Education Commons^™

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

Ron Buckmire

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.

Journal Rankings And Representation In Mathematics Education, Samuel Otten, Ryan Andrew Nivens

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Excerpt: Publish or perish has long been the mantra academics live by. For decades, this referred to a list of publications on a researcher’s Curriculum Vitae.

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 …

Using A Computer Science-Based Board Game To Develop Preschoolers' Mathematics, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosemary Geiken

Ryan Andrew Nivens

There is a critical need to teach computer science (CS) in order to assure that our nation remains competitive globally [6]. CS is a new basic skill necessary for economic opportunity [6] but is rarely taught before age 6 and only using electronic devices [1]. This presents a challenge for those concerned with “screen time” inherent in electronic devices [2] and for children in poverty with little access to electronic devices [3]. Coding, creating a series of commands that a computer carries out, is a component of CS and can be introduced as early as preschool age and results in …

Turning Policy Into Practice: A Case Study Examining The Interplay Between Policy, Research, And Program Design In Teacher Education, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Catherine Paolucci

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Excerpt:This presentation will consider the interplay between policy, international research and the design and development of a new mathematics teacher education program in the Republic of Ireland.

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Analysis is typically the first of the higher functions listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these upper categories extremely worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is being criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K‐12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K‐12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre‐service teachers. But professors do not …

Assessing Journal Quality In Mathematics Education, Samuel Otten, Ryan Andrew Nivens

Ryan Andrew Nivens

Excerpt: In this study, we triangulate the rankings in Table 1 with other measures of journal quality offered through database algorithms.

Assessing Journal Quality In Mathematics Education, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Samuel Otten

Ryan Andrew Nivens

No abstract provided.

Virtual Manipulatives On The Interactive Whiteboard: A Preliminary Investigation, Paula Mildenhall, Paul Swan, Maria Northcote, Linda Marshall

Maria Northcote

An outline of how virtual manipulatives and interactive whiteboards can be used in the classroom.

Threshold Concepts And Attitudes In Mathematics Education: Listening To Students' Past, Present And Projected Stories, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

The process of becoming a skilled and confident mathematics teacher can be strongly influenced by the teacher's attitudes to both mathematics and mathematics teaching. Investigations into the attitudes of pre-service teachers have shown that teachers' attitudes directly influence their teaching practices and, subsequently, their students' learning experiences. Teachers' understanding of mathematical content and concepts also impact on the quality of teaching. Hence, the identification of threshold concepts and attitudes associated with teaching mathematics can be beneficial to pre-service teachers and their students. By understanding the concepts associated with teaching mathematics to young children, pre-service teachers come to transcend their lack …

Teaching With Technology: Up, Up And Away With Parachutes In Primary Mathematics, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

In a teacher education institution just north of Sydney, a lecturer asked her students about their most vivid memories of learning about mathematics in their primary school years. By far, the most easily recalled positive experiences of mathematics involved some form of physical activity or the use of hands-on resources:

One day the teacher organised for us to have a pizza party. The pizzas were divided into even pieces and we learned about fractions.

I loved the way my teacher got us to use the things she found around her house in the classroom - . She'd bring them into …

Student Perceptions Of Classroom Environments In Streamed Middle Secondary Mathematics Classes In Australian Christian Schools, Peter W. Kilgour, Tony Rickards

Peter Kilgour

This paper reports on a study into the perceptions students have of the learning environment in Year 9 and 10 mathematics classrooms when the classes are streamed. The sample consisted of 581 students in Years 9 and 10 in 7 different Christian independent schools across Australia. The What is Happening in the Classroom (WIHIC) inventory was used along with a qualitative analysis of interviews with a subset of participants. Results included: students in lower stream mathematics classes report significantly less positive perceptions of their classroom learning environments than students in upper stream mathematics classes, the areas rated most negatively by …

Session F : Are Australian Mathematical Foundations Solid Enough For The 21st Century?, Ross Turner, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

This presentation will look at some key messages from the Australian results of both the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). PISA assesses the mathematical literacy of 15-year-old students around Australia, whilst PIAAC assesses the numeracy proficiency of adults aged 15–74. What do the two surveys assess and are they telling a similar story? How solid are Australia’s mathematical foundations and what do they say about teaching and learning? How do Australia’s results compare internationally with those leading the field? What are some of the research outcomes and implications …

Session F : Are Australian Mathematical Foundations Solid Enough For The 21st Century?, Ross Turner, Dave Tout

Ross Turner

This presentation will look at some key messages from the Australian results of both the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). PISA assesses the mathematical literacy of 15-year-old students around Australia, whilst PIAAC assesses the numeracy proficiency of adults aged 15–74. What do the two surveys assess and are they telling a similar story? How solid are Australia’s mathematical foundations and what do they say about teaching and learning? How do Australia’s results compare internationally with those leading the field? What are some of the research outcomes and implications …

Mobile Inquiry-As-Play In Mathematics Teacher Education, Jeremiah I. Holden

Remi Holden

Purpose

This study aims to describe the feasibility of designing and fostering pre-service teacher inquiry at the intersection of community and disciplinary engagement. Mapping My Math (MMM), a game-based and mobile learning activity, guided pre-service teachers in playfully exploring mathematics featured in the everyday activities of people and places and creatively representing this inquiry with digital media.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws from design-based research that examined the role of place, digital media and mobility in mathematics teacher education. Design narrative methods describe how MMM was created, implemented and refined to support disciplinary inquiry across settings given the evolution of tools, …

Review Of The Book: English Language Learners In The Mathematics Classroom, Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Brooke Kandel-Cisco

Dr. Kandel-Cisco's review of: Coggins, Debra; Kravin, Drew; Coates, Grace Dávila & Carroll, Maria Dreux (2007). English Language Learners in the Mathematics Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Tracie Salinas.Jpg, Tracie Mclemore Salinas

Dr. Tracie McLemore Salinas

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Kalamazoo Promise On College Choice: An Analysis Of Kalamazoo Area Math And Science Center Graduates, Michelle Miller-Adams, Bridget Timmeney

Michelle Miller-Adams

The Kalamazoo Promise has led to a pronounced shift in the college-going patterns of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) students who attend the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC). Following the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise in 2005, the percentage of KPS KAMSC students attending public, in-state institutions of higher education has almost doubled—a shift that reflects the program rules of the Promise, which covers tuition and fees only at public postsecondary institutions in Michigan. The percentage of non-KPS KAMSC students attending an in-state, public institution also rose in the post-2006 period but only very slightly, suggesting that the Promise …

The Mathematics Education Of Future Primary And Secondary Teachers : Methods And Findings From The Teacher Education And Development Study In Mathematics, Maria Tatto, Sharon Senk, Glenn Rowley, Ray Peck

Ray Peck

In 2005, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Michigan State University, and the Australian Council for Educational Research took an important step in advancing the field of education by partnering to develop and implement the first international and comparative study of mathematics teacher education. The study was made possible by the substantial funding received from the National Science Foundation, the IEA, and the collaboration of 17 participating countries. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the methodology used in this major cross-national study of teacher education—the IEA Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics, known …

Mathematical Literacy: Are We There Yet?, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

"I'Ve Come Too Far, I'Ve Worked Too Hard!": Reinforcement Of Support Structures Among Black Male Mathematics Students, Clarence L. Terry Sr, Ebony O. Mcgee

Clarence "La Mont" Terry, Sr.

Along with the growth and refinement of our shared discourses on equity, the community of education researchers focused on Black males has developed lenses with which to examine the risk and protective factors related to Black males’ participation in and experiences with mathematics. In this paper, the authors focus on the importance of the “supports” associated with mathematically high-­achieving Black high school students in urban high schools. Using Critical Race Theory and narrative analysis, the authors report findings from semi-structured interviews of mathematically-successful Black male students (n = 12) from four urban high schools. Analysis of key themes suggests that …

Addressing Impulsive Disposition: Using Non-Proportional Problems To Overcome Overgeneralization Of Proportionality, Kien Lim, Osvaldo Morera

Kien H Lim

Impulsive disposition is an undesirable way of thinking where one spontaneously applies the first idea that comes to mind without checking its relevance. In this research, we explore (a) the possibility of helping pre-service teachers improve their disposition, from being impulsive to being analytic, in one semester, and (b) the effect of using non-proportional situations. This study involves two sections of a mathematics course for pre-service teachers for Grades 4-8. The lessons were designed whenever possible to elicit students’ impulsive disposition so that they could become cognizant of it and make conscious attempts to overcome it. Some test items were …

Mathematical Thinking Of Young Children Through The Eyes Of Preschool Practitioners, Robert Hunting, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

This paper reports on interview responses to three questions seeking preschool practitioners' perceptions of mathematical thinking in very young children. Generally, the interviewees were found to have a good sense of mathematical concepts relevant to babies and toddlers, and they cited evidence of young children's mathematical development. It is concluded that this practical knowledge provides a strong foundation for further professional development. [Author abstract]

Stand Up And Be Counted : Who'd Be A Maths Teacher?, Mark Butler

Mark Butler

Teaching is not easy, but everyone who has never done it seems to think they can do a better job - just as comedians are often offered so- called 'good' jokes by non-comedians. The author of this article, who taught secondary school mathematics for five years, provides an amusing account describing the similarities between a maths teacher and a stand- up comedian.

Whole Number Knowledge And Number Lines Help To Develop Fraction Concepts, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

Many researchers have noted that students' whole number knowledge can interfere with their efforts to learn fractions. In this paper the authors discuss a teaching experiment conducted with students in Years 5 and 6 from an eastern suburban school in Melbourne. The focus of the teaching experiment was to use number lines to highlight students' understanding of whole numbers then fractions. The study used a screening test and interview using number lines to probe students' understanding of fractions as numbers. By using whole numbers on number lines first, the interview questions clearly helped many students to connect whole number and …

Mathematics Recovery : Frameworks To Assist Students' Construction Of Arithmetical Knowledge, Catherine Pearn

Catherine Pearn

Mathematics Recovery was the outcome of a three-year research and development project at Southern Cross University, conducted in 1992-5. The project received major funding from the Australian Research Council and major contributions in the form of teacher time, from regional government and Catholic school systems. Over the 3-year period, the project involved working in 18 schools with 20 teachers and approximately 200 participating first-grade students. MR can be regarded as consisting of two distinct but interrelated components. One component concerns an elaborated body of theory and practice for working with students, that is, teaching early number knowledge. The second component …

Why You Have To Probe To Discover What Year 8 Students Really Think About Fractions, Catherine Pearn, Max Stephens

Catherine Pearn

Many researchers have noted how children's whole number schemes can interfere with their efforts to learn fractions. This paper examines the persistence of whole number schemes among 14 year-old students who appear to have successfully mastered routine algorithms for working with fractions. Uncovering whole number thinking among such students is therefore difficult, and is illustrated through the use of several probing interview tasks, revealing quite different forms of whole number thinking. These forms of thinking can give correct answers also making it difficult for teachers to identify incorrect thinking about fractions. Representations of fractions using number lines can assist in …

The Northeast Ohio Model Schools Project: A Pathway To Scaling Up Reform In Mathematics And Science, Joanne E. Goodell, Francis S. Broadway, Linda Gojak

Francis Broadway

The Northeast Ohio Model Schools Institute (NOMSI) provided professional development for school-based leadership teams in standards-based mathematics and science teaching practices and leadership skills. Leadership teams from six local school districts were recruited to attend a two-week summer institute in August 2001, which focused on national standards, principles of effective professional development, an understanding of the conditions necessary for change. One or two faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences at each university also participated in the summer institute. Teams prepared a professional development plan for their school or district and received a mini-grant to implement their plan. Coaches—experts …