Education Commons^™

Differentiating Instruction Through Math Stations And Literacy Centers, Olivia Bates

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Differentiating instruction based on students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles is essential for creating effective and meaningful learning activities. Identifying these characteristics allows teachers to meet students’ needs and engage them in learning. By differentiating instruction, educators target specific students’ strengths and challenges in developing lessons to support their understanding of content. Two useful strategies for differentiating math and literacy instruction include stations and centers. In stations and centers, students work on specific skills catered to their educational needs while rotating activities in flexible groups. This guide supports teachers in identifying strategies and understanding the benefits of differentiating math and …

An Examination Of Accessible Hands-On Science Learning Experiences, Self-Confidence In One’S Capacity To Function In The Sciences, And Motivation And Interest In Scientific Studies And Careers., Mick D. Isaacson, Cary Supalo, Michelle Michaels, Alan Roth

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study examined the potential relationship of accessible hands-on science learning experiences to the development of positive beliefs concerning one’s capacity to function in the sciences and motivation to consider science as a college major and career. Findings from Likert survey items given before and after engaging in accessible hands-on science laboratories show that students who were blind or had low vision (BLV) were more likely to agree with the following items after engaging in accessible science experiences: 1) I plan on enrolling as a science major in college; 2) My educational experiences, so far, have given me the …

Using A Repeated Measures Anova Design To Analyze The Effect Writing In Mathematics Has On The Mathematics Achievement Of Third Grade English Language Learners And English Speakers, Zoe A. Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gap that exists between English language learners and English speaking students’ achievement in mathematics continues to grow. Moreover, students are now required to show evidence of their mathematics knowledge through writing in standardized assessments and class assignments.

The purpose of this study was to analyze students’ writing in mathematics and the metacognitive behaviors they portrayed through their writing as they solved mathematics problems. The instruments included a pretest, two biweekly tests, and a posttest. The writing instruction encompassed students learning to solve problems by using Polya’s four phases of problem solving which was completed in 12 sessions over a …

The Effects Of Problem-Based Learning On Mathematics Achievement Of Elementary Students Across Time, Brittany Marie Crowley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study specifically evaluated the long-term effects of problem-based learning (PBL) instruction on the mathematics achievement of students who demonstrated higher ability in the subject area than their comparable peers. Subjects included 65 students from six south-central Kentucky elementary schools who participated in Project Gifted Education in Math and Science (Project GEMS), a grant partially funded through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. The students were assigned to one of three conditions – PBL-Plus, PBL, or Control – based upon school of attendance. The participants were then administered baseline testing in the fall of the …

When And How To Appropriately Implement Teaching Tools And Strategies For Early Childhood Numeracy, Elizabeth Bartha, Julie Dombai

Education: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The Augustana/Longfellow Number Sense Project (NSP) is a collaborative action research project that was created to provide purposeful, individualized instruction for Longfellow’s kindergarteners and enhance the teacher education program at Augustana. During this program, we work with Kindergarten students on mathematical concepts and skills. Our lessons incorporate both hands-on materials and educational software into our lessons. As we became familiar with this software, we began to suggest ways we could improve the software as well as ideas for new applications designed to help meet needs the students encountered in the classroom. Because the students interacted with a variety of teaching …

A Program Evaluation Of My MathTm: Improving Student Computational Fluency Through Inquiry-Based Instruction, Andrea Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This program evaluation study addressed a critical deficiency in early childhood math proficiency for a local urban school district. To strengthen students' skills in mathematics, the district adopted the Common Core State Standards and piloted an inquiry-based instructional program called My Math. The purpose of this project study was to determine the extent to which My Math met the goals of improving Grades K-2 students' math proficiency. The conceptual framework was based on theories of multiple intelligences, social learning, and foundations of social development. The National Program Evaluation Standards were used to guide the program evaluation. The research questions centered …

Teaching Statistics To Elementary Children: Using A Problem-Solving Approach To Enhance Learning, Kayla Lee Botelho

Honors Projects

When teaching statistics (or data analysis) to elementary children, it is beneficial to use a problem-solving approach that incorporates meaningful tasks to enhance the students' learning. This was determined through a careful review of literature, observations of elementary teachers, and the creation and instruction of data analysis unit. The unit required the students to collect data on heights, organize the data in charts, and display the data in line plots. In addition, the students analyzed the data to recalculate the average and other measures of central tendency and to answer questions that arose through the implementation of the lessons. In …

Developing Mathematical Content Knowledge For Teaching Elementary School Mathematics, Eva Thanheiser, Christine A. Browning, Meg Moss, Tad Watanabe, Gina Garza-Kling

Faculty and Research Publications

In this paper the authors present three design principles they use to develop preservice teachers' mathematical content knowledge for teaching in their mathematics content and/or methods courses: (1) building on currently held conceptions, (2) modeling teaching for understanding, (3) focusing on connections between content knowledge and other types of knowledge. The authors share results of individual research projects and teaching approaches focusing on helping preservice elementary teachers develop such knowledge. Specific examples from different content areas (whole number, fractions, angle, and area) are discussed.

The Impact Of Content Courses On Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Mathematical Content Knowledge, Michael Matthews, Janice Rech, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In response to research documenting the mathematical deficiencies of pre-service elementary teachers, many teacher preparation programs are requiring mathematical content courses specifically focusing on the mathematics taught at the elementary level. This study considers what impact two such courses (one course focusing on Arithmetic, and the other course focusing on Geometry and Measurement) had on the mathematical content knowledge and attitude towards mathematics by comparing a group of pre-service elementary teachers who took these courses to a group of pre-service elementary teachers who took only a more general mathematics course (such as College Algebra). Results indicated that those teachers who …

The Impact Of Experience On Elementary School Teacher Affective Relationship With Mathematics, John Salzer

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study was designed as an exploratory examination of the impact of teaching experience on elementary school teachers’ affective relationships with mathematics. A self-reporting survey was used to examine a wide variety of experience factors, including factors related to quantity of experience, type of experience, and post-certification training opportunities (n = 275). Participants were also asked to identify services that might impact their affective relationships with mathematics. This study resulted in recommendations for seven follow-up studies to gain insight into factors that significantly correlated to teacher attitudes toward math or to their perceived changes in attitudes over time. Recommended practices …

Effects Of Explicit Subtraction Instruction On Fifth Grade Students With Learning Disabilities, Danielle Ferreira

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study involved an investigation of the effects of strategy instruction integrated with the concrete-representational-abstract teaching sequence on students with learning disabilities. A multiple probe design across subjects with one replication was used in this study. Two sets of data were analyzed to determine effectiveness of the independent variable (intervention lessons). The first data set consisted of pre and posttest percentage scores and the second data set consisted of baseline, intervention, and maintenance probe scores that were collected throughout the study per the parameters of a multiple probe design. The probe scores were plotted in line graph format and analyzed …

It's All About The Teachers: Bank Street's Math For Teachers As Professional Development, Robin Hummel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This work describes a professional development initiative that was based on the graduate course, Mathematics for Teachers in Diverse and Inclusive Educational Settings (K-6), taught by Linda Metnetsky at Bank Street College of Education. The author wrote and implemented this professional development initiative for teachers in her former district: a large, middle class, suburban school district outside of Philadelphia. It consisted of six full day sessions, held from October through April during the 2004-05 school year. Eleven teachers from third, fourth, and fifth grades participated, and the impact of this professional development on two participants is the focus of this …

Listening To Student Voices: Fifth Graders' Perceptions Of Their Mathematics Learning Within The Context Of A Mathematics Reform, Elizabeth Hoffman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored fifth graders' perceptions of their mathematics learning within the context of a reform effort. Students' voices are the focus of this study due to the paucity of literature on student learning from the students' perspective (Erickson & Shultz, 1992), particularly the elementary student (Gentilucci, 2004). The participants of this study, who in the past have been given a variety of labels including "disadvantaged" or "at-risk," clearly articulated, even in nonstandard English, their perceptions of their mathematics learning. They passionately explained what helped them learn mathematics as well as what impeded their mathematics learning and were often …

Collaborating With Colleagues To Improve Student Learning Using The Connected Mathematics Project, Margaret D. Seifer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

I am a teacher of mathematics at Millburn Middle School, Millburn, New Jersey. During my nine years at Millburn, I have taught using the Connected Mathematics Program (CMP) for seven years to eighth graders and before that, I taught CMP in it's pilot stage to sixth graders.

This guide is a result of my thinking and learning during my time at Bank Street College. The guide is based on a journey through my learning as a professional developer. It is a tool which, I hope, will be of some use to other CMP leaders. It is hoped that if such …

A Comparison Of Students' Anxiety Levels While Taking Computer Versus Paper And Pencil Timed Math Tests, Angela S. Jungerman

McCabe Thesis Collection

The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast the anxiety levels of students before and after taking the computerized timed math test with the levels before and after taking the paper-and-pencil timed math test. Two second-grade classes were used in this research with each student taking each test once. The computer test, found at www .saxonpublishers.com/activities/basic fact_ sheets/, consisted of 50 addition questions to be completed in 30 seconds, and the paper-and-pencil version, adapted by the researcher from a Saxon created test, consisted of 100 addition questions to be completed in 60 seconds. The students' blood pressures and …

Cooperative Learning On Mathematical Problem Solving: Reflections By A Traditional Teacher And Her Students, Diana Metsisto

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

As our society becomes more technologically complex, the educational system preparing our students to become citizens of this society must adapt to met changing demands. Mathematical literacy of the 21st century will require a different model of mathematics education than that which served in the past. This thesis argues for a model of mathematics education which includes as key components: problem solving, question posing, cooperative learning, concrete manipulatives, and teaching for thinking. This new model sets forth guidelines for a facilitative approach to the teaching of mathematics as opposed to the more traditional, authoritative model. This facilitative model is based …

The Level Of Mathematical Understanding Possessed By Prospective Elementary Teachers, William Dean Vodarski

All Master's Theses

It was the purpose of this study to determine the level of mathematical understanding possessed by prospective elementary teachers graduating from Central Washington State College. It was also the purpose to determine if the measured level of mathematical understanding is related to such factors as sex, education classes completed, mathematics classes completed, and grade level of student teaching.