Education Commons^™

Lefschetz Contact Manifolds And Odd Dimensional Symplectic Geometry, Yi Lin

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

In the literature, there are two different versions of Hard Lefschetz theorems for a compact Sasakian manifold. The first version, due to Kacimi-Alaoui, asserts that the basic cohomology groups of a compact Sasakian manifold satisfies the transverse Lefschetz property. The second version, established far more recently by Cappelletti-Montano, De Nicola, and Yudin, holds for the De Rham cohomology groups of a compact Sasakian manifold. In the current paper, using the formalism of odd dimensional symplectic geometry, we prove a Hard Lefschetz theorem for compact K-contact manifolds, which implies immediately that the two existing versions of Hard Lefschetz theorems are mathematically …

Critical Thinking Skills And Academic Maturity: Emerging Results From A Five-Year Quality Enhancement Plan (Qep) Study, Ian N. Toppin, Shadreck Chitsonga

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The QEP that was implemented in this study focused on enhancing students’ critical thinking skills. A pretest/ posttest approach was used to assess students’ critical thinking progress in freshman level core English and Math courses. An intervention was performed involving intensive instruction and assignments relating to a set of reasoning strategies such as: analytical, analogical, inductive, deductive, and comparative reasoning, among others. When students performed well on assignments by applying the reasoning strategies, it was assumed that critical thinking occurred. However, pre/ posttest results in these classes were often disappointing, and seemed at times to suggest that freshmen are not …

Let's Nurture Science, Math Talent, Darren B. Glass

Math Faculty Publications

I recently saw the film The Man Who Knew Infinity, which was released in many American cities this weekend, and was struck by the beautiful telling of an inspirational story. The film, which stars Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel, is a biography of the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who was born in India at the end of the 19th century. [excerpt]

Does Academic Performance Predict Workplace Productivity?, Jodie-Gaye Hunter

Honors Projects in Economics

This research examines if college GPA affects productivity and compensation in the workplace. It uses data collected from a survey of approximately 23,000 Bryant University graduates in different stages of their career. About 10 percent of the alumni surveyed completed the survey. The econometric model used in this study allows estimating the effect of GPA on income after controlling for various demographic and socioeconomic variables, including education, major, occupation, gender, among others. The empirical work provides evidence that GPA has a positive and statistically significant impact on workplace productivity for females, but GPA seems to be a weaker predictor of …

Exploring The Relationship Between High School Diploma Requirements In Mathematics And College Remediation Rates, Derek J. Brown

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This study examined the relationship between the essential skill of math and college remediation rates using a dataset of 1,858 recent high school graduates attending public, 4-year Oregon universities. Using a logistic regression methodology, this study explored (a) the extent to which the essential skill of math improved college remediation rates, (b) the association between allowable essential skill of math sources of evidence and college remediation rates, and (c) the impact of the essential skill of math on students from various demographic backgrounds. Results from this study suggest the essential skill of math graduation requirement significantly predicts the likelihood of …

Collaboration And Creativity In Southern Califonia: An Offering, Gizem Karaali, Ami Radunskaya

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

WiMSoCal (Women in Math in Southern California) is a regional conference in its ninth incarnation. The conference is the result of the efforts of Professor Cymra Haskell (USC) to create a supportive local community for women mathematicians. At our first meeting in 2007, a confluence of Ami’s EDGE regional cluster and Cymra’s WISE group at USC, we socialized, got to know each other and brainstormed about what we, as a group, would like to see happen. It was clear that our younger colleagues wanted to meet as mathematicians, sharing intellectual ideas as well as anecdotes from the trenches.

Mindset Training For Undergraduates In Developmental Mathematics, Valorie L. Zonnefeld, Kate Van Weelden

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This poster highlights the work of an individual study that student Kate Van Weelden did in Dr. Zonnefeld's Math 100 class. Kate was a teacher assistant who led a lab session for 6 of the students in the Math 100 course. Throughout the semester Kate implemented incremental mindset training for her 6 students. The results showed a promising avenue for improved achievement, especially among males.

Teachers' Perceptions Of Manipulatives During Middle School Math Instruction, Angela L. Vizzi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Colorado school district, school personnel and parents were concerned that middle school math proficiency levels were low for 2011-2014 and math teachers were not using manipulatives in their classes to increase math performance. The district's math coordinator did not foresee providing specific professional development (PD) for math manipulative use to address these concerns. Without this PD, math teachers may be ill-quipped to teach math concepts when using manipulatives, which, in turn, could lead to further poor math performance. The purpose of this qualitative bounded collective case study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of PD and perceived …

Understanding The Relationships Among Students' Goal Orientations, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, And Accelerated Academic Success In The Redesign Of Developmental Mathematics, Kelly Ann Hogan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The low success rates of increasing numbers of underprepared students taking developmental mathematics classes 'often minority and economically disadvantaged' are challenging community colleges across the United States. These students, who must start in the lowest levels of precollege mathematics courses, are unlikely to pass the first course and earn a credential. Using a mastery goal orientation theoretical framework, a quantitative, survey research design was used to ascertain any correlations between students' goal orientations, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and success in a new model of learning. Survey data were used to answer 3 research questions: (a) the relationship between success and students' …

A Quantitative Quasi-Experimental Study Of An Online High School Mathematics Remediation Program, Terry Meehan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The local problem that drove this study is that a high school in an upper middle class suburban city in Pennsylvania wants to improve its student scores on its end-of-course Algebra 1 Keystone Exam. The purpose of this study was to conduct a quantitative, quasi-experimental assessment of an online high school mathematics remediation program to determine if the remediation program was successful in its endeavor to remediate students. This research study, informed by the self-efficacy and the behaviorist learning theories, attempted to determine whether students who (a) scored below proficient on the May algebra exam and were placed in the …

To The Memory Of R. Freivalds, Efim Kinber

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The paper contains author’s memories of his mentor and teacher R. M. Freivalds.

Junior High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Math Instruction For African American Students, Sandra Denise Richardson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A mathematics achievement gap exists between 8th grade African American students and other ethnic groups. Guided by the conceptual framework of constructivism, the purpose of this case study was to examine 8, Grade 8 math teachers' perceptions of factors contributing to mathematical performance gap in their African American students and what instructional strategies can be used to help reduce the achievement gap in southwest Georgia. Data were obtained through interviews and classroom observations and were coded and analyzed using typological analysis, followed by inductive analysis. The results of the data revealed teachers perceived recruiting and retaining African American teachers and …

Mathematical Writing Assignment For Deeper Understanding And Process Writing, Colton Magnant, Saeed Nasseh, Teresa Flateby

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Brief Description: The broad goals of this writing assignment are two-fold: 1) To delve deeper into the inner workings of a chosen proof and explore fundamental motivation of the chosen result. 2) To enhance student learning in the area of academic writing in the discipline of mathematics.

By walking the students through a process of academic writing, we address the following DQP proficiencies: Specialized Knowledge, Applied and Collaborative Learning and Intellectual Skills - Use of Information Resources, Mathematics-Specific Intellectual and Practical Skills and Communicative Fluency.

Background and context: This assignment has been used in a Mathematical Structures (introduction-to-proofs) course and …

Number Knowledge And Error Types Of Elementary Portuguese Students: Implications For Instruction, Silvana Watson, Sharon Judge, João Lopes, Célia Oliveira, Ana Catarina Jesus

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

In the present study, we examined number knowledge skills of 697 Portuguese elementary students from first to fourth grade. Students completed three number knowledge tasks: 1) translating numbers into words, 2) symbolic magnitude (i.e., number comparison), and 3) decomposing numbers. We evaluated students’ answers by means of error analysis using a three-category coding system adopted from specific error types were computed by grade level. Results showed that there were significant differences among grades and that the prerequisite linguistic error type (i.e., pre linguistic rules or principles of the cardinal number system), particularly in the magnitude tasks, significantly contributed to students’ …