Education Commons^™

Assessing The Impact Of Computer Programming In Understanding Limits And Derivatives In A Secondary Mathematics Classroom, Christopher H. De Castro

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

This study explored the development of student’s conceptual understanding of limit and derivative when specific computational tools were utilized. Fourteen students from a secondary Advanced Placement Calculus AB course explored the limit and derivative concepts from calculus using computational tools in the Maple computer algebra system. Students worked in pairs utilizing the pair-programming collaborative model. Four groups of student pairs constructed computational tools and used them to explore the limit and derivative concepts. The remaining four student pairs were provided similar tools and asked to perform identical explorations.

A multiple embedded case design was utilized to explore ways students in …

Attitudinal Study: The Interaction Of Students Taking Calculus And Prerequisite Courses While Participating In Peer Tutorials, Deborah Coleman Hannah

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Bridging the achievement gap while improving overall performance in high school mathematics is a primary concern in the educational arena. A peer tutoring strategy was implemented to examine its effects on the achievement and attitude of African American students in mathematics courses. Vygotsky’s theory of social interaction and the Zone of Proximal Development served as the guide for this investigation involving 138 high school students. Dyads were formed by pairing 46 Algebra and Geometry students with 46 Advanced Placement Calculus students for after- school tutorial sessions. Forty-six members of a control group received no tutoring intervention. Participants completed a 25-item …