Education Commons^™

Math Education Matters, November 2015, Western Michigan University

Mathematics News

• Dr. Steve Ziebarth, Chair of the Mathematics Department
• MOST Project Professional Development in Chicago
• New Mathematics Education Faculty, Dr. Mariana Levin
• Reflections on the ICUBiT Project
• About WMU and our math education programs
• Students win State and National awards
• News from Recent Graduates
• Upcoming Activities

Preparing Preservice Teachers To Build On Student Thinking, Mary Ochieng, Elizabeth Fraser

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

This study focuses on understanding the practice of building on student thinking and supporting teachers to enact this practice through activities we created and implemented in a secondary mathematics methods course. The activities are related to identifying the mathematical point an instance of student thinking can be used to build towards. During this poster session we will define mathematical point, describe the activities, and share some of the observations from the implementation and discuss our next steps towards supporting pre-service teachers to develop an ability to build on student thinking.

Climate Change Education: The Perspective From Middle School Teachers, Peggy M. Mcneal

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Climate change education is complicated by the complexity of Earth systems an\d misconceptions. This study reflects the motivations and practices of teachers who are teaching climate change prior to the implementation of Next Generation Science Standards. Data were collected during an online focus group with teachers from across the country,. The focus group revealed dispositions and brought teachers into the conversation. The themes that emerged provide an enhanced understanding of teacher attitudes, behavior, opinions and perceptions.

A Comparative Study Of International Mathematics Curriculum Materials And Standards: Indonesia, Singapore, And The Us Common Core State Standards, Erlina Mariana Rosada Sari Siregar

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

This study compared 2013 Indonesian Curriculum, the 2013 Singapore Syllabus and the 2010 US Common Core State Standard for Mathematics. This study examined benefits and limitations of these documents in organizing the content and expectations for what 9-12 students should be learning and the guidance they give teachers for teaching and learning of probability and statistics. Findings show that all three documents have the same vision but differ in supporting students' level of understanding of statistics and probability content. It is hope the results will inform revision of mathematics standards for teaching of stochastic in Indonesian mathematics education.

The Lifelong Learning Of Science, William W. Cobern

Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project

The lifelong learning of science is actually becoming harder and harder to avoid. We can expect that there will be fewer and fewer adults who are truly uninterested in science and technology. What will happen is that people will periodically be interested and periodically uninterested. The rising impact of science and technology on lifelong learning, with the constant flow of information through the media, Internet and 24 hour news cycle, will make some interest in science some of time unavoidable for most people. Thus, the question is not whether adults will learn science throughout life, but what they will learn. …

Math Education Matters, January 2015, Western Michigan University

Mathematics News

• New NSF grant supports middle school math teachers
• CSMC Third International Conference held
• NSF grant on leveraging MOSTs
• WMU represented on NCTM editorial panels
• Innovation in teaching using new technology
• Upcoming presentations by WMU faculty and students
• Graduate student spotlight About WMU and our math education programs