Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Encouraging Literacy And Mathematics Achievement Through Study Of Real Estate, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Lori T. Meier, Karin J. Keith, Erin E. Doran, Edward J. Dwyer

Karin Keith

The era of high stakes testing often puts pressure on teachers and administrators to deemphasize creative activities not perceived as directly related to improving test scores. Alternatively, the authors propose that using environmental text is essential for encouraging overall learning competencies in general and reading/writing/ and mathematical achievement in particular. The authors propose that using real estate booklets can be helpful in generating learning activities in literacy, social studies, and mathematics. In addition, integrating music and art comfortably accompanies strategies presented. Real estate booklets are colorful, rich in content, and readily available at no expense.

Sound And Waves: An Integrated K–8 Hands-On Approach Supporting The Ngss And Ccss Ela, Chih-Che Tai, Karin Keith, Laura Robertson, Renee Rice Moran

Karin Keith

Leave with ideas to build confidence and understanding about using hands-on activities and literacy strategies as tools to understand the nature of wave movement.

It Doesn’T Feel Like A Job To Learn: Hispanic Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions Of Dance-Themed Mathematics Education, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

Towards A High Quality High School Workforce: A Longitudinal, Demographic Analysis Of U.S. Public School Physics Teachers., Gregory T. Rushton, David Rosengrant, Andrew Dewar, Lisa Shah, Herman E. Ray, Keith Sheppard, Lynn Watanabe

David Rosengrant

Efforts to improve the number and quality of the high school physics teaching workforce have taken several forms, including those sponsored by professional organizations. Using a series of large-scale teacher demographic data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this study sought to investigate trends in teacher quality at the national level in the two and a half decades between 1987 and 2012. Specifically, we investigated (i) details about the degree backgrounds, main teaching assignments, and experience levels of those assigned to teach physics; (ii) whether the proportion of those with certifications in physics as a fraction of …

Reducing Mathematics Anxiety, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn discusses how to approach maths anxiety in the classroom. The symptoms of mathematics anxiety vary from expressing a dislike of mathematics to an adult who had to exit a lecture theatre in a hurry when numbers are displayed on a screen.

Experiences With Scala Across The College-Level Curriculum, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal, Mark C. Lewis

Konstantin Läufer

Various hybrid-functional languages, designed to balance compile-time error detection, conciseness, and performance, have emerged. Scala, e.g., is interoperable with Java and has become an early leader in adoption, especially in the start-up and open-source spaces. As educators, we have recognized Scala’s value as a teaching language across the CS curriculum. In CS1, the read-eval-print loop and simple, uniform syntax aid programming in the small. In CS2, higher-order methods allow concise, efficient manipulation of collections. In a programming languages course, advanced constructs facilitate the separation of concerns, program representation and interpretation, and concurrent programming. In advanced applied courses, language mechanisms and …

Spring­11: Pdc In Cs1/2 And A Mobile/Cloud Intermediate Mobile/Cloud Intermediate Software Design Course, Joseph P. Kaylor, Konstantin Läufer, Chandra N. Sekharan, George K. Thiruvathukal

Konstantin Läufer

Recent changes in the environment of Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Computer Science include a better differentiation of our four undergraduate majors, growing interest in computing among science majors, and an increased demand for graduates with mobile and cloud skills. In our continued effort to incorporate parallel and distributed computing topics into the undergraduate curriculum, we are focusing on these three existing courses: CS1: In response to a request from the physics department, we started to offer a CS1 section aimed at majors in physics and other hard sciences this spring semester. This section includes some material on numerical methods …

Teaching The Strand Of Ccss Slope Through Metacognition In Middle School, High School, And Advanced Placement Mathematics, Sara Snarr

Sara Snarr

Photosynthesis And Cellular Respiration (Ls1): A Hands-On Approach For Grades 6–12, Laura Robertson, Lashay Jennings, Scott Honeycutt, Karin Keith, Chih-Che Tai

Laura Robertson

Integrate the NGSS and CCSS ELA by using a cycle of science and ELA activities to help students learn about the flow of energy between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Sound And Waves: An Integrated K–8 Hands-On Approach Supporting The Ngss And Ccss Ela, Chih-Che Tai, Karin Keith, Laura Robertson, Renee Rice Moran

Laura Robertson

Leave with ideas to build confidence and understanding about using hands-on activities and literacy strategies as tools to understand the nature of wave movement.

Hybrid Plcs: Building Collaboration Among Teachers In Different Schools, Laura Robertson, Pamela Cromie, Lindsay Lester, Jennifer Hill, Diana O'Neal

Laura Robertson

How do highly motivated teachers from different schools collaborate? We formed a hybrid PLC that included face-to-face meetings and online interactions to improve student learning.

Forces And Motion (Ps2): An Integrated K–8 Hands-On Approach Supporting The Ngss And Ccss Ela, Laura Robertson, Lashay Jennings, Huili Hong, Karin Keith, Chih-Che Tai

Laura Robertson

Explore the benefits of merging experiential science and literacy instruction to deepen students’ understanding of force and motion.

A Closer Look At Flowers: Exploring Structure And Function In Science And Art, Laura Robertson

Laura Robertson

Integrate art into a 5E model unit on the anatomy of flowers to provide students with another lens through which to view the specialized structures and organization of flowering plants.

Hope, Expectation, Math Anxiety, And Achievement In College Algebra Students: Examining An Instructional Strategy Using Multi-Level Modeling, Kathleen A. Gibson-Dee

Kathleen A. Gibson-Dee

American students no longer lead the world in quantitative skills. This decline in mathematical ability has potentially significant negative national and personal consequences. Math anxiety, low self-efficacy in relation to math, and a sense of hopelessness about math are all possible barriers to being successful in learning and using math, not only in school but ultimately in many aspects of adult life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between hope, expectation, math anxiety (positive and negative affect related components), and students’ final course scores in College Algebra within the context of an instructional strategy intended to …

Strongly And Weakly Directed Approaches To Teaching Multiple Representation Use In Physics, Patrick B. Kohl, David Rosengrant, Noah D. Finkelstein

David Rosengrant

Good use of multiple representations is considered key to learning physics, and so there is considerable motivation both to learn how students use multiple representations when solving problems and to learn how best to teach problem solving using multiple representations. In this study of two large-lecture algebra-based physics courses at the University of Colorado (CU) and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, we address both issues. Students in each of the two courses solved five common electrostatics problems of varying difficulty, and we examine their solutions to clarify the relationship between multiple representation use and performance on problems involving …

Impulse-Momentum Diagrams, David Rosengrant

David Rosengrant

Multiple representations are a valuable tool to help students learn and understand physics concepts. Furthermore, representations help students learn how to think and act like real scientists. These representations include: pictures, free‐body diagrams, energy bar charts, electrical circuits, and, more recently, computer simulations and animations. However, instructors have limited choices when they want to help their students understand impulse and momentum. One of the only available options is the impulse‐momentum bar chart. The bar charts can effectively show the magnitude of the momentum as well as help students understand conservation of momentum, but they do not easily show the actual …

Following Student Gaze Patterns In Physical Science Lectures, David Rosengrant, Doug Hearrington, Kerriann Alvarado, Danielle Keeble

David Rosengrant

This study investigates the gaze patterns of undergraduate college students attending a lecture-based physical science class to better understand the relationships between gaze and focus patterns and student attention during class. The investigators used a new eye-tracking product; Tobii Glasses. The glasses eliminate the need for subjects to focus on a computer screen or carry around a backpack-sized recording device, thus giving an investigator the ability to study a broader range of research questions. This investigation includes what students focus on in the classroom (i.e. demonstrations, instructor, notes, board work, and presentations) during a normal lecture, what diverts attention away …

Do Students Use And Understand Free-Body Diagrams?, David Rosengrant, Alan Van Heuvelen, Eugenia Etkina

David Rosengrant

Physics education literature recommends using multiple representations to help students understand concepts and solve problems. However, there is little research concerning why students use the representations and whether those who use them are more successful. This study addresses these questions using free-body diagrams (diagrammatic representations used in problems involving forces) as a type of representation. We conducted a two-year quantitative and qualitative study of students’ use of free-body diagrams while solving physics problems. We found that when students are in a course that consistently emphasizes the use of free-body diagrams, the majority of them do use diagrams on their own …

Experiences With Scala Across The College-Level Curriculum, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal, Mark C. Lewis

George K. Thiruvathukal

Various hybrid-functional languages, designed to balance compile-time error detection, conciseness, and performance, have emerged. Scala, e.g., is interoperable with Java and has become an early leader in adoption, especially in the start-up and open-source spaces. As educators, we have recognized Scala’s value as a teaching language across the CS curriculum. In CS1, the read-eval-print loop and simple, uniform syntax aid programming in the small. In CS2, higher-order methods allow concise, efficient manipulation of collections. In a programming languages course, advanced constructs facilitate the separation of concerns, program representation and interpretation, and concurrent programming. In advanced applied courses, language mechanisms and …

Evaluation Of The In2science Peer Mentoring Program: Final Report, Julie Kos, Jacynta Krakouer, Sheldon Rothman

Dr Sheldon Rothman

Large-scale studies of 15-year-old school students show associations between students’ attitudes toward science learning and their levels of achievement (Ainley, Kos, & Nicholas, 2008). One model for improving students’ attitudes towards science and mathematics learning has been the provision of peer mentoring. The In2science program uses a peer mentoring approach to engage secondary school students in science and mathematics study. Working with the classroom teacher, university students serve as mentors and help students with their learning and build relationships in a small group or a whole class. Mentors talk to students about studying science (or another STEM area) at university …

Evaluation Of The In2science Peer Mentoring Program: Final Report, Julie Kos, Jacynta Krakouer, Sheldon Rothman

Jacynta Krakouer

Large-scale studies of 15-year-old school students show associations between students’ attitudes toward science learning and their levels of achievement (Ainley, Kos, & Nicholas, 2008). One model for improving students’ attitudes towards science and mathematics learning has been the provision of peer mentoring. The In2science program uses a peer mentoring approach to engage secondary school students in science and mathematics study. Working with the classroom teacher, university students serve as mentors and help students with their learning and build relationships in a small group or a whole class. Mentors talk to students about studying science (or another STEM area) at university …

Rna-Seq Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (Cures) At James Madison University, Ray A. Enke

Ray Enke Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Have Gender Gaps In Math Closed? Achievement, Teacher Perceptions, And Learning Behaviors Across Two Ecls-K Cohorts, Joseph R. Cimpian, Sarah T. Lubienski, Jennifer D. Timmer, Martha B. Makowski, Emily K. Miller

Emily Miller

Studies using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K:1999) revealed gender gaps in mathematics achievement and teacher perceptions. However, recent evidence suggests that gender gaps have closed on state tests, raising the question of whether such gaps are absent in the ECLS-K:2011 cohort. Extending earlier analyses, this study compares the two ECLS-K cohorts, exploring gaps throughout the achievement distribution and examining whether learning behaviors might differentially explain gaps more at the bottom than the top of the distribution. Overall, this study reveals remarkable consistency across both ECLS-K cohorts, with the gender gap developing early among high …

Relationships Between Mathematics Teacher Preparation And Graduates' Analyses Of Classroom Teaching, James Hiebert, Emily Miller, Dawn Berk

Emily Miller

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relationships between mathematics teacher preparation and graduates’ analyses of classroom teaching. Fifty three graduates from an elementary teacher preparation program completed 4 video-based, analysis-of-teaching tasks in the semester before graduation and then in each of the 3 summers following graduation. Participants performed significantly better on the 3 tasks focused on mathematics topics studied in the program than on the task focused on a mathematics topic not studied in the program. After checking several alternative hypotheses, we conclude that a likely explanation for the performance differences is the mathematical knowledge for …

The Engineering Admissions Partnership Program: A Navigation Strategy For Community College Students Seeking A Pathway Into Engineering, Marcia R. Laugerman, Mack C. Shelley, Steven K. Mickelson, Diane T. Rover

Diane Rover

This paper presents the evaluation of a program designed to improve transfer outcomes for community college students pursuing an engineering degree. The program, the Engineering Admissions Partnership Program (E-APP), was designed to improve the navigational success of community college transfer students through connections to the university. These connections include coordinated academic advising, peer-mentoring, campus visits, and online social and professional networks. The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of the E-APP and its interventions, which will be measured by increased participation rates and increased university retention rates for E-APP participants. Outcome data for the students are analyzed …

Using Graphing To Reveal The Hidden Transformations In Palindrome (And Other Types Of) License Plates, Ryan Andrew Nivens

Ryan Andrew Nivens

License plates are a useful context to work with numbers, and in this article you will see a range of activities in which to engage your students. Some innovative graphing concepts are presented with license plates that allow students to investigate transformations including translations, reflections, and rotations.

The Eastman Scholar Mathletes: A Collaborative Partnership, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Jack Rhoton, George Poole, Hugh Imboden

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Excerpt: Professional development has been of central importance throughout the mathematics education reforms in our educational history. Recognizing that math teachers represent the major link between the curriculum and student learning, expert practitioners, researchers, and policy makers emphasize professional development as an essential mechanism for deepening teachers’ content knowledge and developing their teaching practices.

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Analysis is typically listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these taxonomies worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K-12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K-12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre-service teachers. But professors do not always view their disciplines as the proper place for …

Journal Rankings And Representation In Mathematics Education, Samuel Otten, Ryan Andrew Nivens

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Excerpt: Publish or perish has long been the mantra academics live by. For decades, this referred to a list of publications on a researcher’s Curriculum Vitae.

Encouraging Literacy And Mathematics Achievement Through Study Of Real Estate, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Lori T. Meier, Karin J. Keith, Erin E. Doran, Edward J. Dwyer

Ryan Andrew Nivens

The era of high stakes testing often puts pressure on teachers and administrators to deemphasize creative activities not perceived as directly related to improving test scores. Alternatively, the authors propose that using environmental text is essential for encouraging overall learning competencies in general and reading/writing/ and mathematical achievement in particular. The authors propose that using real estate booklets can be helpful in generating learning activities in literacy, social studies, and mathematics. In addition, integrating music and art comfortably accompanies strategies presented. Real estate booklets are colorful, rich in content, and readily available at no expense.