Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

What Allows Teachers To Extend Student Thinking During Whole-Group Discussions, Nesrin Cengiz

Dissertations

Research indicates that extending students' mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is challenging, even for the most experienced teachers. That is, it is challenging for teachers to help students move beyond their initial mathematical observations and solutions during whole-group discussions. To better understand this phenomena, the teaching of six experienced elementary school teachers, who had been teaching aStandards-based curriculum for several years and had participated in a multi-year professional development project focused on that curriculum, is explored in this study. In particular, two issues are addressed: what it looks like to extend student thinking during whole-group discussions and how …

Use Of Logic Game To Improve High School Students' Logical Reasoning Skills : Results Of A Teaching Experiment, Frank Forte

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

High school students often struggle with the concept of logical reasoning. A study conducted with 37 ninth grade geometry students involved a teaching experiment. This study documented whether instruction on a logic game called the Color of the Board Game helped students’ logical reasoning skills, and if those skills could be reflected in a “‘pencil and paper” test. Each student in a control and treatment group received a pre-test with 25 multiple-choice logic questions and an open-ended question. Multiple-choice questions were based on geometry and contextual logic. The treatment group received the Color of the Board Instructional Unit between the …

The Effects Of Using The Geometer’S Sketchpad On Student Learning Of Transformations In The Coordinate Plane, Leeann Elizabeth Gennett

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate how grade nine honors geometry students and grade ten regular geometry students learn and retain information about three basic rigid geometric transformations with the support of the software package The Geometer’s Sketchpad in comparison to the traditional, non-software supported method of instruction.

The study was conducted in a high school with two tenth grade regular geometry classes and two ninth grade honors geometry classes. The researcher and another teacher each conducted a one-week instructional unit on the three basic, isometric transformations. Thirty-four students agreed to participate in the study. Nineteen students …