HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, LABORATORY PRACTICE, STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, CRITICAL THINKING, COOPERATIVE

LEARNING AND THEIR EFFECTS ON STUDENT ACHIVEMENT MEDIATED BY USES OF SIMULATION

AND MODERATED BY TEACHER SELF EFFICACY

Dissertation Proposalby

Muhammad RiazDowling College

December 15, 2014

The purpose of this study is to examine how simulations in physics class, classroom management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning moderated by teacher self-efficacy and mediated by uses of simulations predict students’ achievement/performance as reported by the teachers in high school physics classes.

Purpose of the Study

How do simulations in physics class, classroom management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning moderated by teacher self-efficacy and mediated by uses of simulations predict student achievement/performance as reported by the teachers in high school physics classes?

Statement of the Problem

Conceptual RationaleSimulations in Physics classJimoyiannis and Komis(2001)

Computer simulations are effective for teaching and learning physics because they give students the opportunity to observe a real world experience and interactions among teachers and students.

Wieman, Adams, Loeblein and Perkins(2010)

The simulations can be used to improve teaching in high school physics teaching, especially in classroom activities, but simulations cannot replace teachers.

Classroom ManagementAllen (1986) Effective classroom management involved clear

behavioral communication, academic expectations and supportive physical learning environment.

Taylor (2009) Classroom management is one of the greatest concerns of teachers and administrators when addressing the safety and well-being of students.

Conceptual RationaleLaboratory Practice Bourque and Carlson (1987)

The hands-on experiment format followed by the computer simulation format provides the highest cumulative scores for the examinations. The use of computer simulations as part of post laboratory activities to reinforce learning and support the learning process.

Kelly, Bradley and Gratch (2008)

The laboratory experience, both real and simulated, provides opportunity for the student to experience science through investigation.

Student Engagement Wells, Hestenes and Swackhmer (1995)

If teachers use the scientific model to describe, explain, predict and control physical phenomena, they engage students actively in understanding the physical world.

Rotgans and Schmidt (2011)

Students’ engagement is an important factor to motivate students in learning experiences and willingness to endeavor continuous effort.

Conceptual RationaleCritical Thinking Woodward and Gersten (1988)

A combination of effective teaching and strategic instructional processes in combination with computer simulations increase factual and higher order thinking skill of students .

Browne( 2010) Critical thinking skills to life experiences extending far beyond the classroom, specifically the habits and attitudes related to critical thinking, move to business, medical, legal, aviation and general choices.

Cooperative Learning Heller, Keith, and Anderson (1992)

Problem solutions can be done better in group work than by individuals working alone. In group , students can share their ideas and make better understanding of scientific concepts.

Nembhard (2005) Cooperative learning could switch some of that lecture time with approaches structured to get students actively participating during the class period. .

Conceptual RationaleUses of Simulations Zietsman and Hewson (1986)

Science instruction that employs conceptual change strategies is effective, especially when provided by the computer simulation.

Gabon and Ozkan (1992) The computer simulated experiment approach and the problem solving approach produced significantly greater achievement science process skills than the conventional approach did.

Teachers’ Efficacy McLaughlin and Marsh(1978)

A teacher’s level of efficacy influence said teacher’s behavior which in turn affect the behavior of the students, which leads to changes in student achievement levels .

Tschannen-Moran et al., (1998)

Teachers with personal teacher efficacy have demonstrated an increased willingness to experiment in the classroom with various strategies and have students with higher scores achievement tests.

Conceptual Rationale

Student achievement/Performance Weiman (2005) Computer simulations create images in students'

brains of complex scientific phenomenon and provide an interactive, engaging and visual environment that promotes and supports conceptual understandings. These deeper conceptual understandings enable the students to form connections and relationships between ideas and concepts and improve their performance in real life .

Sherwood and Hasselbring (1985)

Student interest and some gender preferences also influence performance in the simulation and effect measurement results.

Henson(2001); Gordon( 2001); Muijs and Reynolds(2002)

Students whose teachers scored high on efficacy did better on standardized tests than their peers who were taught by teachers with lower efficacy scores

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study may promote interactive learning, connecting physical phenomena with practical training, enhancing student learning, changing of classroom environment, providing opportunities to review conceptual understanding of high school physics. Specifically, this research study will contribute to the ongoing changes being made to the computer simulations and to changes in science instruction in general.

This study will also examine simulation uses and its relationship with class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking , cooperative learning, teacher self-efficacy, and high students achievement in high school physics teachers classes, and which techniques they find more effective in physics class and its relationship with students’ attitude toward physics, classroom management, interactive simulations, student engagement, cooperative learning, critical thinking, self- efficacy and laboratory practice.

Significance of the Study

This study is limited to high school physics teachers in suburban and city school districts located in the USA states, specifically in Alabama Arizona, California Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, , Maine, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania , Tennessee New York and Maryland who are also members of American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) and use simulations in their physics teaching practice in 2014.

Limitations

This study will be conducted with three hundred of American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) teachers who use modeling instruction in their physics teaching practice.

Delimitations

Subjects for this study will be chosen from three hundred male and female high school physics teachers who are members of the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA ). The chosen teachers have participated in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teaching practice workshops and have used simulations in their teaching practice from 2013 to 2014.

Selection of Subjects

This study will be conducted with the High school physics teachers of American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA ), who use simulations in their physics teaching practices located in these states: Alabama Arizona, California Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Setting

The survey was constructed based on the literature review by the researcher. A six-point Likert scale will be used to evaluate the response on simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, teacher self-efficacy, and student achievement.

Instrumentation

PLC Dimensions: Survey item number Number of items Raw Score 

Items created by the researchers based onTheorists

Demographics variables:Physics Major, Number of students taught, class size and gender  Independent Variables

Simulations in Physics class 1, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7 7 7-49 (Zacharia, 2003);(Ferguson, 2003)  

Classroom Management 15,16, 17,18,19, 20, 21 7 7-49 (Evertson & Weinstein, 2006)   

Laboratory practice 22, 23, 24, 25, 16, 27, 28 7 7-49 Weiman (2005); (Sahin, 2006)

Students Engagement 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 7 7-49 (Mazur E. , 2009)  

Critical Thinking 36, 37, 38, 39,40, 41, 42 7 7-49 (Burbach, Matkin & Fritz, 2004; Aretz, Bolen & Debereux, 1997).

Cooperative Learning 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 7 7-49 (Heller, Keith, & Anderson, 1992) 

Medicator Variable  

       

Uses of Simulations 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 7 7-49 (Carl, 2008); (Carpenter, 2009)

Moderate Variable  

       

Teachers' Efficacy Dependent Variable Student Achievement/Performance:

50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56,57 8 8-56 (Bandura, 1977); (Blumenfeld, Kempler, & Krajcik, 2006)

Teachers views of students performance 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 7 7-49 (Steinberg, 2000; Stieff & Wilenskey, 2003; Zacharia, 2003)

Survey Instrument

Content Validity• The survey jury process will include five

professionals within the field of physics education

• The jury will ask to match each survey item to the corresponding variable definition

• Items that will not receive 60 percent agreement among the jurors will be either discarded or reworded to better fit the corresponding variable.

How do high school physics teachers describe uses of simulations in physics class, classroom management,

laboratory practice, students’ engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, teachers’ efficacy by teacher views of

student performance and percent of students with a GPA of 85 or higher?

Question One will be answered with descriptive statistics: mean, Standard deviation, and frequencies .

Research Question One

What relationship exist among high school physic teachers descriptions of their students’ achievement and uses of

simulations in physics class, classroom management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative

learning, teachers’ efficacy, and their gender, level of degree in physics and number of students in physics classes they taught last

year, and number of years using simulations in physics class?

A Spearman correlation will be done for class size, years of using simulations in physics and number of students taught. .

Research Question Two

What relationships are there among high school Physics teachers’ descriptions of their uses of simulations in physics

class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and teacher self-efficacy. How are they moderated by uses of simulation in the class, as well as their teachers’ view of

student performance, and percentage of students achieving a grade point average of 85 or higher ?

Answered with Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis.

Research Question Three

How do uses of simulation mediate the effects of simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and teacher self-efficacy on

student achievement/performance? How do uses of simulation mediate the effects of simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and

teacher self-efficacy on teachers’ view of student performance, and percentage of students achieving a grade point average of 85 or higher ?

For the answering of this question, the research will use the four step approach of Baron and Kenny. Moderation will be tested using as a dependent variable teacher’s view of student performance

Research Question Four

How does teacher self-efficacy moderates the effects of simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student

engagement, critical thinking, and cooperative learning on student

achievement/performance?

Moderation effect will be tested using regression analysis

Research Question Five

How do high school Physics teachers’ descriptions of their uses of simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and teacher self-efficacy predict teachers’ views of student performance and percentage of students achieving a grade point average of 85 or higher ? Question five will be answered using multiple regression 1) Using dependent variable percent of students achieving a grade point average2) Using dependent variable teacher’s views of student performance

Research Questions Six

Elsa Sofia Morote Ed.D. Chair

Robert Manley Ph.D.Design Specialist

Fernand Brunschwig Ph.D. External Reader

Stephanie Tatum Ph.D. Reader

Richard Walter Ph.D.Reader

Acknowledgements

Questions and Comments

Thanks you very much