Education Commons^™

Why Word Problems Are Hard For High School Math Students: Problem Formulation And Disciplinary Literacy, Emily Charlotte Elliott

Senior Theses

This thesis is an extensive literature review designed to better understand the obstacles high school math students encounter when solving word problems (WPs). While many high school students find math difficult in general, students especially struggle with WPs. Often they are unable to provide correct solutions to WPs even when they are successful in solving computational problems using the same mathematical concepts (Cummins, 1988). Data from the 2007 National Survey of Algebra Teachers suggests that solving WPs is one of the skills that students are most unprepared for when entering Algebra 1 (Hoffer et al.). Additionally, many students try to …

The Use Of Applets For Developing Understanding In Mathematics: A Case Study Using Maplets For Calculus With Continuity Concepts., Raymond Ellis Patenaude

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) are founded on a long history of mathematics education research emphasizing the importance of teaching mathematics for understanding. The CCSSM along with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recommend the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics. New mobile technologies in society facilitate use in mathematics classrooms, and these technologies rely on software applications called applets. Certain applets have been developed for use in teaching mathematics.

This study investigated the questions: Is it possible to determine the characteristics of applets that lead students toward greater understanding of mathematical concepts? …