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Full-Text Articles in Education

Insights Into The Beliefs And Practices Of Preservice Elementary Mathematics Teacher Educators: A Naturalistic Inquiry, Linda Ann Arnold Dec 2013

Insights Into The Beliefs And Practices Of Preservice Elementary Mathematics Teacher Educators: A Naturalistic Inquiry, Linda Ann Arnold

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to explore and analyze aspects of the reported beliefs and practices of a group of preservice elementary mathematics teacher educators. Until now, researchers have had little understanding of beliefs and practices of teachers in elementary mathematics methods classrooms, despite the fact that teacher educators’ beliefs and practices have profound effects on what happens in thousands of classrooms every day. The qualitative research in this study offered insights with the potential to inform higher educational practice in regard to the preparation of elementary mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators. Participants were six professors and …


A Primer For Mathematical Modeling, Marla A. Sole Oct 2013

A Primer For Mathematical Modeling, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

With the implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations and the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, modeling has moved to the forefront of K-12 education. Modeling activities not only reinforce purposeful problem-solving skills, they also connect the mathematics students learn in school with the mathematics they will use outside of school. Instructors have found mathematical modeling difficult to teach. To successfully incorporate modeling activities I believe that curricular changes should be accompanied by professional development for curriculum developers, classroom teachers, and higher education professionals. This article serves as an introduction to modeling by …


Parts Of The Whole: The Educational Sieve, Dorothy Wallace Jul 2013

Parts Of The Whole: The Educational Sieve, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

This essay argues that the structure of course prerequisites affects retention of students in a course of study. The same argument suggests that the structure of degree requirements, including quantitative reasoning courses, affects retention in college. In particular, the same set of courses required in a rigid sequence will cause more students to exit the program early than if the same courses were offered in a flexible order.


A Comparison Of Two Job Offers In Mathematics Education, Ryan Andrew Nivens Jun 2013

A Comparison Of Two Job Offers In Mathematics Education, Ryan Andrew Nivens

ETSU Faculty Works

Many job seekers in higher education are unaware of how large a discrepancy there can be in terms of financial potential for mathematics education jobs in higher education. Recent research on this topic has focused on the base salary (Reys, Reys, & Estapa, 2013), but other financial factors have been left unstudied. Through two cases, the researcher demonstrates a large gap that exists in net pay when major financial factors beyond base salary are considered, specifically insurance and retirement benefits. This article will spur conversations among faculty and graduate students in mathematics education doctoral programs allowing mentors to draw from …


Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann May 2013

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

ETSU Faculty Works

Analysis is typically the first of the higher functions listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these upper categories extremely worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is being criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K‐12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K‐12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre‐service teachers. But professors do not …


Changing The Order Of Mathematics Test Items: Helping Or Hindering Student Performance?, Kristin T. Kennedy, Allison G. Butler Jan 2013

Changing The Order Of Mathematics Test Items: Helping Or Hindering Student Performance?, Kristin T. Kennedy, Allison G. Butler

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper recounts an experiment by a mathematics professor who primarily teaches mathematics majors. The main question explored is whether the ordering of the questions makes a difference as to how students perform in a test. More specifically we focus here on the following research questions:\ (1) Does arranging a math test with easy-to-hard items versus hard-to-easy items impact student performance? and (2) If so, does item order impact male and female mathematics majors and non-majors in unique ways? We examine data collected over multiple semesters with several different classes. We find that for most of the mathematics students who …


Parts Of The Whole: When Variation Is The Goal, Dorothy Wallace Jan 2013

Parts Of The Whole: When Variation Is The Goal, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

The goals of higher education are a population of extreme variability in expertise, a diffusion of specialized knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, and production of strong K-12 teachers. Promoting these three goals has implications at all granularities, from the pedagogy of an individual college professor to the incentives and policies that shape systemic change.


The Mathematical Development In Number And Operation Of Struggling First Graders, John Lannin, Delinda Van Garderen, Matthew J. Switzer, Kelley E. Buchheister, Tiffany Hill, Christa Jackson Jan 2013

The Mathematical Development In Number And Operation Of Struggling First Graders, John Lannin, Delinda Van Garderen, Matthew J. Switzer, Kelley E. Buchheister, Tiffany Hill, Christa Jackson

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Number and operations serve as the “cornerstone” of the K-12 mathematics curriculum in many countries. Solving problems in the mathematical domains of algebra, geometry, measurement, and statistics is often closely connected to student knowledge of number and operation (Griffin, 2005). Although considerable knowledge exists regarding the development of number and operation for typically developing children, less is known about the development of children who struggle in mathematics. Moreover, children enter school with considerable differences in their understanding of number and operation. While most children, through exposure to various informal and formal tasks, develop a deeper understanding of number and operation, …


Investigating The Impact Of Interactive Applets On Students’ Understanding Of Parameter Changes To Parent Functions: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Robin R. Mcclaran Jan 2013

Investigating The Impact Of Interactive Applets On Students’ Understanding Of Parameter Changes To Parent Functions: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Robin R. Mcclaran

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

The technology principle in the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) states that technology plays an important role in how teachers teach mathematics and in how students learn mathematics. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to examine the impact of interactive applets on students’ understanding of parameter changes to parent functions. Students in the treatment classes were found to have statistically significantly higher posttest scores than students in the control classes. Although the data analysis showed a statistically significant difference between classes on procedural understanding, no statistically significant difference was found with regard to conceptual …


Development Of A Taxonomy For Key Terms In Mathematics Education And Its Use In A Digital Repository, Pedro Gómez, María C. Cañadas Dr. Jan 2013

Development Of A Taxonomy For Key Terms In Mathematics Education And Its Use In A Digital Repository, Pedro Gómez, María C. Cañadas Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Although mathematics education is a young discipline, it has developed rapidly over the last 40 years. During this time, the community of mathematics education researchers, teachers’ trainers, and mathematics teachers has produced a large quantity of literature published in books, journals, and conference proceedings and on Internet, among other sources. Yet there is currently no taxonomy of key terms for the systematic classification of the documents in this discipline. In this article, we present the procedure by which we constructed a taxonomy for Funes, a digital repository of documents in mathematics education. We establish the conceptual framework on which the …