Education Commons^™

Data-Wisdom As A Framework For Building Data Literacy, Rita Swartzentruber

Masters Theses

In a world where “big-data” rules, the need for data literate citizens is critical. Not only do we need citizens who can read data, but also citizens who are critical of data practices that perpetuate racist practices. One potential answer for this call is to create “data-wise” citizens. The purpose of this design-based research study was to explore how secondary and post-secondary students can develop data-wisdom through the analysis of three data-inspired artistic data visualizations. This study examined the growth of data-wisdom in participants, the development of classroom norms, and the increase in positive perceptions of mathematics in participants. Data …

A Situated Perspective Of Rural Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’ Planning Practices, Ashley Paige Walther

Doctoral Dissertations

Rural areas are home to approximately 20% of the population in the United States. Schools that serve rural populations are geographically isolated and lack resources when compared to urban and suburban schools. Educators who serve students in rural schools are often born and raised in the same system in which they ultimately work. Elementary teachers are typically certified as generalists. As a result, many report a lack of confidence or proficiency in mathematics. This dissertation offers an analysis of the planning practices of rural elementary school mathematics teachers in a district located in the southeastern United States. The study sought …

Stories Of Success: A Phenomenological Study Of Positive Transformative Learning Experiences Of Low-Socioeconomic Status Community College Mathematics Students, John Thomas Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

All too often education research focuses on academic disparities with under-served student populations. Frequently, both remedial and introductory college-level mathematics courses are cited as gatekeepers or insurmountable barriers for adult low-socioeconomic status (LSES) students. There has been a call from within the mathematics education community for less gap-gazing at disparities and more studies of success within marginalized groups. Many previously unsuccessful, under-prepared, under-served, and under-supported students persist and eventually succeed. In addition, there is a lack of research through the lens of the community college as a unique educational context, distinct from both K-12 and the four year colleges and …

Recommendations For Teachers And Researchers: Supporting Female Learners Of Secondary Mathematics: A Review Of Literature, Lauren Ashley Watts

Masters Theses

This literature review is intended to collect recommendations for practices in secondary education that promote gender equity in math and science. A brief overview of the history of gender and gender equity in mathematics, science and related fields will be provided, along with an examination of current aspects of gender equity in science and math that remain to be addressed. Recommendations for practices of secondary mathematics teachers that promote gender equity will be given with reference to practice theory and situated learning.

Social Justice In Mathematics Education, Renee Lenise Colquitt

Doctoral Dissertations

Today’s mathematics classrooms are filled with students with different races, ethnicities, abilities, and socioeconomic status environments, and other issues that impact their learning. Students of color, in particular, often score lower than their White counterparts on standardized mathematics tests and are underrepresented in advanced placement mathematics classes. The historically marginalized students will soon be the majority. If careful attention is not paid to this shift in demographics, the United States runs the risk of falling farther behind other countries economically and academically. Since mathematics often serves as a gatekeeper for admittance to postsecondary institutions and many well-paying jobs, the discrepancy …

Insights Into The Beliefs And Practices Of Preservice Elementary Mathematics Teacher Educators: A Naturalistic Inquiry, Linda Ann Arnold

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to explore and analyze aspects of the reported beliefs and practices of a group of preservice elementary mathematics teacher educators. Until now, researchers have had little understanding of beliefs and practices of teachers in elementary mathematics methods classrooms, despite the fact that teacher educators’ beliefs and practices have profound effects on what happens in thousands of classrooms every day. The qualitative research in this study offered insights with the potential to inform higher educational practice in regard to the preparation of elementary mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators. Participants were six professors and …

Teaching And Learning Algebra 1 Via An Intelligent Tutor System: Effects On Student Engagement And Achievement, Karen Kerner Lucas

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the implementation and outcomes of blended learning that integrated Apangea Math, an online intelligent tutor system (ITS), with face-to-face instruction for the teaching and learning of Algebra 1. It took place in a Title I urban high school where 75 ninth grade students and their teachers enacted the blended learning program for one semester. Students from the same high school who received face-to-face instruction alone during a previous semester served as a comparison group. Flow theory was proposed as an explanation for why the ITS program was expected to increase student engagement and improve student achievement.

This …

Preservice Secondary School Mathematics Teachers' Current Notions Of Proof In Euclidean Geometry, Michael Ratliff

Doctoral Dissertations

Much research has been conducted in the past 25 years related to the teaching and learning of proof in Euclidean geometry. However, very little research has been done focused on preservice secondary school mathematics teachers’ notions of proof in Euclidean geometry. Thus, this qualitative study was exploratory in nature, consisting of four case studies focused on identifying preservice secondary school mathematics teachers’ current notions of proof in Euclidean geometry, a starting point for improving the teaching and learning of proof in Euclidean geometry.

The unit of analysis (i.e., participant) in each case study was a preservice mathematics teacher. The case …

Professionalism: What Is It And Are We Teaching For It?, Brian K Tate

Doctoral Dissertations

With rising accountability standards and the need for content specialists within education, the qualifications of mathematics teachers have become increasingly scrutinized. For over three decades, within the parameters of educational reform, the need for the professionalization of teaching has reoccurred (Carnegie Task Force, 1986). When examining the nature of teacher professionalism, no concise definition within the educational community exists (Noddings, 1992). The purpose of this study was to take characteristics defined by the medical and law fields and use them to develop a definition of professionalism within mathematics education. Once a clear set of characteristics was identified, the study then …