Building domain knowledge is essential to a student's success in any course. Chemistry, similar to other STEM disciplines, has a strong cumulative element (i.e., topic areas continuously build upon prior coursework). We employed the testing effect, in the form of post-exam retrieval quizzes, as a way to improve students' understanding of chemistry…

Practice exams are a proven tool to increase retrieval of information long-term. Over a three-year period, students in Anatomy and Physiology I and II were offered practice exams as either no-stakes practice exams (years 1-2) and low-stakes practice exams (year 3). Students who took practice exams did significantly better on the actual lecture…

Instruction plays a critical role in student success. However, most studies of teachers' effects on student learning focus on face-to-face settings. Some aspects of online courses, such as the choice of synchronous or asynchronous instruction and the course structure, might reduce teachers' influence on their students. This study of an online high…

These are the appendixes for the report, "Exploring Teachers' Influence on Student Success in an Online Biology Course." This study of an online high school biology course offered by Florida Virtual School examined the variation in students' course segment (similar to semester) completion rates, end-of-segment exam scores, and time to…

Instruction plays a critical role in student success. However, most studies of teachers' effects on student learning focus on face-to-face settings. Some aspects of online courses, such as the choice of synchronous or asynchronous instruction and the course structure, might reduce teachers' influence on their students. For example, online courses…

School grades provide an easily understandable metric to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its associated components to understand how well each school is serving its students. The school grades calculation was revised substantially for the 2014-15 school year to implement statutory…

School grades provide an easily understandable metric to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its associated components to understand how well each school is serving its students. The school grades calculation was revised substantially for the 2014-15 school year to implement statutory…

This study investigated the effects of two instructional approaches -- Discovery Learning Scientific Community Laboratories (DL-SCL; Treatment) and non-DLSCL laboratories (Control) -- on students' conceptual understanding, epistemological views, and academic achievement in a Physics-1 lab. Conceptual understanding was measured pre/post using the…

School grades provide an easily understandable metric to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its associated components to understand how well each school is serving its students. The school grades calculation was revised substantially for the 2014-15 school year to implement statutory…

The pressure to have students perform well on standardized tests can serve as a stressor to some teachers in their efforts to autonomously teach their students, particularly those of low socioeconomic status (SES). However, the relationship between teachers' sense of autonomy, teachers' attitudes and behaviors, SES, and student's academic success…

School grades provide an easily understandable metric to measure the performance of a school. Parents and the general public can use the school grade and its associated components to understand how well each school is serving its students. The school grades calculation was revised substantially for the 2014-15 school year to implement statutory…