Education Commons^™

Teaching For Students' Confident Transition From Number To Algebra, Christina Lang Lee

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The adoption by all states and territories of the national curriculum by 2013 saw students in schools across the country taught introductory algebraic concepts from Year Five. In the twenty first century the need to be algebraically competent has become a necessity much as computation was in the previous centuries.

The Researcher has found from experience that students who have struggled with number and number operations will then most probably make poor progress in their study of algebra. The transition from number to algebra requires a robust understanding of number and number operations

This study investigated the balance of instructional …

Numeracy Support For Year Two Students, Gillian Dawn Hurle

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Research of teaching theories and intervention programs internationally and in Australia suggests that the implementation of numeracy support programs can improve student achievement levels (Fuchs, 2005; Ketterlin-Geller, Chard & Fien, 2008; Van Kraayenoord & Elkins, 2004). An intervention program was conducted for a small group of Year Two students with the aim of improving their numeracy skills over a 20 week period. Results of two mathematics assessments, together with information provided by teachers based on classroom observations and informal assessments were combined to select a group of twelve students who were considered to be at risk of developing mathematical difficulties. …

How Schools In Western Australia Are Responding To The Pressures Of Accountability In Mathematics Education, Lynne Messenger

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Western Australian primary schools have responded to the Education Department's call for school accountability in many areas of the school accountability. This study focuses on the endeavours that schools have made to demonstrate their accountability in the subject area of Mathematics. The document "Improving and Reporting Schools' Performance" was made available to all state primary schools at the beginning of the 1996 school year as part of the Student Outcome Statement package. However, only a small number of primary schools have used the Student Outcome Statements in Mathematics in the National Professional Development Program trial conducted by the Commonwealth Department …

Professional Development And Practice: A Study Of Early Childhood Teachers Of Mathematics, Wendy Hawthorne

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In the past twenty years there has been increased interest in the ways in which teachers construct their professional lives. It is no longer assumed that preservice education alone will enable teachers to meet the challenges of their teaching lives. Ongoing professional development is seen as an essential component of contemporary teachers' lives but remains a challenge for professional development planners and providers. The nature and extent of teachers' participation in professional development was a significant dimension of the investigation of professional development contained in this thesis. The research questions which formed the basis for the data collection in this …

Extending And Exploring Students' Problem Solving Via Problem Posing, Elena N. Stoyanova

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite the fact that problem posing has been recommended as a useful mathematical activity in the curriculum documents of several countries, research about the types of problem-posing situations in which students could be involved, and about the effects of these problem-posing activities on students' mathematical performance is limited. The application of problem posing in school mathematics has been hindered by the absence of a framework which links problem posing, problem solving and mathematics curricula

Teachers Of Mathematics Teach Mathematics Differently : A Case Study Of Two Teachers, Jennie Bickmore-Brand

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates the different approaches adopted by two teachers for teaching mathematical content at the upper primary level of education. Questions have been raised by researchers about the impact teachers' philosophical background may have on their perception of how mathematics should be taught. Similarly questions have been asked about the role of content in mathematics education in relation to the process of education. The two teachers held different beliefs about what they were doing when they were teaching mathematics and why they were teaching that way. Their methodological emphases were different; one could be described as being more learner-centred …

Determining The Validity And Reliability Of An Instrument Designed To Measure Metacognitive Behaviours, Anne L. Martin

Theses : Honours

This project was designed to study the role of metacognition in mathematical problem solving. More specifically, it was designed to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument proposed to identify metacognitive behaviours in Year 7 children solving problems. The instrument was used to analyse audio tapes of pairs of students working on a non-routine problem (i.e., a problem that cannot be solved solely by the direct application of the basic operations). Analysis of the audio tapes involved categorizing metacognitive decisions as: orientation, organization, execution, and verification behaviours. A "cognitive-metacognitive" framework (Garofalo & Lester, 1985) was used as a basis …

A Study Of The Benefits Of Reflection By Journal Writing In Mathematical Learning And Attitudes In The Primary School, Sally Edmonds

Theses : Honours

This descriptive study examines journal writing for the purpose of identifying aspects of children's mathematical reflective ability. It was hypothesised that encouragement to engage with the process of mathematics by reflective writing would reveal and assist learning, and give children a vehicle through which they could express their attitudes about the mathematics they were learning. The aim of this study was to find answers to the following question: How does the keeping of a mathematical journal reveal children's understandings of the mathematics they are learning? Other questions related to the study were: -What evidence is there from the journals about …

Sex-Related Differences In Autonomous Learning Behaviours And Mathematics Achievement, Laura Beahan

Theses : Honours

The autonomous learning behaviour model proposed by Fennema and Peterson (1985a, 1985b) hypothesises that sex- related differences in mathematics are a result of sex-related differences in autonomous learning behaviours. Autonomous learning behaviours include choosing to engage in high-level tasks, preferring to work independently on such tasks and persisting at them. The purpose of this study was to investigate sex-related differences in autonomous learning behaviours and to determine any relationship between the presence of these behaviours and achievement in mathematics. Twelve students studying the Year 1 unit "Foundations of Mathematics" were selected for the study, including two males and two females …

The Relationship Between Cooperative Small Group Composition And The Learning Of A Mathematical Concept In The Primary School Years: A Pilot Study, Susan Eaton

Theses : Honours

In recent years small group cooperative learning has been given increasing attention by researchers. This interest has been a result of n growing awareness of the benefits that small group cooperative learning can bring to the learning process. These benefits include gains in areas of academic achievement, self-confidence as a learner, cross-cultural/cross-racial relationships, social acceptance of mainstreamed students, and improved attitudes towards school and learning. A particular focus of North American researchers has been small group cooperative learning in mathematics. Little work had been done in this area in Western Australian schools and with the changed emphasis in the Western …