Education Commons^™

Attending High School Algebra I: In Search Of Well-Managed, Engaging, Culturally Relevant, And Caring Classrooms, Cassandra Dunn Gannett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The inequities in learning between the rich and the poor have become pervasive in United States. This is evidenced by the high school graduation rates, college attendance percentages, and employment statistics. Upon another wave of reform, the Common Core State Standards in mathematics are currently being adopted in hopes of increasing learning for all students, with a focus on college and career readiness. This study is intent on finding ways to remedy the inequities in mathematics between the high income and low income schools by focusing on one of the great glass ceilings to high school graduation and beyond, high …

Characterizing And Supporting Change In Algebra Students' Representational Fluency In A Cas/Paper-And-Pencil Environment, Nicole L. Fonger

Dissertations

Representational fluency (RF) includes an ability to interpret, create, move within and among, and connect tool-based representations of mathematical objects. Taken as an indicator of conceptual understanding, there is a need to better support school algebra students’ RF in learning environments that utilize both computer algebra systems (CAS) and paper-and-pencil. The purpose of this research was to: (a) characterize change in ninth-grade algebra students’ RF in solving problems involving linear equations, and (b) determine conditions of a CAS and paper-and-pencil learning environment in which those students changed their RF.

Change in RF was measured by comparing results from initial to …

Assessing High School Gifted Student Progress In Science Through Misconceptions And Mosart, Christopher G. Kolar, Evelyn Ho-Wisniewski

Christopher G. Kolar

This paper reports how 188 high school students identified as gifted in science were assessed with the Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-Based Assessment Resource for Teachers (MOSART). Students enrolled in a year-long science-centered curriculum where this instrument appeared to be a means of identifying standards-aligned progress, avoiding ceiling effects and reliance on content mastery. This paper discusses two questions: 1. Is the MOSART a valid measure of conceptual understanding in gifted students? and 2. Can the MOSART be used with this population to measure growth in understanding? We present results from the physics and chemistry tests, and consider results from the earth science …