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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

Assessing High School Science Students’ Abilities To Use Cross Cutting Literacy Skills And Scientific Argumentative Writing Skills In A Mid-Western School District, Ellen M. Karel

Masters Theses

This study sought to determine to what extent a centrally focused initiative concentrated on how to teach students to not just write, but how to think, read, and speak about real world problems in a persuasive manner based on multiple sets of data related to science concepts, increased scientific argumentative writing proficiencies among high school students. A secondary area this study attempted to explore was the correlation between the implemented processes in the initiative and high school students’ scientific argumentative writing proficiencies. The study was conducted in a mid-western high school, population 1,088, with a select group of students in …

A Study Of Conceptual And Language Issues Surrounding Weight, Weightlessness, And Free Fall: Textbook Analysis, Instructional Design, And Assessment, Rex Taibu

Dissertations

Science education is an interdisciplinary field that has developed from and continues to rely on research in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, sociology and history. This clearly reflects that learning and teaching can be studied from multiple perspectives. Despite these wide ranging roots, contemporary science education by and large is not informed by the work of research on linguistics, and in particular, the role of language in mediating conceptual understanding. The term “weight” has multiple meanings in both science and everyday language, and this unfortunately creates inherent difficulties for teaching and learning. The present study addresses a need …

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Statistics: Developing An Initial Profile, Christina M. Zumbrun

Dissertations

Over the last several decades, mathematics education researchers have given increased attention to students’ and teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward mathematics and statistics, but no work has been done that examines practicing secondary mathematics teachers’ (SMTs’) attitudes and beliefs towards statistics in light of the GAISE framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). This study begins to address this gap in the research by creating the Teacher Attitude and Beliefs toward Statistics Survey (TABSS), a synthesis of items taken from the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (Schau, 2003), the Statistics Course Attitude Scale and newly developed items …

Uganda Science Teacher Educator: A Concurrent Mixed Methods Investigation Of Nature Of Science, Pedagogy And Classroom Learning Environment Perspectives, Robert Elisha Musookho Kagumba

Dissertations

This study investigates the perspectives of Uganda science teacher educators on three areas foundational to science education reforms: Nature of science, preferred science pedagogy and classroom learning environment. Uganda has embraced science education reforms but classroom science teachers struggle to implement them. Could these struggles be attributed to their science teacher educators’ perspectives? Using a concurrent mixed method design, the study profiles the views of 63 science teacher educators in Uganda.

Data were collected using four instruments: Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry, Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test, Views of Nature of Science survey and Constructivist Classroom Learning Environment …

Integrating Formative Assessment Into Physics Instruction: The Effect Of Formative Vs. Summative Assessment On Student Physics Learning And Attitudes, Chaiphat Plybour

Dissertations

Of many instructional strategies used to improve teaching and learning in science, formative assessment is potentially one of the most effective. A central feature is timely feedback during learning, giving students the opportunity to benefit and improve while also enabling teachers to adjust instruction to learner needs. By contrast, conventional assessment tends to be mostly summative, assigning point scores, grading and ranking students, and providing extrinsic motivation. For maximum effectiveness in enhancing learning, formative assessment should be designed into instruction from the start rather than being an add-on. This project comprised development, teaching, and research aspects. Two physics topic modules, …

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