Education Commons^™

Beyond Problem-Solving: Elementary Students’ Mathematical Dispositions When Faced With The Challenge Of Unsolved Problems, Jenna R. O'Dell

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to document the characteristics of students’ dispositions towards mathematics when they engaged in the exploration of parts of unsolved problems: Graceful Tree Conjecture and Collatz Conjecture. Ten students, Grades 4 and 5, from an after-school program in the Midwest participated in the study. I focused on the cognitive, affective, and conative aspects of their mathematical dispositions as they participated in 7 problem-solving sessions and two interviews.

With regard to cognitive aspects of the students’ dispositions, I focused on the students attempts to identify and justify patterns for labeling graphs. Overall, the unsolved problems were …

An Examination Of How One University Is Preparing Elementary And Middle Level Education Majors For Common Core Mathematics, Michelle Elizabeth Schwartze

Theses and Dissertations

In 2010 the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics and English Language Arts were introduced into K – 12 classrooms (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2015b). The standards for mathematics focus on having students demonstrate and explain understanding more than the standards have in the past (Burns, 2013). McCallum (2011) divides the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice into four main themes: reasoning and explaining, modeling and using tools, seeing structure and generalizing, and overarching habits of mind of a productive mathematical thinker. These four themes encompass what a mathematics classroom should look like when utilizing the CCSS for mathematics. …