Education Commons^™

Process Over Product: It's More Than An Equation, Lorraine Day, Derek Hurrell

Derek Hurrell

Developing number and algebra together provide opportunities for searching for patterns, conjecturing, justifying, and generalising mathematical relationships. It allows the focus to be on the process of mathematics and noticing the structure of arithmetic, rather than the product of arriving at a correct answer. Two of the big ideas in mathematics are multiplicative thinking and algebraic reasoning. By noticing the structure of multiplicative situations, students will be in a position to reason algebraically, and the process of reasoning algebraically will allow students to appreciate the value of thinking multiplicatively rather than additively.

I'M Proud To Be A Toy Teacher: Using Cra To Become An Even More Effective Teacher, Derek Hurrell

Derek Hurrell

The role of manipulative materials in mathematics can be a contentious one. It seems that in the mind of some teachers, manipulatives are fine in the early years but have no place in a rigorous maths classroom as the students get older. It is a topic worth our consideration.

A Survey Of Significant Developments In Undergraduate Mathematics Education Over The Past Decade, Ron Buckmire

Ron Buckmire

Stem Down The Track: Two Christian Schools' Further Experiences, Peter W. Kilgour, Phil Fitzsimmons, Tieren Kilgour, Jennifer Merriman

Peter Kilgour

Students’ perceptions of what STEM is and

how it has been implemented in their schools

is reported in this paper. Students were asked

in focus groups about what STEM is and how

they had seen the progress their two respective

schools had made in its implementation. The

data showed that students were very familiar

with what STEM is and how it was developing

in their schools. While younger students

enjoyed the fun and the challenge, secondary

students could see the potential for the STEM

they are doing at school to help in their future

employment. Another interesting factor revealed

in …

Edutainment: Weaving Your Passion Into The Process Of Stem Education, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

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.

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

William H. Robertson

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.

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.

A Comparison Of Two Job Offers In Mathematics Education, Ryan Andrew Nivens

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Many job seekers in higher education are unaware of how large a discrepancy there can be in terms of financial potential for mathematics education jobs in higher education. Recent research on this topic has focused on the base salary (Reys, Reys, & Estapa, 2013), but other financial factors have been left unstudied. Through two cases, the researcher demonstrates a large gap that exists in net pay when major financial factors beyond base salary are considered, specifically insurance and retirement benefits. This article will spur conversations among faculty and graduate students in mathematics education doctoral programs allowing mentors to draw from …

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Kate Perkins

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Getting On Board With The Stem Revolution: Two Christian Schools’ Experiences, Peter W. Kilgour, Phil Fitzsimmons, Vanessa Baywood, Jennifer Merriman

Peter Kilgour

No abstract provided.

Mathematics Uncovered Through Action Science, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

A Framework For Categorising Mobile Applications In Mathematics Education, Boris Handal, Joe El-Khoury, Chris Campbell, Michael Cavanagh

Boris Handal

New learning technologies have brought fresh challenges to teachers in selecting appropriate educational resources, particularly in regards to mobile devices. There are an impressive number of educational mobile learning applications, more commonly known as apps, that teachers need to understand before integrating them into the classroom. To make this process more effective, educational apps can be categorised according to their specific role in the teaching and learning of mathematics along with their media richness. A framework of nine distinct categories of apps emerged, grouped into three main clusters, namely, investigative, productivity and instructive tools. The framework was validated with examples …

Preparing Secondary Mathematics Teachers: A Review Of Research, Gregory Hine

Gregory S.C. Hine

The international literature base concerning the preparation of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers has grown steadily over the past two decades, yet there appears to be no consensus on a best practice approach. A review of three research projects (2 American; 1 Australian) that focus on different aspects of secondary mathematics teacher preparation provides consideration for universitieswishing to strengthen existing programs.

An Explanation For The Use Of Arrays To Promote The Understanding Of Mental Strategies For Multiplication, Lorraine Day, Derek Hurrell

Derek Hurrell

This article provides a convincing argument for using arrays to promote students’ understandings of mental computation strategies for multiplication. Also a range of different examples that illustrate the benefits of arrays in the primary classroom are provided.

From Arrays To Algebra, Lorraine Day

Lorraine Day

By identifying the learning experiences that need to be developed in the primary school, and how secondary teachers can build on these experiences, ensures solid algebraic understanding and a smooth transition between primary and secondary mathematics. Using concrete materials, within a concrete-representational-abstract pedagogical approach, may be seen as one among many methods that contribute to the overall process of developing algebraic skills. Linking an area-based model to previous understandings involving numbers should assist the conceptual understanding of algebraic expansion and factorisation to ensure that students are not just fluent in algebraic manipulation but also understand how the processes work.

Australian Curriculum Linked Lessons: Reasoning In Number And Algebra, Lorraine Day

Lorraine Day

In the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics "Number and Algebra are developed together as each enriches the study of the other". The content strands indicate what students should be learning and the proficiency strands indicate the types of learning experiences students should be exposed to in order to learn the content. Most of the content descriptors in Years F-6 algebra refer to a progression of patterning and finding unknowns in number sentences. We could see from this that there are two major themes running through the curriculum; that of patterns and relationships, and that of equations and expressions. These two aspects of …

An Explanation For The Use Of Arrays To Promote The Understanding Of Mental Strategies For Multiplication, Lorraine Day, Derek Hurrell

Lorraine Day

This article provides a convincing argument for using arrays to promote students’ understandings of mental computation strategies for multiplication. Also a range of different examples that illustrate the benefits of arrays in the primary classroom are provided.

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Dr Daniel Edwards

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Dr Jacob Pearce

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Describing State Level Mathematical Growth Using The Student Growth Percentile (Sgp) Methodology, Darin C. Kelberlau

Darin C Kelberlau

The purpose of this study was to describe growth in student mathematics performance at the student and group levels as measured by the statewide mathematics test in Nebraska. Student groupings analyzed for differences in growth patterns were cohorts (elementary and middle school aged students), growth categories, grade levels, gender, ethnicity, students receiving special education (SPED) services, students receiving support services due to English not being their native language (ELL). Building differences were defined by average number of students per grade level (size), levels of student performance, levels of students receiving SPED services, and levels of students receiving ELL services. The …

Collaborating To Improve Inquiry-Based Teaching In Elementary Science And Mathematics Methods Courses, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

This study examines the effect of promoting inquiry-based teaching (IBT) through collaboration between a science methods course and mathematics methods course in an elementary teacher education program. During the collaboration, preservice elementary teacher (PST) candidates experienced 3 different types of inquiry as a way to foster increased understanding of inquiry based teaching (IBT). The experiences included a PST driven science inquiry and a mathematics inquiry where PSTs were learners and a science inquiry where PSTs were teachers. During and following the semester of the collaboration, data were collected to assess the impact of the inquiry experiences on the PSTs’ understanding …

The Skatepark Mathematics Extravaganza, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

The Effects Of Doubling Instruction Efforts On Middle School Students' Achievement: Evidence From A Multiyear Regression-Discontinuity Design, Timothy J. Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Timothy J. Bartik

We use a regression-discontinuity design to study the effects of double blocking sixth-grade students in reading and mathematics on their achievement across three years of middle school. To identify the effect of the intervention, we use sharp cutoffs in the test scores used to assign students to double blocking. We find large, positive, and persistent effects of double blocking in reading, but, unlike previous research, we find no statistically significant effects of double blocking in mathematics either in the short run or medium run.

The Effects Of Doubling Instruction Efforts On Middle School Students' Achievement: Evidence From A Multiyear Regression-Discontinuity Design, Timothy J. Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Marta Lachowska

We use a regression-discontinuity design to study the effects of double blocking sixth-grade students in reading and mathematics on their achievement across three years of middle school. To identify the effect of the intervention, we use sharp cutoffs in the test scores used to assign students to double blocking. We find large, positive, and persistent effects of double blocking in reading, but, unlike previous research, we find no statistically significant effects of double blocking in mathematics either in the short run or medium run.

An Exploration Of The Factors That Motivate Black And Latino Students To Engage In Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics), Adrienne Coleman

Adrienne Coleman

No abstract provided.

Thinking It Through: Australian Students’ Skills In Creative Problem Solving, Lisa De Bortoli, Greg Macaskill

Lisa De Bortoli

In every PISA survey, students from every participating country are assessed in the core domains of mathematics, science and reading literacy. In addition to assessing these literacy domains, the OECD proposes additional assessments in other domains. In PISA 2003, a paper-based assessment of cross- disciplinary problem solving was first assessed, when it was included as a core domain. In PISA 2012, problem solving was once again assessed, this time as an optional computer-based assessment.

The focus of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving was: Are today’s 15-year-old students acquiring the problem-solving skills that will prepare them to meet the …

A Teacher's Guide To Pisa Mathematical Literacy, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Lisa De Bortoli

Lisa De Bortoli

This report focuses on mathematical literacy and is one of a series of three reports on Australian students' performance in PISA. The report provides an overview of the PISA mathematics framework and Australia's results in the PISA 2003 international assessment. Also included are mathematics items released for public viewing after the PISA 2003 assessment and examples of responses, marking guides and comparisons of results with other countries. The context behind achievement, e.g. attitudes, engagement and learning strategies, is also presented.

Unfinished Business : Pisa Shows Indigenous Youth Are Being Left Behind, Tony Dreise, Sue Thomson

Dr Sue Thomson

The latest international assessment of students’ mathematical, scientific and reading literacy – the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) – shows that the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students has remained the same for the last decade. In short, Indigenous 15-yearolds remain approximately two-and-a-half years behind their non-Indigenous peers in schooling.

This essay provides a précis of the results and analysis of some of the issues; it compares Indigenous performance in 2012 with that from previous PISA cycles; and discusses a range of implications for policy and practice.