Text

theses

Calls for reform in STEM education have proliferated as nations strive to prepare students for the future global economy. The 21st century competencies described in the most recent reforms are represented in new standards (such as the Common Core State and Next Generation Science Standards). However, it is not enough to develop reforms through publication and legislation. What matters is how reform policies are interpreted by teachers and enacted in classrooms. Therefore, it becomes essential to have measures as indicators of how new reforms are reaching students and whether progress is being made toward reform goals. The following studies explore the possibility of using classroom artifacts in a complementary measure to classroom observations, achievement scores, and surveys. Classroom artifacts, which can include assigned tasks from teachers and the responding student work, are very useful in providing evidence about the instruction available to students. The proposed research extends the body of artifact work in several critical ways. First, study one provides a thematic synthesis of existing STEM artifact studies to develop a framework of design criteria. The second study will focus on the design of a standards-based science classroom artifact indicator protocol, informed by findings from the first study. Study three explores the development of a standards-based math artifact indicator protocol, which differs in critical ways from the science domain. Findings will be helpful to the artifact research community as well as stakeholders in STEM education as we move toward reforms in classroom instruction that includes both content and practices.

ETD_8216

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Jeanette Joyce

doi:10.7282/T3ZW1Q2Q

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.