- NSF Award #1439776
- Registration Former Noyce Scholar
- First Name Ashley
- Last Name Taepakdee
- Discipline Biology
- Institution University of South Florida
Abstract
As a counselor teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) during the Florida Aquarium’s Aqua Camp, I have seen the impact of attention seeking behavior (ASB)s in the classroom. Verbal and physical outbursts of various kinds allow certain students to hinder teaching and learning for all. Reflection within a community of practice (COP) prompted me to explore ways to improve my response to these behaviors in the classroom. Discussions with teachers, staff, mentors, and my fellow Research In Science Education (RISE) interns provided me with approaches for developing my ability to deal with ASB. Accordingly, I decided to investigate the success of proximity, assigning roles, reinforcing procedures, and redirection in reducing nonproductive behaviors. Results suggest, proximity, and the assigning of roles contributed most to me accomplishing this goal. This research increased my understanding of measures, which mayhelp me deal with ASB in classroom settings. The use of strategies shown to be effective in this study may help others construct learning environments most conducive to teaching and learning.
