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

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.

Download Full-text

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

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931213601086 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 380-384 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

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.

Download Full-text

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

World Journal on Educational Technology Current Issues ◽

10.18844/wjet.v10i4.3787 ◽

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.*

Download Full-text

Creating Opportunities for Reflection: Analyzing Middle School Student Work During a Service-Learning Course on Solar Cells

International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship ◽

10.24908/ijsle.v7i1.4246 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 53-61

Author(s):

Marsha Ing ◽

Peter Huang ◽

Nohemi LaCombe ◽

Yahaira Martinez-Lopez ◽

Elaine D Haberer

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Service Learning ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Energy Production ◽

Focal Point ◽

Middle School Student ◽

School Students ◽

Student Work

The purpose of this study is to describe how analyzing student work can be used to help undergraduates reflect on the effectiveness of their service-learning experiences. The service-learning collaboration between a university and middle school was designed to increase undergraduates’ and middle school students’ knowledge of solar energy. Three undergraduates enrolled in a service-learning course that covered basic solar energy concepts and formative assessment instructional strategies. The focal point of the course was the implementation of several activities in a middle school classroom that addressed middle school students’ misconceptions about solar energy, such as the amount of solar energy production at low temperatures or on a cloudy day. Data from this study includes student work during a small-group activity on solar cells. Findings suggest that undergraduates can analyze student work and use this information to better understand how their efforts can influence middle school student learning of solar energy.

Download Full-text

Fostering Interest in and Motivation for STEM: An Illustrative Case Study of Middle Grade Students’ Experiences in Out of School (OST) STEM Activities

Journal of Interdisciplinary Teacher Leadership ◽

10.46767/kfp.2016-0035 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Hite ◽

David Taylor

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Single Case ◽

Illustrative Case ◽

Student Interest ◽

School Students ◽

Design Data ◽

Regular School ◽

Stem Pipeline

To not only build a knowledgeable, but also a persistent STEM pipeline, it is important to understand how Outside of (regular) School Time (OST) STEM opportunities spur middle school students’ learning, yet also their interests in and motivations for STEM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of a small group of independent (private) middle school students’ interest in and motivation for STEM while participating in one or two OST STEM activities (i.e., SeaPerch/robotics, Science Olympiad, Girls Who Code, and/or eCYBERMISSION). Using an illustrative experimental single case study design, data was sourced from observations, a questionnaire, and interviews from 15 independent (private) middle school students participating in one (or two) 13- to 16-week OST STEM activities. Results suggest that sources of student interest and motivation related to OST STEM activities were mostly (representing 30% of data coded) sourced from students’ self-motivation and intrinsic interests in STEM, followed by teachers (20%), the enjoyment of (OST) STEM activities content (20%), family (10%), friends (10%), and other supportive persons and entities (outside of school, family, and friends) (1%). Recommendations for strengthening OST STEM activity participation and outcomes as well as avenues for further research are discussed.

Download Full-text

Application of Knowledge Management Systems for Counseling of First Middle School Students: A-SIMPeko Middle School Student

International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering ◽

10.31695/ijasre.2019.33074 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 05 (02) ◽

pp. 01-07

Author(s):

Agnes Novita ◽

Isnin Faried ◽

Dwi Atmodjo WP

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Knowledge Management ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Middle School Student ◽

Management Systems ◽

Knowledge Management Systems ◽

School Students

Download Full-text

The Non-Intellectual Norm of Middle School Students’ Mathematics Learning and Its Grade Evaluation Standard: Taking Tianjin as an Example

Best Evidence of Chinese Education ◽

10.15354/bece.21.ar007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 907-922

Author(s):

Guangming Wang ◽

Jian Li ◽

Jingxian Jian

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Applied Research ◽

Mathematics Learning ◽

Middle School Student ◽

Normalization Method ◽

School Students ◽

Evaluation Standard ◽

Score Normalization

Using the "Middle School Student Mathematics Learning Non-intellectual Questionnaire," a total of 1,400 middle school students in 11 districts and counties of Tianjin were surveyed. According to the data, using the raw score normalization method and the formula “T = 50+10×Z”, the middle school student mathematics learning non-intellectual population and its sub-dimensions norm table were established the corresponding grade evaluation standard was determined. The results of applied research were analyzed for class and individual application cases, and corresponding suggestions were made based on the analysis results.

Download Full-text

Building Connections Between Teacher Education Candidates and Urban Middle School Students Through Social Action

Handbook of Research on Innovative Pedagogies and Best Practices in Teacher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9232-7.ch014 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 240-257

Author(s):

Anne Katz

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Social Action ◽

Middle School Student ◽

School Students ◽

Public School Students ◽

Urban Middle School ◽

College And University ◽

Public Middle School ◽

Writing Technology

For faculty to be effective in supporting pre-service educators' learning, they must connect with Association of American College and University tenets. The purpose of this collaboration was to provide teacher candidates with a meaningful opportunity to interact with local public school students. College students exchanged letters, created and implemented technology-based mini-lessons, participated in close reading and critical thinking discussions, and dialogued with middle school students around issues presented in the book It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired, and Get Going (Clinton, 2015). The question it seeks to answer is, “Would the use of targeted reading, writing, technology-based discussion, and creation of a social justice project with public middle school student literacy leaders improve pre-service educators' commitment to their field and expand their learning?” This chapter explores a community literacy partnership.

Download Full-text

Data Processing for Correlation Analysis between Extracurricular Sports Activities and Mental Health in Rural Middle School Students

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1022.233 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1022 ◽

pp. 233-236

Author(s):

Yan Qin Su

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Data Processing ◽

Middle School Student ◽

Cluster Sampling ◽

School Students ◽

Rural Middle School ◽

Using Data ◽

Sports Activities

In order to explore the relation between mental health status and extracurricular sports activities, using data processing method to analyze 657 middle school students in rural middle school in Sichuan participated in this survey. They were selected using cluster sampling. The results indicated (a)there were significantly insufficient in extracurricular sports activities in days each week,duration each session and exercise intensity rural middle schools students,(b)there was some extent mental health deficit in rural middle school student, and (c) the mental health has significant correlation with days of sports activities each week ,duration each session and the intensity of sports activities.

Download Full-text