Education Commons^™

Elementary Statistics Instructors' Uptake Of The Teaching Practices Recommended By The American Statistical Association, Marisol Sanchez Cortez

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies point out there has been a wide gap, in the teaching of mathematics, between the practices recommended in the credential programs and the practices teachers actually do. The purpose of this study is to explore how consistent the teaching practices of introductory statistics instructors are to the recommendations endorsed by the American Statistical Association, to understand what their attitudes to the gap are, and to identify the factors that prevent the instructors from implementing the recommended practices. Data were collected from nine statistics instructors at a state university through survey, classroom observations, and interviews. Findings indicate that the …

A Validity Study Of The Cognitively Guided Instruction Teacher Knowledge Assessment, Debra Smith Fuentes

Theses and Dissertations

This study reports the development of an instrument intended to measure mathematics teachers' knowledge of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a mathematics professional development framework based on how students think about and solve problems and how that knowledge guides instruction for developing mathematical understanding. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze and revise the original CGI Teacher Knowledge Assessment (CGI TKA), (b) administer the revised CGI TKA, and (c) analyze the results from the revised CGI TKA. As part of the revision of the original CGI TKA, distractor analysis identified distractors that could be improved. Experts in …

Elementary Teachers' Definitions And Usage Of Inquiry-Based Mathematics Instruction, Heather Nunnally

Theses and Dissertations

Current educational leaders call for students to build his or her own mathematical understanding from experiences, coupled with feedback from peers, teachers, and themselves and gain a conceptual understanding of mathematics. Researchers agree that inquiry in the elementary mathematics classroom can help increase conceptual understanding.

This case study focused on how elementary teachers define inquiry-based mathematics and implement it in their classrooms. Interviews, observations and lesson analysis were used to investigate what identities, relationships and activities look like in an elementary classroom that uses inquiry.

All of the participants felt "problem solving" and "working collaboratively" were essential for inquiry but …