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Students’ Conceptions Of Mathematics And The Transition From A Standards-Based Reform Curriculum To College Mathematics, Rebecca K. Walker

Dissertations

Students’ conceptions of mathematics are shaped by the environment within which they learn mathematics and in turn they affect the manner in which students engage in mathematics.

This study examined students’ conceptions about learning, knowing, and doing mathematics after studying four years of a Standards-based reform high school mathematics curriculum developed by the Core-Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP). Student conceptions were examined at the end of high school (n = 2S6) and after one semester of college mathematics (n = 92). The study also provides case studies of six students as they navigated from the CPMP curriculum through college Precalculus or …

Students' Mental Models Of Electricity In Simple Dc Circuits, Andrew C. Isola Iii

Dissertations

This study presents the results of research into middle school students' knowledge about the nature and mechanisms of action of electricity in simple DC circuits. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (n=99) were asked a series of questions about the roles of bulbs, batteries, wires, and electricity in circuits. Almost half the number of students (n=42) were found to have used detailed, well-defined, and logically consistent mental models based on their responses. A total of 15 different detailed mental models were documented in these students that belonged to one of four different general model types: (1) round trip flow using both …