Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 0, Education

The purpose of this study is to determine if Project-Based Learning (PBL) retrieval activities can impact knowledge gains and retention in high school mathematics students, and to look for a possible relationship between student achievement level, retrieval activity type, and mathematics knowledge retention. For two mathematical topics, ten high school seniors (six average-achieving and four high-achieving) received instruction, completed a post-instruction test, participated in either a PBL or a Traditional retrieval activity, and completed a post-activity test the day after the activity to measure knowledge gains and a deferred post-test six weeks after the activity to measure knowledge retention. There was no statistically significant difference in either knowledge gains or knowledge retention based on type of retrieval activity. The knowledge gains effect size between the two groups was negligible (Hedges' g = 0.017). The knowledge retention effect size was small (Hedges' g = 0.203) with a preference for the Traditional activity. Within both achievement levels, large effect sizes (Hedges' g > 0.8) were found in knowledge retention, with the high-achieving group showing higher knowledge retention after the PBL activity and the average-achieving group showing higher knowledge retention after the Traditional retrieval activity. These results indicate that PBL activities can be as effective as Traditional activities in the high school mathematics classroom and may be more beneficial to some students. Future research to determine attributes that may contribute to student's response to different types of retrieval activities is suggested.

Committee: Gwynne Rife (Committee Chair); Kara Parker (Committee Member); Jon Brasfield (Committee Member); Jason Robinson (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Mathematics Education; Secondary Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2018, College of Education and Human Services

The purpose of this study was to explore whether and how tracking structures in mathematics courses at the middle school level relate to differences in achievement between white and black students. This study used propensity score matching to compare the achievement outcomes of students enrolled in advanced mathematics classes, with students of comparable ability and background enrolled in grade-level math classes. The study sample was comprised of 1,510 students. Results from the study show that enrollment in an advanced-math course was associated with statistically significant improvement in math achievement for average-ability students. In addition, study results show that increases in student achievement associated with average-ability black student enrollment in advanced-level math courses surpass the increases in math achievement outcomes associated with average-ability white student enrollment in advanced-level math courses. These findings have important equity implications because average-ability black students opt to enroll, or are disproportionately placed, in grade-level math as compared to average-ability white students. The findings suggest that increased enrollment of average-ability black and white students in advanced-level math would lead to a reduction in the racial math achievement gap and to improved math achievement outcomes for both black and white students.

Committee: Frederick Hampton Dr. (Committee Chair); Adam Voight Dr. (Committee Member); Mark Freeman Dr. (Committee Member); Jeffrey Snyder Dr. (Committee Member); Glenda Toneff-Cotner Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Mathematics Education; Middle School Education; Secondary Education

Master of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2022, Education

The present study investigated the effects of a project based learning (PBL) unit on the academic achievement of sixth grade math students. A group of 61 students participated in the study during which they were asked to design a garden that could help supplement the local food pantry. All students were assessed on their ratio and proportion skills before the unit began and then again after the intervention, at the conclusion of the unit. The results showed that students' academic achievement was positively affected by the intervention. This study provides valuable information to the field of PBL as it pertains to the mathematics classroom. More research is still needed on PBL and its impact on federal accountability measures to increase the use of PBL as a teaching pedagogy.

Committee: Amy McGuffey (Advisor); Marlo Schipfer (Committee Member); Hillary Libnoch (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Psychology; Educational Theory; Middle School Education

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2021, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

This study discusses the effectiveness of a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program spanning grades six through eight in a traditional, urban school district located in Northeastern Ohio. The history and expressed need for STEM education within post-steel producing and economically depressed regions are discussed. Important factors describing STEM programming such as curriculum, standards, content delivery, integration, and aspects of implementation are described. This longitudinal study reports Ohio State Test (OST) scores along with the demographic factors of gender, socioeconomic status, student race, and attendance rate to determine the impact of STEM programming. The use of multilevel, statistical analyses through hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) determined integrated STEM had a significant, positive effect on student achievement in both math and science and an even stronger impact isolating science achievement by itself. The predictive results of HLM analysis determined STEM students scored significantly higher on the OST in science and math combined scoring 31.8 points higher on average and 38.2 points higher in science compared to their general education peers. No interaction effects were determined between STEM participation and gender, socioeconomic status, student race, and attendance rate. This research has powerful implications for educational leaders as they need to be aware of the impact integrated STEM programming and project-based learning (PBL) have on student achievement. The results indicate that integrated STEM programming in middle school has a positive effect on student achievement indicating it is indeed a pathway to success.

Committee: Karen Larwin PhD (Advisor); Kathleen Cripe PhD (Committee Member); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member); Timothy Wagner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Tests and Measurements; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Educational Studies

The importance of a high school diploma continues to increase. Still, certain student at-risk factors have been identified across the research literature that negatively impact likelihood to finish school and may increase prevalence of school dropout. That is, for students identified as at-risk, more maladaptive profiles of risk factors often lead to lower academic performance. However, these risk factors are typically non-adaptive, stable constructs endemic of prior experiences or external family-focused factors often uncontrolled by students; as such, transforming student achievement just by addressing this risk-performance relationship is insufficient. This study targeted this limitation by focusing on virtual learning environments. In online virtual-based learning, several important variables more amenable to change are posited to be important for student success in this study. These include mathematics self-efficacy, technology self-efficacy for online learning, and effective time management planning and monitoring. Combining these adaptive student personal characteristics with risk factors, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student at-risk factors and mathematics achievement in the context of one online charter high school. Further, the study examined how student personal characteristics, which are often amenable to change and intervention, impact the relationship between risk and mathematics achievement. Using multiple linear regression, this study explored how at-risk factors interacted with student personal characteristics to influence mathematics achievement. Thus, the priority was to interpret the statistical mechanisms by which these student personal characteristics influenced the risk to achievement relationship. Results show that student performed at an average level in their Algebra 1 course. Further, students' age, likely coinciding with the grade level they took the courses negatively and significantly predicted cours (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kui Xie (Advisor); Ann O'Connell (Committee Member); Azita Manouchehri (Committee Member) Subjects: Demographics; Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Technology; Mathematics Education; Secondary Education

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Cross-Cultural, International Education

This study examines the effect of perceived parental academic support and perceived parental educational aspirations on the academic achievement (mathematics, reading, & GPA) of White, African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial adolescent students (7, 8, and 10th graders) in a public school district in Northwest Ohio, USA. As part of a larger four-year longitudinal research project known as the Adolescent Academic Context Study (AACS), this research conducted cross-sectional mixed-methods analysis. An embedded correlational mixed-methods design was used where qualitative data (n = 53) complements the primary quantitative data (N = 754) analysis. The qualitative component is embedded within a correlational design to explain the predictive relationships found in regression analysis. Unlike most studies in this research area that investigate parental involvement as a combination of paternal and maternal influence, this study explored mothers' and fathers' support and aspirations individual effect on adolescents' academic functioning. Furthermore, this study also examined whether race/ethnicity moderated those relationships. Quantitative analysis revealed that both paternal and maternal aspirations influence adolescent student's achievement; however, it appeared that father aspirations in particular demonstrated more consistent and stronger association with all three measures of achievement and was the only family variable that demonstrated significance for ethnic minoritized students. Mother aspirations was positively associated with math achievement for White youth but not for ethnic minoritized youth. Mother support was positively related to GPA for White students, demonstrating no significant relationship for ethnic minoritized participants. Moreover, mother support was weakly negatively associated with math and reading scores among ethnic minoritized youth. Finally, father support did not demonstrate any significant effect for the total sample; however, similar (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Margaret Booth PhD (Advisor); Christopher Frey PhD (Committee Member); Jean Gerard PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Secondary Education

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies, Xavier University, 2020, Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact a sustained rotational blended learning model on the academic achievement on Title I K-8 elementary school students at a Catholic school in the areas of reading comprehension and mathematics as measured with standardized assessments, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. In response to the first question, the difference in aggregate for academic achievement in reading and mathematics for those who have participated in blended learning compared to those in a traditional model of instruction. With regard to the second question, the difference in achievement disaggregated for academic achievement in reading and mathematics for those who have participated in blended learning compared to those in a traditional model of instruction. Lastly, the third question addresses what the impact gender, race and ethnicity has had on any observed difference in academic achievement resulting from a sustained rotational blended learning experience, compared to students who participated in a traditional model of instruction. These findings were supported by the literature and the theoretical framework of the study. The study analyzed student achievement scores over three years and presents the findings of the statistical tests. Finally, implications and recommendations were made for further research into blended learning and the impact on various populations.

Committee: T Michael Flick Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gail F. Latta Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); William Shula Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Comparative; Educational Technology; Elementary Education; Middle School Education

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2017, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between a 1:1 laptop program and the achievement test results for the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT). Two cohorts were examined (N=193): 1. Tenth graders who took the OGT subtests in Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies in 2014 (n=109) and who had received traditional instruction and 2. Tenth graders who were given individual laptops and eTexts to use at school and at home, and who took the same OGT tests in 2015 (n=84). A Chi Square statistical assessment was conducted to compare student performance. No statistical difference was evident for overall passage rates when comparing the two cohorts. For the laptop cohort, there was no statistical difference in the expected counts for the subject areas of Writing, Science, and Social Studies. For Reading, laptop cohort scores reflect a trend, with scores moving upward into the Accelerated performance category. Math scores showed significantly more scores falling in the highest performance category of Advanced in comparison to what was expected. Similarly, when looking at the economically disadvantaged subgroup within the laptop cohort (n=29), a positive and significant difference from what was expected occurred within the Advanced category for Math, while a trend toward significance for improved performance occurred for Reading scores. The potential for significant gains in student achievement is evident. Additional longitudinal research is warranted to better understand the significance of impact as pedagogical practices develop following initial implementation and considering contextual factors.

Committee: Jane Beese Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Charles Vergon J.D. (Committee Member); Karen Giorgetti Ph.D. (Committee Member); I-Chun Tsai Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Educational Technology; Educational Tests and Measurements; Information Technology; Mathematics Education; School Administration; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1985, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1974, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1954, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2016, Honors Theses

Academic mindset, the importance of how students think about their intelligence, can affect their achievement in mathematics. Over many years, researchers have tried to understand a perceived gender gap in math achievement in favor of boys, but research has been inconsistent. Whether or not a gender gap exists in math achievement, sex differences remain in the STEM professions. Understanding the biological, psychological, and social factors that influence math achievement and beliefs about intelligence might help to shed light on the issues. The current study assesses middle school students' implicit theories of intelligence (i.e., mindsets), achievement goals, study behavior, and math anxiety in order to understand math achievement. Results show that regardless of sex, students' math achievement is equivalent. However, girls are more likely to have higher math anxiety than boys, while boys report greater enjoyment in math than do girls.

Committee: John Marazita Ph.D (Advisor); Anne Crimmings Ph.D (Other); JoAnn Hohenbrink O.P., Ph.D (Other) Subjects: Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2015, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

BERNABEI-RORRER, PAMELA A., PhD., May 2015 Education Administration K-12 Leadership OUR NATION LEFT BEHIND: A MEASURE OF THE SUCCESS OF A MATHEMATICS SYSTEMIC PROGRAM TO REVERSE THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF MATHEMATICAL LITERACY (197 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Catherine E. Hackney, Ph.D. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Texas Instruments MathForward program and its effect on specific student sub-groups differentiated by gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and the type of curriculum materials used in the classrooms in a large, diverse, urban public school district. Additionally, this study explored the relationship between the amount and type of professional development each teacher received, teachers' perceived level of administrative support for the MathForward program, and the quality of classroom instruction with student mathematics achievement gains as measured by the October and June Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) mathematics assessments. Eighteen middle school mathematics teachers in the Milwaukee Public School District participated in the MathForward program during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years. Teachers assigned to the control group were matched to the experimental group on factors of years of teaching experience, gender, ethnicity, and type of curriculum materials used in the classroom. Independent t-tests and a one-way analysis of variance were conducted to compare the difference in mathematics MAP scores between the two groups of students. The analysis showed no significant difference in mathematics achievement growth between students of MathForward teachers and students of non-MathForward teachers. The study also showed no significant difference in mathematics achievement growth based on gender and socioeconomic status of MathForward students (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Hackney PHD (Advisor); Stephen Thomas PHD (Committee Member); Michael Mikusa PHD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2013, College of Education and Human Services

Mathematics performance in the U.S., relative to other developed countries remains unsatisfactory despite the emphasis on teacher training, rigor in teaching, and provision of physical resources, adjustments in curriculum and utilization of modern technology. Psychological aspects such as motivation and self-efficacy, which are known to have significant relationships to academic outcomes, have not been sufficiently and exhaustively studied in relation to mathematics achievement. This study used the Educational Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS-2002) data available from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) to explore the relationship between the students’ psychological attributes and their mathematics achievement. The ELS-2002 was a survey of a nationally representative sample of 16,197 students, their parents, English and mathematics teachers and principals from 1,964 schools. The initial survey was done when students were in 10th grade, with follow-ups in 2004 at 12th grade, and 2006 after graduation. The purpose was to understand the role of motivational attributes in mathematic achievement to advance knowledge on programming intervention. The study revealed that mathematics achievement and mathematics self-efficacy were both significantly dependent on gender, race, and the four motivational dimensions (individual determination, effort and persistence, learner preparedness and extrinsic motivation). The factors accounted for a variance of 34% in mathematics achievement, and 23% in mathematics self-efficacy. A bidirectional relationship between achievement and self-efficacy was confirmed. A two-level hierarchical linear model was used to determine the extents to which school contextual variables can predict students’ mathematics performance and self-efficacy, while controlling for students’ individual characteristics and psychological attributes. The results revealed that school socioeconomic status, school clima (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Patrick Wachira PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Joshua Bagakas PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Anne Galletta PhD (Committee Member); Maggie Jackosn PhD (Committee Member); Michael Loovis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Psychology; Secondary Education

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore African American female students' beliefs, and self-perceptions about their mathematics experiences. This study used mathematics autobiographies, focus group interviews and individual student interviews to generate data that was analyzed for emerging themes and patterns as to how the students see themselves as learners of mathematics. This data answered the following research questions: (a) What are African American students' perceptions of themselves in high school mathematics, and (b) How do these perceptions of themselves as mathematics learners contribute to their experiences, success or failure, in Algebra I? The following themes: (a) parental support; (b) beliefs about the importance of mathematics; (c) beliefs about mathematical ability and effort; (c) personal goals and motivation; and, (d) perceptions of mathematics experiences and teachers, informed the findings for this research. The findings support the nature of qualitative, feminist research, which looks at the whole person through each person's narrative. I discovered that these five themes are intertwined and inseparable, and that the themes supported the research questions collectively, rather than independently. This research also supports the intersectionality of self-perceptions, beliefs, goals, motivation and self-efficacy and their impact on mathematics achievement. The findings of this study concluded that the girls' various beliefs about mathematics, goals and motivation, parental involvement, and self-perceptions result in varying levels of academic resilience that may explain mathematics success or failure, which impacts mathematics participation.

Committee: Helen Meyer PhD (Committee Chair); Maya Israel PhD (Committee Member); Marshalla Harkness PhD (Committee Member); Chester Laine PhD (Committee Member) Subjects:

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

This study examined the effects of a standards-based mathematics program, Mathscape, in one public middle school in Ohio. Achievement was measured using the Ohio Sixth Grade Mathematics Proficiency Test (OPT). Test performance was studied for three years prior to the implementation of the standards-based program (2000-2002) and compared to test performance for three years immediately after the program was implemented (2003-2005). Total raw scores from each group were compared as well as student responses to questions involving algebra, conceptual understanding, problem-solving, number relations. Sub-groups based on Terra Nova Achievement scores and gender were also used when making comparisons. The implementation of the standards-based program, Mathscape, showed no significant positive effects on student achievement in any area or category in this study. One sub-group of students who scored in the 89th to 75th Terra Nova National Percentile Rank had a significant difference in the area of number relations on the Ohio Proficiency Test. The students in this sub-group who were not taught using the Mathscape curriculum had a mean score that was 6.81% higher than the corresponding sub-group who were taught with the Mathscape program. This difference proved to be significant at p < .05 and the effect size of 0.395 was considered important. Further research is recommended to determine specifically why students in this particular sub-group who were taught with this standards-based program scored lower on problems in the number relations category and whether other standards-based programs would produce similar results.

Committee: Dr. Glenn Markle (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, ED Teaching and Learning (Columbus campus)

This study examined the improvement of students' comprehension of geometric concepts through analytical writing about their own misconceptions using a reflective tool called an ERNIe (acronym for ERror aNalyIsis). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ERNIe process could be used to correct geometric misconceptions, as well as how the accuracy at which the students were able to analyze their misconceptions related to their ability to correct their misconceptions over the course of an entire academic year. Other relationships studied were the influence that student levels of mathematical achievement and spatial ability had on the type of misconception, the accuracy at which the misconceptions were analyzed, and whether the misconceptions were repeated on subsequent assessments. The participants in this study were geometry students from a large suburban high school. The treatment group consisted of three sections of geometry classes (n = 61) taught by the researcher and the comparison group consisted of eight sections of geometry classes (n=214) taught by five geometry teachers. The treatment group used the ERNIe process on every quiz, while the students in the comparison group used the ERNIe process on unit tests only or the occasional quiz. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in this study. The misconceptions of those participants in the treatment group were identified as they occurred on an initial assessment and were traced until the second semester exam, to determine if they were repeated. The treatment of the ERNIe process was implemented on each quiz for each student in the treatment group. They were analyzed and coded for accuracy of analysis, as well as correctness of their resubmitted solutions. The purpose of this coding process was to identify which students accurately analyzed their misconceptions and if they were able to correct those misconceptions over the rest of the academic year. Also, student beliefs and attit (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas Owens Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Patricia Brosnan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Battista Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Mathematics Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Educational Theory and Practice

Previous research indicates that self-regulated learning (SRL) has substantial effects on students' learning and achievement (i.e., De Corte et al., 2000; Pape & Wang, 2003; Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1986, 1988, 1990). A growing body of research consistently points out that student views related to mathematics play an important role in facilitating and constraining students' learning, the development of problem-solving skills, and achievement (i.e., Hofer, 1999; Kloosterman, 1996; Op't Eynde et al., 2002; Schoenfeld, 1992). The current study explored the critical connections between SRL, students' beliefs about mathematics, and Algebra I achievement among 1263 middle school and high school students across the United States who were participants in the CCMS project. Eight structural models were tested to understand (1) direct and indirect relationships between student views related to mathematics on achievement; (2) direct and indirect influences of components of SRL on students' achievement in mathematics; and (3) different models of how student views related to mathematics and components of SRL explain students' achievement. In order to measure student views related to mathematics, a new instrument, Student View about Mathematics (Pape et al., 2005), was developed and tested for construct validity and internal consistency. Moreover, the new instrument was used with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich et al., 1991) to provide evidence about the indirect effects of students' beliefs about mathematics on mathematical achievement through their effects on self-regulated learning behaviors. Students' performance in Algebra I was assessed through an Algebra I posttest (Abrahamson et al., 2006). The structural models tested in this study suggest that student views related to mathematics directly influence students' achievement and SRL strategies. Student views related to mathematics indirectly predict their achievement, cognitive, metacogn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas Owens (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2005, Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

The present study examined stereotype challenge and threat responses through a manipulation of social comparison information. Female participants received feedback about an ostensibly matched partner who was either similar (i.e., female) or dissimilar (i.e., male) to themselves. After learning that they would be taking a math test that either has or has not demonstrated gender differences in the past, participants learned that their partner either performed very well or very poorly on the test. Subsequently, participants took the math test themselves, and their performance was evaluated. It was predicted that interacting with a peer whose performance was consistent with the negative stereotype would exacerbate stereotype threat effects, while interacting with a peer whose performance challenged the negative stereotype would eliminate stereotype threat effects. The results support these predictions, highlighting the manner whereby peer-group social comparisons can exert a powerful influence on women's math test performance when negative stereotypes are salient.

Committee: Keith Markman (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Social