Arts - Buffalo State College

Education
Aligning Social Studies Curriculum With
Science, Math, and the Arts To Develop
Critical Thinkers
Danielle Huber, EDU 590: Educational Web Design
Faculty Mentor: Professor Coralee Smith, Elementary Education
and Reading
The purpose of this study was to find out if there is a
correlation between students that think critically to their exposure
to inquiry-based instruction via social studies aligned with the arts,
mathematics, and science. The number of teachers that collaborate
and/or are willing to collaborate with colleague teachers outside
of their specialty/ content area was also examined. The teacher
participants indicating that their students can think critically
relative to the frequency of integrated critical thinking instruction
was measured. The results obtained indicate that teachers do utilize
inquiry-based instruction in their classrooms some of the time.
The data also significantly shows that teachers find this form of
instruction vital to developing critical thinkers. Finally, the research
suggests that teachers do collaborate outside of their specialty/
content area, but they do not align curriculum. Although they do
not align curriculum they do see the need/ benefits of doing so.
These results led to the conclusion that teachers understand the
significance of instructing to develop critical thinkers, but not all are
effectively executing the instruction or they are not doing it at all.
Additional information may be accessed at 2ndGradeSocialStudies.
wordpress.com.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster III
Are There Universal Teaching Strategies
In the Learning and Teaching of
Mathematics?
Jenna Fanara, Meaghan Angelhow, Kelly Jasinski, Eric
Gensler, Holli Diez, Scott Allen, Jessica Andres, Kylie
Catanzaro, Angela Frost, and AnnMarie Henesey, EDU 312:
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in the Elementary School
Faculty Mentor: Professor Hibajene Shandomo, Elementary
Education and Reading
Our qualitative study involved a comparison of teaching
strategies that are used in the learning and teaching of mathematics
at a professional development school between one public school in
Buffalo, New York and a government or public school in Lusaka,
Zambia. We are using several techniques in our study including
participant observations, field observations, and interviews to collect
data from a five classrooms in which each one of us will work as
teacher candidates. Our findings should help us become effective
teachers for students from different cultural backgrounds, students
who are English language learners, and those students who may
be mathematically gifted. It is our belief that as we become more
culturally diverse and adopt new strategies of teaching, we will help
every child we teach to reach mathematical literacy.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster III
Assessing Student Learning of Fourth
Graders Using Inquiry Based Science Kits
Jennifer Kimpton and Christopher Rademacher, SCI 694:
Research in Science Education
Faculty Mentors: Professor Catherine Lange, Earth Sciences and
Science Education and Professor Joseph Zawicki, Earth Sciences
and Science Education
Inquiry in the classroom can take many forms. Some
pedagogical practices used in inquiry-based lessons include guided
instruction, free-range exploration, lab activities, gather-analyzeinterpret
activities, and science kits. This study investigated the use
of science kits in fourth grade classrooms, and the assessed the
impact the kit use on student learning in science. The topics covered
by these kits included: butterflies, magnets, electrical circuits,
land and water, mammals, from seed to plant, among others. The
typical science kit included instructional materials, student response
booklets, teacher manuals, assessment materials, and lesson plans.
They are widely used throughout the region in elementary and
middle school classrooms. The kits are ordered by school districts
and teachers are required to implement the kits as part of the regular
instructional day. This study measured the student learning from the
land and water science kit using: attitudinal surveys, teacher created
assessments, kit developed assessments, student response booklets,
a ‘time on task’ observation, and fourth grade state assessment
scores (from previous school years). An analysis of the data will
be presented. The initial data support the conclusion that using
inquiry based science kits positively impacts the science learning of
fourth graders who utilized the kits. Additional data will be collected
to verify and to expand upon our conclusions. Given the lack of
teacher choice in the use of the kits and the lack of data supporting
the effectiveness of kit use, this research will provide valuable
information for districts planning for future resource allocation and
for teachers seeking to improve instructional delivery.
Presentation Type and Session: Oral – Education
Assessing Urban Outdoor Education
Efficacy
Scott Cerny, John Miller, and Sean Collins, SCI 690: Outdoor
Education Master’s Project
Faculty Mentors: Professor Joseph Zawicki, Earth Sciences and
Science Education and Professor Catherine Lange, Earth Sciences
and Science Education
Our project assessed the impact of both in-school and
shipboard outdoor education learning experiences on urban
student understandings, behaviors and attitudes. The in-school
program included six interactive lessons; the shipboard experience
included a day-long sailing experience on the Spirit of Buffalo.
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