of Hawaii Press, and Multilingual Matters.
In addition to his work in China, Dr. Wiley and has done visiting professorships and lectured at
universities in Africa, East and South Asia, Europe and the UK, North, South, and Central America,
Australia, and New Zealand. He is also organizer of the international Language Policy Research Network
of AILA (Association Internationale de la Linguistique Applique).
For more information, please visit:
http://www.cal.org/who-we-are/staff-associates/staff-directory/terrence-wiley

Introducing the Symposium Organizers and

GSECs Officers
BLAKE NEMELKA- President

Raised in Utah, Blake currently works full-time for Purdue

University's Office of Enrollment Management and is enrolled in his
PhD program here at Purdue in Learning Design & Technology
(Department of Curriculum & Instruction within the College of
Education). His research interests include the effects of learning
design and technology within higher education and he hopes to
remain active in research while professionally working on the staff/admin side of higher
education institutions.

JEFF RADLOFF-Vice President

Raised in Indiana, Jeffrey is a second semester graduate student in the
Science Education PhD program in the school of Curriculum and
Instruction within the College of Education here at Purdue. He received
his Masters in Biology with a specialty in Ecology and Evolution from
Purdue University Calumet before coming to Purdue University West
Lafayette in 2012. His current interests are with investigating how preservice science teachers understand science as a social enterprise. He has both been a
teaching assistant and taught for various biology courses at the undergraduate college level
for four years.

MARQUETTA STRAIT-Treasurer
Raised in South Carolina, Marquetta received her Bachelors in
Elementary Education and is currently pursuing her Masters degree in
Learning Design and Technology. She also serves as a teaching
assistant in EDCI-270s Introduction to Educational Technology. Her
research interests includes using instructional technology to engage
English Language Learners and creating stimulating virtual field trips.

DONGYAO TAN-Secretary
Raised in China, Dongyao is a first year doctoral student and research
assistant in Educational Psychology, Department of Educational Studies.
Her research interest includes language learners willingness to
communicate in classrooms, creating a more communicative and
collaborative learning environment, classroom climate and students
perceptions of classroom dynamics and their relation with students
motivational beliefs and orientations.

Poster Session 1
David Blasing (35)
Tiered, qualitative iclicker questions series
in PHYSICS 272 recitation
We present our efforts at active engagement
using tiered, qualitative iclicker questions
series in PHYSICS 272 recitation. Our goal is
that PHYSICS 272 recitation teaches both
content knowledge and powerful problem
solving skills for all our students. Such a

recitation presents significant and unique

challenges because our students come from
over 20 distinct majors. Over several years
though, we have identified many important
misconceptions that commonly occur in a
majority of our students and improved our
pedagogy on these topics. After examining
over 25000 student responses to iClicker
questions on over hundred multiple choice
iClicker questions, we have created thirteen
qualitative, tiered, iClicker series. When

surveyed, our students urge that these

iClicker series become a permanent addition
to PHYSICS 272 and cite the educational
value of answering and discussing them. In
this poster, we will present an example
iClicker series, and some preliminary survey
and pre-post test results.

Hyun Jin Cho (25)

Korean International College Students
Beliefs about Assessment in the Second
Language Learning
The purpose of this study is to examine how
Korean international college students
perceived English learning and its assessment
through in-depth interviews. To explore
Korean students beliefs about assessment in
second language classes, there is a need for
in-depth conversations with students in
terms of establishing information by talking
directly with students and hearing their
voices and stories related to learning English
and test-taking experiences. This qualitative
study examines college students perception
of assessment, focusing on their subjective
task values (STV) of English as a content
area, goal orientations valuing of English
language assessments, and the attributions
they make about their test results. It is
expected to provide implications for teachers
in that it can show how students important
motivational factors about assessment are

reflected on their beliefs and perception of

assessment.

Monerah Al-Dubayan (7)

Does Bilingualism Negatively Impact the
Cognitive Abilities of Children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder?
Students with autism spectrum disorders
(ASDs) from bilingual families are often
advised to only speak one language (English)
and refrain from speaking their native
language.
According to three different
studies conducted in the last five years,
bilingually exposed children with ASD
experienced no additional delays in their
language development.
Moreover, these
children have the capacity to function
successfully as bilinguals. The different
studies used a variety of instruments and
tests including the Peabody Picture
Vocabulary Test-III, Preschool Language
Scale, Mullen Scales of Early Learning,
Communicative Development Inventories,
and
researcher-developed
interviews.
Though the results of the reviewed research
are promising, it is imperative that more
research is conducted on this topic so speechlanguage pathologists, pediatricians, and
other health officials can make treatment
recommendations
based
on
scientific
evidence and help communities overcome
misconceptions about bilingualism and ASD.

Brooke Max and Lane Bloome (9)

Algebra Program Structures in Indiana
In part because passing Algebra I is a
requirement for all students in order to
receive a high school diploma, it is a
gatekeeper in mathematics and predictor of
future success.
In this study, we are
investigating the current status of the
Algebra I programs across Indiana. We are

Arthur Dysart (11)

The Battery Fab Lab: Bringing Battery
Science to the Classroom
In 2017, Tesla Motors Inc. will break ground
at the site of the future Tesla Giga Factory: a
5 billion dollar battery factory spanning
over 10 million square feet in Reno, Nevada.
This investment hints to a larger global
trend: the growing importance of energy
storage technology. Today, however, the
United States lacks a substantial presence in
battery science: major R&D breakthroughs
can be traced to overseas facilities, while the

Elizabeth Suazo Flores (1)

Student's engagement with a multipleability task
This study describes the engagement of an
eighth grade student who was observed for
two classes while she was working in a
group on a multiple-ability task (Cohen,
1994). I learned that the characteristics of
the task (i.e., unfamiliar, high-level

surveying public
non-charter
school
districts in the state and interviewing school
personnel at three case study sites that
structure Algebra I opportunities in a
variety of ways. We are investigating factors
such as when students take Algebra I,
criteria to determine Algebra I placement,
who is assigned to teach the course, and
how those faculty members are selected for
those assignments. This study will add to
the current conversation about Algebra I
across the state.
commercial sector is dominated by
international
heavyweights
Samsung,
Panosonic, and Sanyo Electric. Our
technology will promote science and
engineering education through a safe, easy,
and self-contained classroom battery
demonstration kit. Educators will be able to
demonstrate lithium-ion battery fabrication,
and also show the chemical properties
driving the electrochemical reaction. The kit
includes all tools required to build lithiumion batteries and investigate their
performance.
Furthermore,
battery
materials are designed to be readily
disposed as general waste without negative
environmental impact.
thinking, open-ended, represented with
manipulative materials) and the teachers
role promoted the student's engagement.
The student had not shown herself to be
engaged in previous mathematics classes.
However, while she was working on the
multiple-ability task, her gestures, body
expressions, and conversations suggested
that she presented a high level of behavioral,
emotional, and cognitive engagement.

Alsu Gilmetdinova (33)

Unpeeling the layers of policy onion:
Language-in-education policies in Russia
Documents organize social life for private
business, public sector, government and its
institutions, such as schools, hospitals,
courts. In multilingual societies where the
choice of language(s) is a point of
contention along many social spheres,
analysis of policy documents reveal how
governments construct particular kinds of
representations using particular kinds of

textual (and often, too, non-textual)

convention (Coffey, 2013, p. 369). For the
purpose of this study, policy texts at three
levels are analyzed to uncover knowledge, or
mainly, ideologies, about multilingualism,
language of instruction, but also about the
cultural, economic and political values
attached to language(s), and their role in
society. A set of key documents issued by
the Russian (federal level) and Tatarstan
Ministries of Education and Science
(regional level), as well as policy documents
of three schools (local level) in the city of
Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, are included
in the analysis.

Hongji Gui (13)

Examining Fourth Grade Students Mental
Models of Simple Circuits through
Engineering Design
Students come to the science classroom with
pre-conceived ideas about different science
phenomena. To make sense of the physical
world around them, students construct
internal representations or what are
referred to as mental models. The purpose
of this study was to characterize fourth
grade students mental models of a closed
circuit and examine to what extent students
mental models were influenced by
engagement in an engineering design task.
An open response question and follow up
interview was administered before and after
students engagement in a door alarm
design task in an effort to capture students
pre and post understandings of a closed
circuit. Results indicated an array of
students
different
mental
models.
Additional analysis indicated that students
developed a more informed and accurate
understanding of simple circuits as a result
of participating in a design task.
Implications of this study suggest that
engineering design may facilitate students
science conceptual understanding.

Belen Garcia de Hurtado (29)

Serious Game to Raise Awareness and
Understanding of Environmental Issues for
8th Graders

The purpose of this study is to explore

the effects that playing a computer game
(SimCity Edu) has on Middle School
students related to their environmental
literacy skills after playing the game
during six sessions. Moreover, how
students respond to the tradeoffs of the
game, and how computer games could
change students attitudes and behaviors
related to environmental issues. Twenty
nine students from a private middle
school participated in the pilot study
answering the pre and post-test surveys.
Their responses to the survey were
analyzed with a t-test. The preliminary
results showed a slight level of
significance in the total score and in
some of the individual questions. Some
of the questions analyzed show no
significance. As corresponding with the
research, during the observations the
participants showed high interest about

taking care of the environment and

about playing a game to learn about

environmental literacy.

Kadir Kozan (27)

seek new learning throughout their careers

and have the deep content knowledge
(factual and conceptual) in their domain
and also master that knowledge in varieties
of contexts and can solve problems with
effective access and multiple solutions
(Schraw, et al., 2009). Three groups of
undergraduate students are participating in
this research: Visual Communication Design
(VCD) & Design, Computer Graphic
Technology (CGT), and none of the VCD &
CGT. The research uses convergent mixed
method design, including a problem-solving
task, observation, survey, and in-depth
interview. The result would answer how
experiences and domain-specific trainings
can contribute to the development of
adaptive expertise in solving graphic design
problems.

How many structural models can fit into

the Community of Inquiry framework?
The Community of Inquiry framework (e.g.,
Garrison & Akyol, 2013) assumes that
learning occurs in the intersection of
teaching, social and cognitive presence
(Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2000). This
further refers to interrelationships between
and among the three presences (Garrison et
al., 2000). Specifically, two presences
interact with each other both independent
of and depending on the third presence.
Consequently, to gain deeper insights into
such relationships, the present study
employed structural equation modeling
analysis focusing on how many structural
models of the relationships can be
statistically significant. Results indicated
the existence of two models. References
Garrison, D. R., & Akyol, Z. (2013). The
community
of
inquiry
theoretical
framework. In M. G. Moore (Ed.),
Handbook of distance education (pp. 104119). New York, NY: Routledge. Garrison, D.
R., Anderson, T., Archer, W. (2000). Critical
inquiry in a text-based environment:
Computer conferencing in higher education.
The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3),
87-105.

Shih-Ping Kuo (31)

Graphic Design Students Development of
Adaptive Expertise in Ideation Strategies
The purpose of this research is aimed to
identify the key characteristics of adaptive
expertise in the Graphic Design. Adaptive
Expertise is a set of characteristics and
problem solving performance that a person
has. A person with adaptive expertise can

Marwa Noureldin (5)

Evaluation of a Graduate Seminar on
Writing and Publication.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a
writing and publication seminar on
graduate students ability to explain the
publication and peer review processes and
journal selection considerations, perform a
peer review, and write a manuscript for
publication. Methods: A structured seminar
incorporated didactic and active learning
components to fulfill course objectives and
aid in manuscript preparation.
Under
faculty mentorship, students prepared and
submitted a manuscript. A 24-item seminar
assessment addressed course objectives and
evaluated seminar structure utilizing a fivepoint scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly
agree).
Results: Statistically significant
improvements occurred in each of the
seminar objectives (p<0.05).
Students
agreed (agreed or strongly agreed) that the

seminar improved their writing skills

(86.7%, N=15) and helped develop skills
needed
by
professionals
(100%).
Conclusion: A writing and publication
seminar increased graduate students

Hyejeong Oh (17)
Work Environment and Social Support as
Mediators of the Relation between Special
Education Teachers Job Stress and
Psychological Burnout: A Comparison of
Special Schools and Special Classes
Elementary-grade
special
education
teachers in Korea work in one of two
contextsin special schools or in special
classes within regular schools. It may be
that there are differences in teachers
environment and social support between the
two contexts, which have implications for
teacher psychological burnout. This study
examined
whether
perceived
work
environment and social support mediated
the relation between special education
teachers
job
stress
and
burnout.
Furthermore, it compared whether the
mediating effect differed by educational
context. South Korean elementary special
education teachers (161 from special schools
and 202 from regular schools; 363 in total)
completed a self-report survey containing
measures of job stress, psychological
burnout, work environment, and social
support. Hierarchical multiple regression
analyses indicated that work environment
and social support significantly mediated
the effect of job stress on burnout in both
contexts. However, the mediating effect was
not significantly different for teachers in
special or regular schools.

Sue Ellen Richardson (19)

Through Their Eyes: Early Childhood
Teachers as Learners and Teachers of
Mathematics

knowledge of the publication process and

factors involved in manuscript preparation
and submission. Similar seminars may be
valuable in graduate education curricula.

Our study explores early childhood teachers

lived experiences learning and teaching
mathematics with young children, adding
finer-grained context and detail to broader
descriptions of the mathematics that early
childhood teachers learn and teach. We
interviewed ten early childhood teachers in
a university laboratory school about their K12 and professional mathematics training,
classroom mathematics curriculum and
activities, who controls their mathematics
curriculum, and their mathematics teaching
and learning philosophies for young
children.
Multiple rounds of analysis
included chunking interviews into cohesive
ideas, coding for Bourdieus (Grenfell, 1996)
social field theory constructs, answering
interview questions, and developing
preliminary narratives with timelines and
dominant themes. Results highlight social
factors that influence what early childhood
teachers do and teach, and influences such
as standards, center regulations and
administration,
research,
university
organization,
parents,
and
children.
Veteran teachers expressed negative
experiences with mathematics, while the
two novice teachers both had positive
experiences learning mathematics K-16.

Melissa Savage (3)

Exploring School Predictors of Risky
Behavior and Offending for Secondary
Students with Intellectual Disability
Research indicates that adolescents with
intellectual disability engage in high rates of
risky behavior and offending. However,
minimal research exists comparing the rate

of engagement for adolescents with

intellectual disability based on level of
functioning and exploring school predictors
of engagement in risky behaviors and
offending. This study analyzed secondary
data from the National Longitudinal
Transition Study-2 to determine levels of
engagement in risky behaviors and
offending for adolescents with mild and
moderate/severe intellectual disability as
well as explore school-related predictors of
engagement for adolescents with mild
intellectual disability. Results indicated
adolescents with mild intellectual disability
engage in risky behaviors and offending at
significantly higher rates as compared to
adolescents
with
moderate/severe
intellectual
disability.
Adolescent
participation in a social skills class was a
significant predictor of less engagement in
risky behaviors and offending. Implications
and future directions of these results are
discussed.

Dongyao Tan (39)

Second Language Learners Implicit Beliefs
about Intelligence and Willingness to
Communicate
Willingness to communicate in a second
language (L2) is perceived to facilitate L2
acquisition; one of its most important
antecedents is learner beliefs. Implicit
beliefs about intelligence is proved to have
an immediate impact on the way learners
think and behave and their learning
outcomes. However, such a significant
aspect of learner beliefs apparently lacks
scholarship in WTC research. The proposed
study is an effort to explore implicit beliefs
about intelligence/abilities in the particular
subject
of
language
learning,
and
specifically how different implicit beliefs
may influence the students WTC in their
learning of the L2. It is hypothesized that
there can be a link between L2 learners
implicit beliefs and their WTC in general,

and this link may appear to be stronger in

difficult tasks.

DeLean Tolbert (21)

Intervention to Impact: African American
Male Engineers Pre-college Engineering
Experiences and the Development of their
Engineer of 2020 Attributes
African American male students experience
challenges in their formal pre-college
science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) education which later
often become obstacles to being admitted to
and completing college engineering degree
programs. However, precollege engineering
learning
often
occurs
in
informal
(extracurricular) learning environments.
Therefore, it is important to identify and
understand
the
impact
of
diverse
extracurricular contexts in which students
can learn about engineering during their
precollege
years.
This
instrument
development study investigates the impact
of extracurricular pre-college engineering
activities of African American males'
engineering knowledge, skills and attitudes.
In the qualitative investigation, a typology
of African American males engineering
activities
will
be
developed
from
investigations of narratives from a separate
study. Questionnaire items will be
developed from the typology, focus group
interviews and from literature. In this
presentation, I will discuss preliminary
findings from the selected narratives.

Camilo Vieira (37)

Scaffolding
Materials
Science
and
Engineering Students in a Computation
and Programming Course
Attending a call to integrate computational
science and engineering concepts within the

engineering curricula, a course called

Computation
and
Programming
for
Materials Scientists and Engineering
(CPMSE) was introduced into the Materials
Science program at Johns Hopkins
University. The course intends to empower
students with the computational tools and
methods to solve the increasing complex
problems in their discipline. It also seeks to
engage students in a career permeated by
computational science as a very important
skill in the global society. The initial

experiences with this course showed that

students were overwhelmed by the
complexity of computational methods
paired to the math and the disciplinary
concepts required for this course. Therefore,
different pedagogical approaches were
evaluated as scaffolding strategies for the
activities of this course. The purpose of this
study is to understand what are effective
pedagogical approaches for a computational
materials science course and how should
they be implemented.

Cong Wang (4)

Can cognitive conflict induce more learning? The type matters
Cognitive conflict can be a significant instructional strategy. However, there are controversial
results regarding its effectiveness. / Three problems exist in previous cognitive conflicts
research. First, most studies are in the area of conceptual change, which may underestimate the
positive effects of cognitive conflicts. Second, cognitive conflicts are often controlled by
researchers rather than perceived by students. Third, many studies are laboratory experiments,
which lacked ecological validity. To overcome these shortcomings, the current study examined
the effects of students' perceived cognitive conflict on engagement and transfer in a real
problem-solving context. / Ninety-six college students were selected to participate in the study
and complete the cognitive conflict scale and behavior engagement scale. Transfer was
examined with open-ended questions. Results showed that students who perceived constructive
conflicts performed better in engagement and transfer than students who perceived destructive
conflicts. Behavior engagements mediated the relationship between cognitive conflicts and
transfer.

Poster Session 2
Sherri Farmer (22)
Using Pictures
Developing
Multiplication

to Support Student's
Understanding
of

Visual media has become a common

mechanism
for
engaging
and
communicating information with students.
Using realistic models (photographs) of
mathematical
ideas
encourage
the
development of a childs mental model of
mathematical concepts. The photograph, as
an object model, is used as a referent for
students to construct meaning through
signs (words). These signs represent the
childs thinking, as they simultaneously
construct mathematical meaning and signs
and symbols. Using Norma Presmegs
nested models of semiotics, I will analyze
the progression of these signs, to better
determine a childs meaning making
process. Research suggests the importance
of providing learning experiences that
enhance students abilities to recognize
patterns, organize knowledge, and create
connections (van denHeuval-PanHuizen,
2003). Photographs provide this experience
and over time, move students from models
of thinking to models for thinking
(Gravemeijer, 1999). Understanding arrays
as related to rows and columns (Battista,
1999) and essential connections to
multiplication is also addressed.

Yu Gong (14)
Learning by TouchImproving Students
Understanding on Magnetism
with
Visuohaptic Simulations
Haptic technology affords learners with
kinesthetic movement and tactile sensation
that provide information about the
morphology of objects or force and motion
feedback. However, less empirical studies
have been done to identify visuohaptic
affordances in education. Magnetism and
magnetic interactions are foundational
concepts in science and engineering.
Magnetism has also been identified as one
of the most difficult concepts in science and
engineering for its abstract nature. Studies
have shown that students have robust
misunderstanding on magnetism after
formal instruction. To improve students
understanding,
we
investigated
the
effectiveness
of
using
visuohaptic
simulations. 76 students pre- and postrepresentational models were collected from
an introductory Electrical Engineering
&Technology course. A categorical analysis
was performed to investigate students
conceptual change. Research results suggest
significant improvements on student
representations about charge configuration,
electric fields and field lines, which suggest
the possible implementation of haptic
technology in science and engineering
classroom.

Enyi Jen (2)

Concerns of high-ability adolescents:
Lessons learned from an affective
curriculum
Social and emotional needs play an
important role in students affective wellbeing and developmental transitions.
However, limited research has been
conducted to identify what social and
emotional concerns gifted adolescents have.
Existing studies were either outdated or
focused on White students. This exploratory
study adopted a development perspective
and investigated what social-affective
concerns gifted students in grades 5 through

Marshall Klassen (26)

Classroom Discourse for English Language
Learners: Teaching Writing in Midwestern
Rural Schools
This study will investigate classroom
discourse about writing development of
English Language Learners (ELLs) in two
elementary classrooms in the Midwest.
Through a multi-case study of a 3rd and 5th
grade classroom, classroom discourse
concerning writing instruction will be
analyzed to show how writing instruction is
directed towards ELLs in regard to linguistic
resources used by teachers to guide students
in written instruction. This poster session
will discuss show selected highlights of
discourse in the writing classroom through a
careful analysis of language used in the
classroom through a curriculum genre lens.
Implications for practice will be discussed.

12 who participated in a summer residential

program had and how the concerns were
different across gender, age, ethnicity, and
cultural background. Analyses of responses
from an open-ended survey indicated that
high-ability
adolescents
were
most
concerned about feelings and emotions,
future aspirations, and relationships.
Gender, age, and racial differences were
found between student participants from
different backgrounds and bullying arouse
as a special concern. Implications for
educators and researchers are made
regarding how to pay proactive attention to
students who may need personalized
counseling and who have varied English
proficiency

Elizabeth Kersey (20)

Analysis of a South African OpenlySourced Textbook and its Evolution
One of the major equity issues in South
Africa is the lack of textbooks. To remedy
this, Siyavula has created an openlylicensed textbook series for science and
mathematics. I will use a discourse analytic
framework to analyze the voice of the Grade
12 Finance chapter in the Mathematics
textbook from Free High School Science
Texts (FHSST), the first version of this text,
and Everything Maths, the most recent
version of this text. I will then compare the
two to illustrate how the text has evolved.
Some features common to both texts are a
reading level several grade levels below the
intended audience in order to make it more
accessible for multilingual students, a lack
of opportunities for students to explain their
thinking, and a friendly, personal tone. One
of the ways in which the text has evolved is
that it has become more integrated with
technology.

Qian Li (15)
Teacher expectations as a mediator in
understanding students goal orientation
and classroom goal structure
The purpose of the study was to examine the
relationship
between
students
goal
orientations, classroom goal structures, and
teacher expectations. A sample of 300 5th
and 6th-grade children in two elementary
schools in China participated in the study.
Self-report inventories were used to assess
students goal orientation as well as their
perceptions of teacher expectations and
classroom goal structure. Main results
included: (1) classroom goal structure
positively
predicted
students
goal
orientation; (2) students perceptions of
teacher expectations were positively
correlated with learning-oriented goal
structure, and negatively correlated with
performance-oriented goal structures; (3)
teacher
expectations
mediated
the
relationship between classroom goal
structure and students learning goal
orientation. The results suggested that
teachers should convey high expectations
for learning for all students, and
demonstrate a high regard for students
abilities. In that way, teachers could help
students to establish a more adaptive type of
goal orientation by constructing a learningoriented goal structure in their classrooms.

Yaheng Lu (18)
Academic Emotions and Self-regulated
Learning Strategies in Middle School
Mathematics Classrooms in China: An
Intervention Study
This study investigates the relationship
between academic emotions, self-regulated
learning (SRL) strategies, and middle school
students academic performance on math.
Participants in this study are students from

8th grade in a public school in northern

China. Author and school teachers
conducted eight-week intervention on
academic emotions and guidance on
application
of
SRL
strategies
on
mathematics. Mathematics test scores,
academic emotion self-report scores, and
SRL scale scores were collected during pretest and post-test. Critical findings are
intervention
significantly
improves
students
academic
emotions
and
application of SRL strategies. Students who
received either intervention on academic
emotions or SRL strategies or both of them
show
significant
improvement
on
mathematics test scores on post-test and at
the end of the semester. Advice is given
based on present research findings and
current course design on psychological
health class. Practical values can be applied
to mathematics instructions at middle
school level.

Alexia Mintos (32)

Investigating Equity-related
Teacher Education

Tasks

in

Classrooms are increasingly diverse and

require teachers who are adequately
prepared to teach in todays mathematics
classrooms. How this work is being done in
mathematics teacher education is important
to investigate, particularly in the secondary
mathematics setting as there is often a focus
on content preparation. During this
presentation I will describe a conceptual
framework which informed the design, data
collection, and analysis processes of this
study. The data sources include instructor
interviews and course materials that would
shed light on the nature of activities used in
secondary mathematics methods courses at
five
purposefully
chosen
secondary
mathematics teacher education programs. I
will also present findings related to the
nature of tasks and learning activities used
in these courses for pre-service secondary

mathematics teachers to learn about equity

in mathematics education and be enabled to

develop equitable practices.

Jaclyn Myers (28)

valuable insights into the landscape,

maturity, self-efficacy, and influences that
exist between the ages 10 and 15 years old,
as opposed to solely studying 16- to 18-yearolds . The author takes readers through a
literature review of the relevant research on
the topic as well as provides insights and
suggestions for the future design of learning
at the middle school level in terms of career
development and calls for a separation of
research for the field of college choice at a
younger age, utilizing the design and
technology available to a technologically
talented generation who are prime for
exploration and foundational learning
within both college and career readiness.

Embracing the Habit: A Prescription for

Study Skills
Student pharmacists spend a large amount
of time studying in the attempt to master
material, but often are not instructed
formally on the most effective methods of
engaging in studying. An optional study
skills seminar was designed to provide
students opportunities to learn about and
practice evidence-based study strategies. At
the conclusion of the seminar, participating
students were asked to complete a survey
regarding their intention to use the study
skills described in the seminar, as well as
provide feedback on the seminar. All
student pharmacists were asked to complete
a self-administered survey describing their
study habits and strategies at the beginning
and end of the fall semester, and students
who did not participate in the seminar
served as a comparator group. Results
describe the most commonly used study
strategies by pharmacy students, as well as
the impact of an optional study skills
seminar on student attitudes and intentions.

Blake Nemelka (38)

Middle School,
Readiness

College,

and

Career

College
and
career
readiness
has
traditionally been viewed from not only the
same line of scholarship but also from the
lens of a high school student nearing the
latter years of their educational attainment.
Nevertheless, the college and career
readiness research on middle school
students dates back 60 years and provides

Nicole Pitterson (30)

Exploring undergraduate engineering
students conceptual understanding of
alternating current (AC) circuits
Research focused on increasing students
conceptual understanding of electric circuits
has discussed alternating current (AC) as
difficult to teach and for students to grasp.
This difficulty has been attributed to the fact
that students tend to hold very little
conceptions of electricity which is made
even more difficult by the complex nature of
alternating current (AC). Often times,
students inability to associate this new
concept with some pre-existing conception
or prior knowledge leads to the
development of misconceptions about the
nature of electricity. This study focuses on
exploring
undergraduate
electrical
engineering
students
conceptual
understanding of alternating current (AC)
circuits. This will be done through three
distinctive approaches: to investigate the

influence of prior knowledge when learning

about more complex scientific concepts, to
examine the role of learning environments
and activities on students understanding of

these concepts and to study the design and

dissemination of knowledge in an
introductory circuits course.

Jeffrey Radloff (36)

Adnan Rajib (16)

Why are we doing this? The role of

personal relevance in developing biological
information literacy

RWater - A Novel Cyber-enabled Datadriven Tool for Enhancing Hydrology

Education from K-12 to Graduate Level

Student-centered learning necessitates that

students engage with an array of materials
to develop their own understandings, often
requiring students to find and critically
engage with biological information. This
project describes a course (BIOL 131;
Biology II: Development, Structure and
Function of Organisms) that utilizes cyber
Peer-led Team Learning (cPLTL) as a
student-centered approach to enhance
students biological information literacy.
Emphasizing the social aspects of learning,
students worked together in small groups
led by a peer mentor using online meeting
software. The first iteration of the
redesigned course was successful in making
Biol 131 more student-centered and did
enhance students biological information
literacy. However some students did not
connect
weekly
information
literacy
questions with developing a greater
understanding
of
how
biological
information holds personal relevance. In the
next iteration of the course, efforts will be
made to reframe the information literacy
component
to
emphasize
students
engagement with biological information in
personally relevant ways.

A novel web-based educational tool,

called RWater, is developed using
Purdue
Universitys
HUBzero
technology. By following data-driven
modules, students can write small
scripts in R programming language and
thereby create visualizations to identify
the effect of rainfall distribution and
watershed characteristics on runoff
generation, investigate the impacts of
landuse and climate change on
streamflow, and explore the changes in
extreme hydrologic events in actual
locations. In order to assess its
suitability in classroom implementation,
and to evaluate users perception over its
utility, the current version of RWater
has been tested with three different
groups: (i) high school students, (ii)
middle/high school teachers; and (iii)
undergraduate/graduate students. The
survey results from these trials suggest
that the RWater has potential to
improve students understanding on
various relationships in hydrologic cycle,
leading towards effective dissemination
of hydrology education ranging from K12 to graduate level. RWater is a publicly
available
for
use
at:
https://mygeohub.org/tools/rwater.

Anastasia Rynearson (6)

Work In Progress: The Draw an
Engineer Test as an Indicator for
Engineering as a Possible Self in Early
K-12 Students
National calls for more engineers with
greater diversity have resulted in state
standards that put engineering in K-12
classrooms. Interest in engineering as a
career is one outcome of K-12 engineering
education. For a student to have interest in
engineering as a career, they must consider
engineering to be one of their possible
selves, an affective outcome. Currently,
there are few instruments measuring
affective aspects in any STEM discipline for
pre-college students; this is an area that
requires more research. The goal of this
project is to ascertain whether the Draw an
Engineer Test, an existing instrument, can
be used to identify 6 11 year old childrens
occupational openness to engineering. This
mixed-methods study has two main phases,
quantitative instrument analysis followed by
qualitative interviews. Results will inform
the development of a guide for the use of the
Draw-an-Engineer
Test
for
K-12
practitioners and researchers.

Anirudh Sriram (34)

Bridging the Gap: Augmenting Mechanical
Engineering Education Through the
Transformation of Computer - Aided
Design Tools
In helping students learn engineering
design, it is very important that they explore
more complex scenarios that are realistic,
fall outside the domain of standard and
over-simplified textbook problems that
typically have an answer. Current
educational methods and computer-based
tools do not bridge this gap providing

affordances
for
design
exploration.
Although computational methods such as
finite element analysis have this potential,
they are hard to use requiring the users to
learn the tool before they can use it. To this
end, we have developed a problem-based
framework to allow for rapid design
exploration within engineering design
curricula using an easy-to-use, constrained
version of finite elements for stress analysis
and exploration. Using this framework, we
explore the decision making of users, and
their methodology in the course of design
activities. Our framework demonstrates the
ability of computational tools that are
transformed for learning purposes can
augment learning processes in new ways.

Elizabeth Suazo (1)

Eighth Grade Mathematics Teachers
Reflection and Teaching Practice
Two eighth-grade mathematics teachers
collaborated with graduate students to study
teachers teaching practices, around use of
tools, and their interaction with Rodgers
(2002) reflection cycle. Our data collection
consisted of three phases. In Phase 1, we
observed teachers during their class and
created a model of their teaching practices.
Our model is based on Artzt et al.s (2008)
framework that examines instructional
practice. In the first interview, we received
teachers feedback on our model and
gathered information about their teaching
experience. In Phase 2, we observed and
interviewed teachers for four days. These
interview questions were based on Rogers
(2002) reflection cycle and tool use (Borko
et al., 2007). In Phase 3, we observed
teachers, created a second model, and
interviewed them about our models and the
reflection cycle. We analyzed both teaching
models and gathered evidence of the
interaction between the teachers practices
and reflection cycle.

Qing Wang
Confucius Institute: Orientalism or
Multiculturalism?
Confucius Institute (CI) Project, aiming
at developing multiculturalism and
building a harmonious world, is a
language and culture related program
launched by the Chinese Ministry of
Education. The main work of CI is to
provide Chinese language and culture
teaching resources. As the economic
power and international status of China
develops, CI has been expanding fast
during the last ten years. An issue is that
the way of CIs expanding has incurred
critiques and CI Project has been seen as
incarnate of Orientalism or even the
culture intrusion. However, CI can act as
a counter-act force against Euramericacentered ideology from the post-colonial
perspective in todays world, and
produce more possibilities for thoughts
and voices of other cultures. CI should
be a multiculturalism and harmonious
world contributor, take more southsouth
collaborations
and
train
systematically its international teachers.

Jiaxi Wu (8)
Excellence Gaps and Native American
Youth: An Examination of the NAEP
Data 2000-2011
This quantitative study examines
whether Native American students
represent a smaller proportion of
students scoring at highest levels of
achievement in National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) reading,
mathematics, and science proficiency
compared to students from other ethnic

backgrounds in United States K-12

education from 2000 to 2011. Data
analyzed
come
from
secondary,
restricted data approved by Institute of
Education
Sciences
(IES).
This
important work extends prior research
on excellence gaps that omitted Native
American populations. Findings provide
a baseline concerning excellence gaps
and a foundation for future intervention
research concerning high-achieving
Native American students. They also
provide information and direction for
schools and communities that have
Native American

Xuan Yang (24)

Explore the Functional Relationship
Between an Intelligent Tutor-assisted
Intervention Program and Students
Development of Conceptual Understanding
How students with learning difficulties in
math
(LDM)
develop
conceptual
understanding and become independent
problem solver is one of the most important
questions special educators want to know.
However, there is a lack of literature on
measuring how students with LDM grow
from a less matured problem solver (needs a
lot of prompting) to a more independent
problem solver. As the outcome of a
collaborative work, we have developed a
web-based mathematics problem-solving
intelligent tutor, PGBM-COMPS. This
intelligent tutor is designed to promote
multiplicative reasoning and problem
solving of elementary students with LDM.
The PGBM-COMPS intelligent tutor allows
us to collect data on students learning
growth while they interact with the tutoring
program. Using a single subject design, the
purpose of this study is to explore the
functional relationship between the PGBMCOMPS intelligent tutor and students
development of conceptual understanding

and therefore becoming an independent

problem solver.

Tugba Yuksel (12)

What do Engineering and Physics Students know about basic quantum concepts?
This study investigated how engineering and physics students from different academic
levels understand basic quantum phenomena after taking at least one quantum
mechanics (QM) course. Four physics and four chemical engineering students were
asked to answer five questions, which covered three quantum conceptsatomic
structure, energy levels and atomic spectroscopy. Students were asked to think alone
around 20 minutes before they elaborated their answers as a part of think-out loud
process. Students experiences on technical concepts were investigated by using
phenomengraphic analysis (Reed, 2006). The findings indicated that students used
many different models to explain unobservable or unaccountable quantum phenomena.
In addition, most of the physics and engineering students could not explain atomic
structure without sketching Bohrs atom model, although some students indicated that
is not scientific representation of an atom. Electron arrangement, on the other hand,
appeared to be an unclear concept as opposed to what students thought they knew.

(Back Cover)

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