Browsing by Subject "Project method in teaching"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A study of the project programs of vocational agricultural students in North West Texas(1942-08) King, William AlphaNot AvailableItem The effects of topic choice in project-based instruction on undergraduate physical science students' interest, ownership, and motivation(2001-05) Milner-Bolotin, Marina; Gleeson, Austin M.; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-Motivating nonscience majors in science and mathematics studies became one of the most interesting and important challenges in contemporary science and mathematics education. Therefore, designing and studying a learning environment, which enhances students' motivation, is an important task. This experimental study sought to explore the implications of student autonomy in topic choice in a project-based Physical Science Course for nonscience majors' on students' motivational orientation. It also suggested and tested a model explaining motivational outcomes of project-based learning environment through increased student ownership of science projects. A project, How Things Work, was designed and implemented in this study. The focus of the project was application of physical science concepts learned in the classroom to everyday life situations. Participants of the study (N=59) were students enrolled in three selected sections of a Physical Science Course, designed to fulfill science requirements for nonscience majors. These sections were taught by the same instructor over a period of an entire 16-week semester at a large public research university. The study focused on four main variables: student autonomy in choosing a project topic, their motivational orientation, student ownership of the project, and the interest in the project topic. Achievement Goal Orientation theory became the theoretical framework for the study. Student motivational orientation, defined as mastery or performance goal orientation, was measured by an Achievement Goal Orientation Questionnaire. Student ownership was measured using an original instrument, Ownership Measurement Questionnaire, designed and tested by the researchers. Repeated measures yoked design, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and multivariate regression analysis were implemented in the study. Qualitative analysis was used to complement and verify quantitative results. It has been found that student autonomy in the project choice did not make a significant impact on their motivational orientation, while their initial interest in the project topic did. The latter was found to be related to students' ownership of the project, which was found to lead to improved mastery goal orientation. These findings indicate that incorporating project-based learning in science teaching may lead to increased student mastery goal orientation, and may result in improved science learning.Item Incorporating online projects into K-12 classrooms : the odyssey from beginners' perspectives(2003-08) Williams, Laurie Cameron, 1955-; Harris, Judi; Webeck, Mary LeeThis constructivist inquiry study explored the perceptions that teachers had of the experience of integrating telecollaborative or telecooperative projects for the first time. The purpose of this study was to illuminate connections that might be drawn across participants in order to promote participation in online projects involving communication among partners—one of the least utilized types of online projects. The six Canadian and U.S. teacher participants shared their experiences of and insights into integrating projects into either elementary or middle school classroom curriculum using of one of six K-12 telecommunications organizations that offer online projects: 2Learn.ca's Collaborative Learning Project Center; the Electronic Emissary project; ePALS; Global SchooNet; KIDLINK's KIDPROJ project area; or OzTeacherNet. Using constructivist inquiry strategies, a recursive process of data generation and analysis continued over a prolonged period of twelve months, revealing the experiences and perceptions depicted in each informant’s case study. Interviews were conducted by telephone and e-mail, and other sources of data available online (e.g. student work, project descriptions, and logs of e-mail communication between project partners) helped to elucidate and describe participants' experiences. The strategies employed were data-driven and inductive as data analysis moved from simple observation and connections of general patterns to themes across cases. Themes that emerged fell into one of three overarching categories. The first set of themes raised issues around ideas of online projects being integrated into the classroom. Issues included concerns about connecting projects to the curriculum, project design, and ways that projects mushroomed into more activities and subject areas than initially expected. The second set of themes centered upon issues about the benefits participants discovered while communicating with project partners. The final set of themes explored various influences upon project participation—both positive and negative. The findings suggest that there are several different avenues available for assisting teachers in their novice attempts to integrate telecollaborative or telecooperative projects. Findings also suggest that teachers who are curriculum specialists—rather than technology specialists—should be encouraged to participate in online projects due to their expertise and knowledge in curricular areas. However, implications drawn from the study are not necessarily generalizable to other settings. Rather, a frame of reference is provided to promote drawing of inferences and transfer of these inferences so that readers can connect their meanings to the contexts with which they are familiar.