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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Dr. Skateboard’S Action Science: Teaching Physics In Context, William H. Robertson Nov 2009

Dr. Skateboard’S Action Science: Teaching Physics In Context, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science, a curriculum supplement which consists of video instruction and classroom activities is an example that focuses on the physical science concepts found in the areas of forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and simple machines. The use of familiar activities, situations and objects, such as skateboarding and bicycle motocross (BMX), around which students can explore and explain scientific concepts can be defined as action science. Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science is an example of transformative education, a student-centered curriculum supplement built around interesting content linked to specific physic knowledge and skills in science. The videos and classroom …


Mathematical Habits Of Mind: A Working Group At The 2009 Pme-Na Conference, Kien Lim, Annie Selden Aug 2009

Mathematical Habits Of Mind: A Working Group At The 2009 Pme-Na Conference, Kien Lim, Annie Selden

Kien H Lim

The objectives of this working group are: (a) to discuss various views and aspects of mathematical habits of mind, (b) to explore avenues for research, (c) to encourage research collaborations, and (d) to interest doctoral students in this topic. To facilitate the discussion during the working group meetings, we provide an overview of mathematical habits of mind, including concepts that are closely related to habits of mind—ways of thinking, mathematical practices, knowing-to act in the moment, cognitive disposition, and behavioral schemas. We invite mathematics educators who are interested in habits of mind, and especially those who have conducted research related …


Assessing Problem-Solving Dispositions: Likelihood-To-Act Survey, Kien Lim, Osvaldo Morera, Mourat Tchoshanov Aug 2009

Assessing Problem-Solving Dispositions: Likelihood-To-Act Survey, Kien Lim, Osvaldo Morera, Mourat Tchoshanov

Kien H Lim

This paper reports an ongoing study that is aimed at developing an instrument for measuring two particular problem-solving dispositions: (a) impulsive disposition refers to students’ proclivity to spontaneously proceed with an action that comes to mind, and (b) analytic disposition refers to the tendency to analyze the problem situation. The instrument is under development and consists of likelihood-to-act items in which participants indicate on a scale of 1 to 5 how likely they are to take a particular action in a given situation. The instrument was administered to 318 college students, mainly pre-service teachers. Statistical analysis indicates that likelihood-to-act items …


Provoking Intellectual Need Aug 2009

Provoking Intellectual Need

Kien H Lim

According to Harel's Necessity Principle (1998) “students are most likely to learn when they see a need for what we intend to teach them, where by need is meant intellectual need, not social or economic need” (p. 501). Intellectual need for a particular mathematical concept is an internal drive experienced by a learner to solve a problem. In this paper, I discuss how tasks can be designed to provoke the intellectual need for two mathematical ideas, prime factorization and lowest common multiple.


Burning The Candle At Just One End: Using Nonproportional Examples Helps Students Determine When Proportional Strategies Apply, Kien H. Lim Mar 2009

Burning The Candle At Just One End: Using Nonproportional Examples Helps Students Determine When Proportional Strategies Apply, Kien H. Lim

Kien H Lim

In learning proportions students must understand what makes a situation proportional. If all the missing-value problems encountered by middle-school students involve proportional situations, then there is no need for students to check the equivalence of the two ratios in the proportion they set up. The use of non-proportional situations presents a need for students to analyze the problem situation, determine the manner in which quantities co-vary, and identify the relationship that is invariant.


Transforming Middle School Science Education Through Action Science, William H. Robertson Mar 2009

Transforming Middle School Science Education Through Action Science, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science is a curriculum supplement for middle school students that is designed to address content and process objectives in physical science for both the National Science Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The video instruction and twenty classroom activities provide the teacher with a series of instructional tools and content information that can be used to explore and explain the concepts found in the areas of forces, motion, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and simple machines. Action Science can be defined as the use of familiar objects, circumstances and situations within the lives of students in …


Plastics In The Environment: A Jigsaw Learning Activity, Elaine Hampton Dec 2008

Plastics In The Environment: A Jigsaw Learning Activity, Elaine Hampton

Elaine Hampton

In this lesson, a ready-to-teach cooperative reading activity, students learn about the effects of plastics in our environment, specifically that certain petrochemicals act as artificial estrogens and impact hormonal activities. Much of the content in this lesson was synthesized from recent medical research about the impact of xenoestrogens and spun off from a curriculum project sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Office.


This Is An Independently Managed Website. The Views Expressed In The Pages Are Those Of The Contributors And Not Necessarily Those Of The Cape Peninsula University Of Technology Dec 2008

This Is An Independently Managed Website. The Views Expressed In The Pages Are Those Of The Contributors And Not Necessarily Those Of The Cape Peninsula University Of Technology

Kalvin Whittles Dr.

No abstract provided.


Helping Students Develop Mathematical Habits Of Mind: A Joint Panel Session At The 2009 Jmm Conference, Kien Lim, Kristin Camenga Dec 2008

Helping Students Develop Mathematical Habits Of Mind: A Joint Panel Session At The 2009 Jmm Conference, Kien Lim, Kristin Camenga

Kien H Lim

Cuoco, Goldenberg, and Mark advocate habits of mind as an organizing principle for a mathematics curriculum where students learn to be “pattern sniffers, experimenters, describers, tinkerers, inventors, visualizers, conjecturers, and guessers.” Harel regards habits of mind as interiorized ways of thinking—conceptual tools that are necessary for constructing mathematical objects. Presenters for this session offer various perspectives and strategies for helping students develop mathematical habits of mind, including examples from different content areas and at different levels.


通过数学任务提高美国职前教师的数学成熟性 (Advancing Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Sophistication Via Mathematical Tasks), Kien Lim, 庞雅丽, 赵锐 Dec 2008

通过数学任务提高美国职前教师的数学成熟性 (Advancing Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Sophistication Via Mathematical Tasks), Kien Lim, 庞雅丽, 赵锐

Kien H Lim

2008年5月22日,香港数学教育学会在香港浸会大学举行了研讨会。本文以该研讨会上的发言为蓝本,区分了以下四种差异:(1)约定俗成的数学与学校数学之间的差异;(2)理解方式与思维方式之间的差异;(3)成熟的学习者与被动的学习者之间的差异;(4)知识传授与知识参与这两种教学模式之间的差异。文章还讨论了Harel提出的教学原则以及数学任务的设计与它们在课堂中的使用,并呈现了具体的案例来说明如何设计数学任务以实现特定的学习与教学目标,如激发学生学习某一特定概念的需要,促进理想的思维方式,阻止不合适的思维方式以及评估学生的概念性理解。


Isbn, Kalvin Whittles Dec 2008

Isbn, Kalvin Whittles

Kalvin Whittles Dr.

Using the context of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) the author reflects on students' development of lesson plans for teaching of the topic to school mathematics learners


Number Theory, Kalvin Whittles Dec 2008

Number Theory, Kalvin Whittles

Kalvin Whittles Dr.

Using the context of number theory conceptual links are developed with topics within school mathematics


Dr. Skateboard’S Action Science: Transforming Science Education For Middle School Students, William H. Robertson Dec 2008

Dr. Skateboard’S Action Science: Transforming Science Education For Middle School Students, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

The main objective of this article is to describe an example of unique and creative classroom materials that are built around a real world interest of Middle School students. Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science is a curriculum supplement that integrates both skateboarding and BMX. As an example of transformative education, it is built around student interests with a direct link to specific science knowledge and skills that need to be learned. It incorporates a four part video series and twenty classroom activities for students and teachers to use in the classroom. The video and classroom materials focus on the physical science …


Skateboard: Ciencia De Acción De Doctor Skateboard: Educacion Transformativa En Física, William H. Robertson Dec 2008

Skateboard: Ciencia De Acción De Doctor Skateboard: Educacion Transformativa En Física, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

This article, written in Spanish, describes a transformative process for teaching physics in the middle school science classroom through an analysis of the use of Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science. Additionally, the article attempts to bridge efforts in the US, specifically in El Paso, Texas to opportunities that exist in Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico and Chile. The provided abstracts, in Spanish and English, describe how “action science” can be used in presenting fundamental science concepts and that this approach can be expanded from Middle schools to high schools and universities. Action science is an active learning methodology for teaching physics …


Bridging The Gap Between Real World Polar Science And The Classroom, William H. Robertson, Vanessa Lougheed, Craig Tweedie, Aaron Velasco, Claudia V. Garcia Dec 2008

Bridging The Gap Between Real World Polar Science And The Classroom, William H. Robertson, Vanessa Lougheed, Craig Tweedie, Aaron Velasco, Claudia V. Garcia

William H. Robertson

The International Polar Year - Research and Educational Opportunities in Antarctica for Minorities (IPY-ROAM) program was designed to increase minority participation in polar science by immersing participants in an academic program that included a trip to Antarctica. The IPY-ROAM program was focused on increasing the public understanding of the Polar Regions and stimulating a new interest in polar science. This effort was coordinated by faculty from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and was implemented to positively contribute to the intense, internationally coordinated IPY scientific campaign. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a team of …