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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Mathematical Habits Of Mind, Kien H. Lim, Annie Selden Sep 2009

Mathematical Habits Of Mind, Kien H. Lim, Annie Selden

Kien H Lim

The idea of “mathematical habits of mind” has been introduced to emphasize the need to help students think about mathematics “the way mathematicians do.” There seems to be considerable interest among mathematics educators and mathematicians in helping students develop mathematical habits of mind. 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, …


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.


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。