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Full-Text Articles in Education
Teaching Calculus With Wolfram Alpha, Andrew Lang
Teaching Calculus With Wolfram Alpha, Andrew Lang
College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship
This article describes the benefits and drawbacks of using Wolfram|Alpha as the platform for teaching calculus concepts in the lab setting. It is a result of our experiences designing and creating an entirely new set of labs using Wolfram|Alpha. We present the reasoning behind our transition from using a standard computer algebra system (CAS) to Wolfram|Alpha in our differential and integral calculus labs, together with the positive results from our experience. We also discuss the current limitations of Wolfram|Alpha, including a discussion on why we still use a CAS for our multivariate calculus labs.
Virtual Manipulatives In The Classroom And Resulting Articles And Lesson Plans, Cheryl Juliana
Virtual Manipulatives In The Classroom And Resulting Articles And Lesson Plans, Cheryl Juliana
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Upon coming across mathematical manipulatives generated and produced by Utah State University, as a math teacher, I conducted a classroom teaching experiment in three pre-algebra classes with students of various achievement levels. After teaching the entire year using no manipulatives in the classroom, I tested my students with a general, end-of-year, core criterion, or cumulative test. Their scores were noted. The students in the study group were then given opportunities to try several manipulatives offered on the "National Library of Virtual Manipulatives," both as a class, and alone, and then retested. The following paper gives the parameters of the study, …
Parts Of The Whole: Thinking About Variance: Standards, Targets, Tracking, And Other Thoughts, Dorothy Wallace
Parts Of The Whole: Thinking About Variance: Standards, Targets, Tracking, And Other Thoughts, Dorothy Wallace
Numeracy
Variation is a natural result of any process, including education. Understanding how variation propagates and increases is necessary for designing educational interventions that work for the intended population. We show how common strategies such as setting standards and tracking can accidentally produce unintended and undesirable results due to the way variation moves through a system.
Reorganizing School Mathematics For Quantitative Literacy, Rick Gillman
Reorganizing School Mathematics For Quantitative Literacy, Rick Gillman
Numeracy
This paper offers an alternative curriculum for high school mathematics. It proposes replacing the Algebra-Geometry-Algebra rush to calculus model with one which focuses on improving student problem-solving skills and general quantitative literacy skills while reinforcing basic manipulative skills. Most of these goals are gained by expanding the current single-year algebra-one course into two years. The model proposes moving “learning to write proofs” from the traditional geometry course into a separate discrete mathematics course. It requires statistics for every student, and requires a senior-level modeling course for every college-going student. In addition, the proposed model creates opportunities for students to move …
Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 2: Focus Questions For The Numeracy Community, Bernard L. Madison, Shannon W. Dingman
Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 2: Focus Questions For The Numeracy Community, Bernard L. Madison, Shannon W. Dingman
Numeracy
Numerous questions about student learning of quantitative reasoning arose as we developed, taught and assessed the Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World course described in the companion paper in this issue of Numeracy. In this paper, we present some of those questions and describe the context in which they arose. They fall into eight general problem areas: learning that is context-bound and does not easily transfer (i.e., situated learning); the need for a productive disposition regarding mathematics; the connection between QL and mathematical proficiency; the persistence of students, despite our efforts, for using the wrong base for percents; the inconsistent …
Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 1: The Course And Its Challenges:, Shannon W. Dingman, Bernard L. Madison
Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 1: The Course And Its Challenges:, Shannon W. Dingman, Bernard L. Madison
Numeracy
The authors describe successes and challenges in developing a QL-friendly course at the University of Arkansas. This work is part of a three-year NSF project Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World (QRCW) that supported the expansion of the course. The course, MATH 2183, began experimentally in Fall 2004 as a section of finite mathematics known informally as “News Math” for 26 students from arts and humanities disciplines. Over the past six years, the course has evolved and now MATH 2183 is approved to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences mathematics requirement for the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2009-2010, …
Advancing Assessment Of Quantitative And Scientific Reasoning, Donna L. Sundre, Amy D. Thelk
Advancing Assessment Of Quantitative And Scientific Reasoning, Donna L. Sundre, Amy D. Thelk
Numeracy
Advancing Assessment of Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning is a four-year NSF Project (DUE-0618599) in part designed to evaluate the generalizability of quantitative (QR) and scientific reasoning (SR) assessment instruments created at James Madison University to four other four-year institutions with very distinct missions and student demographics. This article describes the methods, results, and findings we obtained in our studies. More specifically, we describe how to conduct content-alignment exercises in which faculty members map each item from a prospective test to the student learning objectives taught at the institution. Our results indicated that 92-100% of the QR and SR items were …
The Impact Of Experience On Elementary School Teacher Affective Relationship With Mathematics, John Salzer
The Impact Of Experience On Elementary School Teacher Affective Relationship With Mathematics, John Salzer
Ed.D. Dissertations
This study was designed as an exploratory examination of the impact of teaching experience on elementary school teachers’ affective relationships with mathematics. A self-reporting survey was used to examine a wide variety of experience factors, including factors related to quantity of experience, type of experience, and post-certification training opportunities (n = 275). Participants were also asked to identify services that might impact their affective relationships with mathematics. This study resulted in recommendations for seven follow-up studies to gain insight into factors that significantly correlated to teacher attitudes toward math or to their perceived changes in attitudes over time. Recommended practices …