John R. Carpenter

Dynamics of a Constructivist Astronomy Course for In-service Teachers

Constructivist instructional strategies have been shown to be effective with K-16 students. Twenty-five in-service elementary and middle-school science teachers were taught astronomy using a constructivist strategy to determine its effectiveness in teacher enhancement. The teachers were monitored for changes in affective and cognitive domains during a 15-week special astronomy course. Quantitative measurement instruments and qualitative data analysis showed that the teacher-participants, who were exposed to the constructivist instructional environment, had significantly improved attitudes toward teaching astronomy and had made significant gains in knowledge of astronomy. These observations strongly suggest that using a constructivist instructional strategy in teacher-enhancement programs can create an effective learning environment for teachers that increases subject-matter knowledge and simultaneously improves attitudes, values, and interest levels.

Long-Term Attitude Sustainability from a Constructivist-Based Astronomy-for-Teachers Course

Twenty in-service elementary- and middle-school teachers were surveyed on attitude, value, interest, teaching confidence, and dedication to teaching in the subject area of astronomy. The teachers were surveyed immediately before and after they took a specially designed, semester-long, astronomy-for-teachers course developed with a constructivist instructional strategy. The participants reported significantly improved attitudes as measured by a Likert-scale survey. Four years later, the teacher-participants were surveyed again. Results of the second survey indicate that teacher attitudes and confidence toward teaching astronomy did not decline or worsen even after four years. The data in this study suggest that appropriately designed courses for teachers, can have long-term effectiveness.

Application of a linear unmixing algorithm to the normal alkane patterns from recent salt marsh sediments

Normalized gas chromatograms of the normal alkane fraction extracted from 22 surface sediment samples from a salt marsh near Georgetown, South Carolina were submitted to an unmixing algorithm. This algorithm identified four end-number contributors, three of which very closely resemble n-alkane patterns from dominant plant species. The fourth end-member is apparently a mixture. Proportioning of the n-alkane patterns of the sediments suggests that the patterns reflect contributions from living surface plant material and dead plant material brought in by tides. The successful unmixing of complex patterns of alkanes from marsh sediments suggests a valuable new technique for the interpretation of chromatographic data.

Apparent retrograde metamorphism: Another example of the influence of structural deformation on metamorphic differentiation

A model relating apparent retrograde metamorphism to folding is proposed. According to the model, pressure gradients brought on by folding in the course of regional metamorphism cause the migration of water to low pressure fold crests. The greater concentration of water renders the mineral assemblage unstable relative to a more hydrous, “lower grade” assemblage. The result is that several mineral assemblages, each of which is characteristic of what classically has been called a different metamorphic facies, can be formed during the same metamorphic event, under the same pressure-temperature conditions.As an example, the paragenetic relationships between three mineral assemblages in a metamorphosed basalt flow are explained in terms of chemical changes accompanying structural deformation. During regional metamorphism the basalt was recrystallized to hornblende-, oligoclase-, and biotite-bearing assemblages. Folding late in the course of the regional metamorphism brought about the destruction of pre-existing assemblages in the fold crests and formation there of a more hydrous chlorite and albite assemblage.

Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Standards-Based Earth Systems Education Course for Middle School Teachers

An Earth System Science (ESS) framework was used to integrate Earth, life and physical science topics in the development of a series of courses for in-service and pre-service middle school science teachers in South Carolina. The first of these courses was an integrated, thematic, standards- and inquiry-based course was pilot-tested with a group of practicing middle school science teachers and was found to be effective in terms of increasing knowledge of Earth System Science, influencing teachers to employ inquiry-based instructional strategies in their classrooms more often than before the start of the course, and influencing teachers to be more likely to employ authentic assessment strategies in their classrooms. These outcomes demonstrate that it is possible to employ modern pedagogical practices effectively in an ESS framework. The use of this course model could be implemented widely in both pre- and in-service science courses for Earth Science teachers.

Testing Computer Based High School Science Modules in a Classroom Setting

An investigation of the effectiveness of inquiry based teaching modules for instructing a group of high school physics students was conducted in 5 classrooms. Four teaching modules were tested on junior and senior level high school students. All the modules were in accordance with the South Carolina High School Science standards. Three modules utilized computer manipulation of seismic data and earth physics principles to teach concepts in physics and physical science. All students showed a significant increase of instruction knowledge for all modules. Test scores were unreliable for the modules individually. Combining the four individual tests into a single post-test for all four modules proved to have acceptable internal consistency and to show a significant increase for knowledge level as shown as a difference score between pre- and post-test results.

Environmental Education for the Whole Teacher

An approach to environmental education for inservice teachers addressing both the needs of “teachers as learners” and “teachers as teachers” has been shown to be effective in increasing their content knowledge and their commitment to teaching environmental issues. The course focuses on a relatively small number of issues, follows the tenets of constructivism, and is designed around a modified learning-cycle format. Teachers participate in two categories of activities - activities designed to enhance their awareness of and concern about environmental issues and activities designed to be used in the elementary/middle school classroom. Results suggest that teachers support the concept that “less is more” and find the learning-cycle format to be particularly effective. Results also suggest that participation in both categories of activities, together, results in a more effective learning experience than participation in either category of activities separately.

Multivariate analysis of lipid distributions in recent salt marsh sediments

Abstract The alkane and fatty acid fractions in the top 60-cm section of contemporary salt marsh sediment samples were isolated and analyzed by gas chromatography to obtain information on sources contributing organic matter and information on early diagenetic alteration of the organic sediments. The samples were obtained from the salt marsh sediment in an area adjacent to Goat Island near Georgetown, South Carolina, U.S.A. The multivariate analysis of the alkane and fatty acid fractions indicates that the salt marsh sediment lipid distributions can be explained as varying contributions of a limited number of end-members. Most of these end-members patterns are similar to patterns produced by rooted marsh macrophytes, algae and bacteria. In the surface sediments, the rooted macrophyte and bacterial lipids generally dominate. At depths, sample proportions reflect contributions from root material and organic material from surface sources derived through bioturbation. At depth below the zones of rooting and bioturbation, the degraded end-member increases in proportion, indicating the probable modification of organic material by the bacterial community.