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Launch-Explore-Summarize In High School Calculus, Nate Mattis

Honors Theses

Current research on high school calculus instruction indicates that students often possess a procedural knowledge of differentiation and integration as opposed to a conceptual knowledge (Orton, 1983; Ferrini-Mundy & Graham, 1994). Given the prominence of traditional lecture and textbook-based calculus classes in the United States, students are not always given the opportunity to expand their conceptual knowledge of essential calculus concepts. This project introduces calculus students to a more active and communal method of teaching: Launch-Explore-Summarize (LES) (CMP, n.d.). This methodology places students at the center of their learning and emphasizes inquiry-based thinking during a class. Specifically, two LES lessons …

The Study Of Middle School Mathematics And Science Teachers' Practices, Perceptions, And Attitudes Related To Mathematics And Science Integration, Eliza Leszczynski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the nature of mathematics and science connections made by sixth and seventh grade mathematics and science teachers in their classrooms. This study also examined the extent to which these connections represented mathematics and science integration and described the teachers’ perceptions of and attitudes about mathematics and science integration. The primary data sources included classroom observations and teacher interviews.

Findings suggested that teacher practices in making mathematics and science connections in the classroom incorporated many of the characteristics of integrated instruction presented in the literature. Teacher attitudes toward integration were found to …