Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Developing Conceptual Understanding And Procedural Fluency In Algebra For High School Students With Intellectual Disability, Andrew J. Wojcik

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching students with Intellectual Disability (ID) is a relatively new endeavor. Beginning in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the general education curriculum integrated algebra across the K-12 curriculum (Kendall, 2011; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and expansion of the curriculum included five intertwined skills (productive disposition, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and conceptual understanding) (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). Researchers are just beginning to explore the potential of students with ID with algebra (Browder, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Harris & Wakeman, 2008; Creech-Galloway, Collins, Knight, …

Algebra 1 Students’ Ability To Relate The Definition Of A Function To Its Representations, Sarah A. Thomson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

One hundred high school Algebra students from a southern California school participated in this study to provide information on students’ ability to relate the definition of function to its representations. The goals of the study were (1) to explore the extent to which students are able to distinguish between representations of functions/non-functions; (2) to compare students’ ability to distinguish between familiar/unfamiliar representations of functions/non-functions; (3) to explore the extent to which students are able to apply the definition of function to verify function representations; and (4) to explore the extent to which students are able to provide an adequate definition …

Teaching Algebra: A Comparison Of Scottish And American Perspectives, Brittany Munro

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A variety of factors influence what teaching strategies an educator uses. I analyze survey responses from algebra teachers in Scotland and Appalachia America to discover how a teacher's perception of these factors, particularly their view of mathematics itself, determines the pedagogical strategies employed in the classroom.

Characterizing And Supporting Change In Algebra Students' Representational Fluency In A Cas/Paper-And-Pencil Environment, Nicole L. Fonger

Dissertations

Representational fluency (RF) includes an ability to interpret, create, move within and among, and connect tool-based representations of mathematical objects. Taken as an indicator of conceptual understanding, there is a need to better support school algebra students’ RF in learning environments that utilize both computer algebra systems (CAS) and paper-and-pencil. The purpose of this research was to: (a) characterize change in ninth-grade algebra students’ RF in solving problems involving linear equations, and (b) determine conditions of a CAS and paper-and-pencil learning environment in which those students changed their RF.

Change in RF was measured by comparing results from initial to …

Assessing The Impact Of A Computer-Based College Algebra Course, Ningjun Ye

Dissertations

USM piloted the Math Zone in Spring 2007, a computer-based program in teaching MAT 101and MAT 099 in order to improve student performance. This research determined the effect of the re-design of MAT 101 on student achievements in comparison to a traditional approach to the same course. Meanwhile, the study investigated possible effects of the Math Zone program on students’ attitude toward studying mathematics.

This study shows that there was no statistically significant difference on MAT101 final exam scores between the Math Zone students and the Classroom students in Fall 2007, Spring 2008 and Fall 2008. At the same time, …

A Comparative Investigation Of The Effects Of Frequent Testing Upon Achievement In Secondary Advanced Algebra, John Thomas Fullerton

All Master's Theses

Relatively speaking, few studies have concerned themselves with the problem of frequent testing, and as Keys pointed out, empirical evidence, uncomplicated by differences in the amount of testing material employed, on the effects of frequent testing is, at best, scarce (14:427). Also many studies used tests and test results for direct instruction, thus introducing additional variables. Furthermore, the choice of subjects and disciplines has been limited, the better part being taken from college psychology and sociology classes or high school science classes. This investigation was not an attempt to modify previous experiments, nor was it an attempt to identify which …