Date Available

8-1-2017

Year of Publication

2017

Degree Name

Master of Science in Education (MSEd)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Education

Department/School/Program

STEM Education

First Advisor

Dr. Jennifer Wilhelm

Abstract

Student demographic characteristics of gender and race/ethnicity, students’ spatial-content knowledge as measured by pre-instructional performance on the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) (Lindell & Olsen), and post-instructional performance on the Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test (PSVT) (Bodner & Guay, 1997), and teachers’ spatial-content knowledge as measured by the two assessments were considered to predict students’ overall understanding of lunar phases as measured by post-instructional results on the LPCI. A mixed modeling approach was used in a hierarchal manner to evaluate the student learning outcomes. Results showed that student gender was not a significant predictor of post-instructional student performance, but students who identified as “Other” for their race/ethnicity were shown to be a significant predictor. When considering pre-instructional spatial-content knowledge based on Wilhelm’s four spatial-mathematical domains, Periodic patterns and Spatial Projection were found to be significant predictors, but the domains of Geometric & Spatial Visualization and Cardinal Directions were not found to be significant predictors. Students’ post-instructional performance on the PSVT was found to be a significant predictor with student learning outcomes. Repeated Measures ANOVA tests showed that students’ gain scores on the LPCI were significantly different for six of the seven teachers under consideration.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2017.322

Download

Share

COinS