Date of Award

Fall 12-2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Education (MSEd)

Department

Education and Human Development

First Advisor

Katherine Hoppe

Second Advisor

Peter Veronesi

Abstract

This thesis project addresses student epistemological values through technology and independent laboratories. The literature provides evidence that students show greater learning when they are prompted to reflect and develop these epistemological values (Davis, 2003 Demetriadis et al., 2011; Edelson & Kyza, 2005; Reiser & Sandoval, 2004). Furthermore, in conjunctions with research that supports prompting, other research advocates for the development and use of more modern technologies (Edelson & Kyza, 2005; Keengwe et al., 2008; Kuhn, 2001; Maddux, 1998). As such, my culmination project consists of two virtual “lab notebooks.” These notebooks are made using Microsoft Excel® and consist of several quasi-intelligent macros that not only provide instant feedback, but also help guide students through the experimental process in a way akin to inquiry. While a completed series of these notebooks would show more scaffolding as the year progressed, the two I have created represent a student’s first and last experience with these notebooks.

Comments

PLEASE READ THIS:

While the literature review can be found as the uploaded full text, the actual Microsoft Excel notebooks are part of the supplementary upload.

In order to successfully open these excel files (as they are macro-enabled), you must save them to your desktop. Opening these directly from the website download will return an extension error. Once you have saved these to your desktop, they should open with no issue.

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