scholarly journals Developing Game-Based Learning Requirements to Increase Female Middle School Students Interest in Computer Science

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 380-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmond Bonner ◽  
Michael Dorneich
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Middle School Student ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Stem Interest ◽  
Positive Effect

This paper presents work on the development of a Game-Based Learning (GBL) application’s requirements for female middle school students which teaches fundamental concepts of programming. Currently, there are not enough students who desire to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) career fields. Additionally, female are underrepresented in STEM fields, and increased female participation may help partially address this gap. GBL was used to encourage middle school student interest in STEM by allowing them to practice computer science concepts in engaging contexts outside the classroom. The game Sorceress of Seasons was built to teach fundamental programming concepts, and was based on six requirements specifically targeted at female middle school students. The game was tested with 15 middle school-aged students. Playing the game had a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards programming, with female students reporting a larger increase in computer science interest than males when compared with their previous attitudes. The results suggest that the game may be successful in increasing interest in STEM in these students. The requirements developed to guide the design of the game played a role in the game’s effectiveness, and may be useful when developing an educational tool targeting female STEM interest.

scholarly journals Middle-School Student Engagement in a Tick Testing Community Science Project

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1136
Author(s):  
Amy Prunuske ◽  
Cole Fisher ◽  
Jhomary Molden ◽  
Amarpreet Brar ◽  
Ryan Ragland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Middle School Student ◽  
Babesia Microti ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
School Students ◽  
Pathogen Testing ◽  
Community Science

Studies of tickborne illness have benefited from interactions between scientists and community members. Most participants in community science projects are well-educated adults, but there are anticipated benefits from engaging younger students in research. We evaluated whether an outreach experience for rural middle-school students promoted student interest in science and resulted in the generation of samples that could be used for tick testing to assess disease risk. Middle-school students from 78 Wisconsin communities developed interdisciplinary hypotheses about the spread of Lyme disease, identified ticks, and extracted DNA from ticks to assess the prevalence of pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophillium, and Babesia microti. As a result of this intervention, students were able to successfully complete the research protocol and explain the rationale for completing the experiment. Of student participants, 84.7% reported no difficulty completing the protocol, 66% of the student samples gave reliable PCR results, and 76% of students reported interest in participating in similar experiments. Our study shows that tick outreach programs that incorporate community-based science promote knowledge about Lyme disease, facilitate engagement between students and scientists, and generate samples that can be successfully utilized for pathogen testing.

scholarly journals Improving informative and narrative writing skills associated with multimodal literacy of middle school students

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Mazhar Bal
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Middle School Student ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Narrative Writing ◽  
School Students

The purpose of this research is to improve informative and narrative writing skills of middle school students. The study was designed with action research. The research group is middle school students. Data collection techniques were student diary, semi-structured interview form, semi-structured observation form and documents that consist of comics produced by the students. Descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques were used together in the analysis. It has been determined that the writing process has not attracted students; however, comic books have been shown to attract students It has also been found that the process of semantic interpretation of the text is facilitated. It has been determined that most spelling and punctuation mistakes were made in the writing process. It is thought that the reasons for these mistakes are the habits of out-of-school life. It has been determined that writing processes related to multimodal texts have a positive effect on students’ interest and sense of responsibility.Keywords: Comic book, graphic novel, informative writing, middle school student, narrative writing.*

scholarly journals The Use of the Interactive Whiteboard in Mathematics and Mathematics Lessons from the Perspective of Turkish Middle School Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Nezih Onal ◽  
Cennet Gologlu Demir
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Interactive Whiteboard ◽  
School Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Education In Turkey

It is a great paradox that despite the great importance attached to mathematics education in Turkey, high failure rates are observed among Turkish students in mathematics. For this reason, new applications are implemented in the field of mathematics education in Turkey. One of these applications is the use of technology in mathematics education. Thus, this research aimed to determine the attitudes and opinions of the middle school students towards the use of the interactive whiteboard, which is among the technologies used in mathematics and mathematics lessons. The research is based on a mixed-method research design in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The quantitative part of the study was conducted with 726 students, selected via the convenience sampling method, in 4 different central schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education (MNE) in the Karabük province during the 2015-2016 academic year, while the qualitative part was carried out with 20 participants determined on a voluntary basis. The research data were obtained from the “Attitude Scale towards Mathematics”, the “Interactive Whiteboard Attitude Scale” and the semi-structured interviews. It was found that the participants in the survey had a positive attitude towards the use of the interactive whiteboard in mathematics lessons and that they were positively affected by the interactive whiteboard in learning mathematics. In addition, it was concluded that participants' attitudes towards mathematics and the use of the interactive whiteboard was above average. It was also found that the male students’ attitudes towards the interactive whiteboard were more positive than that of the female students, and the level of positive attitude towards mathematics decreases as the class level increases accordingly. Finally, a low positive correlation was found between students' attitudes towards mathematics and the interactive whiteboard.

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