Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Southwestern Association Of Parasitologists: The First 35 Years: 1967–2002, Donald W. Duszynski

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

First two paragraphs:

It is likely that the idea to organize southwestern parasitologists into a regional group originated over cocktails one night in the late 1950s during a regional or national meeting. What is clear is that two men—Drs. Robert E. Kuntz and Donald V. Moore— were instrumental in turning the idea into what has become, in reality, the Southwestern Association of Parasitologists (SWAP).

Dr. J. Teague Self (personal communication, 1981) stated, “The beginning of SWAP was an idea of Robert Kuntz who felt that something could be gained if several of us here in the southwest could get together …

Can Science Methods Really Be Taught On-Line?, W. M. Frazier

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In this paper, the process in which both project-based curriculum strategies and Blackboard web-based technology were utilized to develop on-line methods courses to prepare science teachers is described. A discussion of the curriculum design process includes a rationale for using project-based instruction in methods courses, along with a rationale for using Blackboard, a web-based technology, as the environment for the course. The course‘s potential for creating highly qualified science teachers as defined by the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001 and the National Science Teacher Association‘s Standards for Science Teacher Preparation will be explored [1].

History Of A Problem Solving Course For Pre-Service K-8 Teachers, J. Fitzgerald

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

James Madison University's mathematics course in problem solving for prospective K-8 teachers has gone through many changes since we introduced it as a course for prospective middle school teachers four years ago. This paper will discuss the original design of the course, the changes made and their reasons, and the current state of the course.

First Steps Toward Change In Teacher Preparation For Elementary Science, C. Klevickis, R. Kolvoord, M. Handley, K. Giovanetti, D. Peterson, T. Daughtrey, S. Fairchild

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Unless introductory undergraduate science classes for prospective elementary teachers actively incorporate the philosophy of inquiry-based learning called for in K-l2 science education refom little will change in elementary science education. Thus, at James Madison University, we have developed a new integrated science core curriculum called Understanding our World [1]. This course sequence was not only designed to fulfill general education science requirements. but also to focus on content areas our students will need to know as teachers. The objectives of these courses are based on the National Science Education Standards and Virginia’s Science Standards of Learning, including earth and space …

Hands-On Physical Science For In-Service Teachers, J. Mcdonnough, S. Mckelvey, A. Baski, D. Lewis

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The initiation of the Virginia Commonwealth University B.S. in Science program was reported in this journal Fall 1999 as a program designed to meet the academic content major of a teacher preparation program for elementary and middle school mathematics and science teachers [1]. This paper reports the current status of the interdisciplinary B.S. in Science degree program including program enrollment data and trends. Also described are refinements in the required curriculum, which include a newly developed geometry, a mathematical computing course, and an emerging teaching technology course featuring graphing calculators, CBLs, and computer software applications.

Helping Provisionally Licensed Middle School Science Teachers, J. J. Matkins, D. R. Sterling, A. Kitsantas

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The New Science Teachers' Support Network is a National Science Foundation-funded project that provides a multifaceted support system to provisionally licensed middle and high school science teachers.The teachers in this project were all hired to teach science, and had science degrees, but had little or no education coursework or background. Research is being conducted on the effectiveness of the support system we employed for these teachers, particularly on the factors that characterize the practice of new teachers, and on factors that lead to teacher success and teacher retention. In this paper, we describe the design of the study and the …

Aligning Mathematics Curriculum To Create Potential For Active Learning In Pre-K Through Eighth Grade Teacher Education, G. E. Parker

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In this paper, we consider some issues surrounding the teaching of mathematics to pre-service teachers. In particular. we look at the possibilities for teaching elementary mathematics from an advanced standpoint and alignments of curriculum that have the capacity to enhance student involvement in the making of the mathematics.The particulars of the James Madison University curriculum are used to illustrate many of the points.

Rapporteur's Report, W. E. Haver

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Reaching Deep In Math (Developing Educational Excellence And Proficiency In Mathematics), R. D. Anderson

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This paper describes the DEEP in Math Program developed in the academic year 1998-1999 from a collaborative effort of the Louisiana Systemic lnitiative Program (LaSlP) and the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE). It includes evidence of impressive results in low achieving schools and in high-poverty districts targeted by the effort. The plan was for LaSlP to give intensive content and leadership training in Summer 1999 and academic year 1999-2000 to carefully selected. well-qualified math leaders. These leaders were then employed full-time in the 1999-2000 academic year and beyond by their local education authorities to work with all math teachers in …

Student Work Section, R. Howard

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Socio-Economic Factors In Correlation To Standardized Educational Test Scores, M. F. Connolly

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This paper describes the analysis of socio-eeonomic factors in correlation to standardized educational test scores. The scores used were from the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment exam distributed to fourth graders in New Jersey during the years 1999, 200l- 2003 [1-4]. The socio—economie factors are from the 2000 United States Census [5]. Simple regression and other statistical equations were used to compare the data from both sources with Microsoft Excel as a programming tool to perform the analysis.

The Effect Of A Rural High School Education And Other Factors On Science Grades, Standardized Science Scores, And Choosing A College Science Major, Heather S. Kindell

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Heather S. Kindell on November 20, 2003.

Sos Checks And Career Management, Russell W. Howell

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

This paper compares the careers of King Saul and King David in the Bible and how they inform the career management methods of a Christian.

A Christian Appraisal Of Stephan Wolfram's A New Kind Of Science, Gene B. Chase

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Wolfram exposes some ideas about informatics that relate to Christian Scholarship: Does Wolfram's definition of free will permit God to have free will? Will human souls resurrected to a new body–as described by St. Paul and Aquinas–by like software that is moved to new hardware? Jesus' incarnation as in-form-ation in the Aristotelian sense.

Linear Regression As A 1-Variable Optimization Exercise, Ken Constantine

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Derivation of the least squares line for a set of bivariate data entails minimizing a function of two variables, say the line's slope and intercept. Imposing the requirement that the line pass through the mean point for the data reduces this problem to a 1-variable problem easily solved as a single-variable Calculus exercise. The solution to this problem is, in fact, the solution to the more general problem. We illustrate with a dataset involving charitable donations.

Exploiting The Confidence Interval-Hypothesis Test Equivalence In Basic Statistics Classes, Ken Constantine

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

An emphasis is offered for the inference portion of an elementary Statistics course: the equivalence between confidence intervals and tests of hypotheses. This equivalence is rarely mentioned in basic texts but seems helpful to students. Student reference sheets which employ this equivalence are available on-line.

Making Connections: Using Analogies To Enrich Understanding Of Mathematical Ideas And Biblical Truths, Ron Benbow

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Recent standards and research, published by mathematics education professional organizations, place a great emphasis on “connections” in all grade levels. Through this emphasis on interrelatedness, students begin to see the subject not as a collection of separate strands, but rather as an integrated field of study. When linkages between diverse domains of knowledge are formed (by comparing, contrasting, analyzing, and applying), we have increased the likelihood that we develop deeper understandings within both domains. This paper explores some specific examples of the use of analogies to connect mathematical and Biblical concepts.

What Is A Random Event? A Project For Finite Math Or Statistics, Jeremy Case

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Randomization is an important idea in Finite Mathematics and Statistics. One main idea in these courses is that events that appear to be performed in a random fashion are often not random. Here we present a simple project involving "randomly" opening the Bible. This activity leads to deeper philosophical questions such as how to study the Bible and whether an event can be considered random if God intervenes.

Creationism - A Viable Philosophy Of Mathematics, Jonathan Zderad

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The purpose of this essay is to try to answer the ontological and epistemological question of mathematics. Specifically, "What, if any, of mathematics exists in the objective sense?" And, "How do we as humans know that our knowledge of mathematics is correct?" These questions will be investigated by looking at the applications or mathematics, the practice of mathematicians, and most telling, the content of mathematics. Mathematics, admittedly, can only go so far in answering its own philosophical questions, even when aided by recent developments in the field of logic. The overwhelming evidence, as will be shown, points toward a theistic, …

A Greater Tantalizer, Andrew Simoson

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The children’s puzzle, sometimes called the Great Tantalizer, consists of four blocks each of whose faces have been colored with four colors; a solution consists in stacking the blocks so that on each stack face, all four colors appear. This article renders the puzzle as six octahedral blocks, each of which is colored with six colors, and describes a scheme to successfully stack all six.

Light Meals And Morsels From Mathematics Magazine, Paul Zorn

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

General-Education Mathematics Course From A Christian Perspective, Saburo Matsumoto, Ph.D.

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

Some Fibonacci Gems, Peter Rothmaler

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

A Christian Perspective On Mathematics - History Of Mathematics And Study Guides, Johan H. De Klerk

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

Learning To Construct Proofs In A First Course On Mathematical Proof, Peter R. Atwood, Ph.D.

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

The Search For The Real Josephus Problem, Eric Gossett

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Many of the problems that mathematicians and computer scientists dearly love have been around for a long time. One such problem is known as the Josephus Problem, named after the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Josephus did not invent the problem. Instead, an event from his life served as the inspiration for the problem statement. Many current books refer to "Mathematical Recreations and Essays" by W. W. Rouse Ball [originally published in 1892] for the problem statement. The problem is quite interesting (and will be solved here). However, the story, as quoted in Bell, is not completely accurate.

The Inverse Problem: Christianity Through A Mathematical Lens, Sharon K. Robbert

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

An inverse problem is a partner problem that reverses some type of direct problem. Usually the inverse problem is more challenging to solve than the direct problem: integration is more challenging than differentiation, factoring large numbers is more challenging than multiplying numbers. In this paper, the author poses that using mathematical thinking to understand the concepts of theological principles is the direct problem to the much more challenging inverse problem of using theological thinking to influence understanding in mathematics. Acknowledging that a problem is difficult allows one to be satisfied with understanding small pieces and progressing slowly to a complete …

Integrating Laptops Into A Mathematics Curriculum, Mary Wagner-Krankel

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

In 1999, St. Mary's University in San Antonio received a Title V Grant, providing $2.1 million over five years. The money was used to help finance computers for students, fund faculty training for computer-related curriculum, convert traditional classrooms into technology or "Smart classrooms", and upgrade the school's Internet connections. This article discusses specific software and hardware advancements made at the University through this grant. The article also describes how the Math department specifically integrated the laptops into their courses using software programs such as Mathcad and Blackboard.

Men Are From The Server Side, Women Are From The Client Side: A Biblical Perspective On Men, Women And Computer Science, Kim Potter Kihlstrom

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The percentage of women in computer science is small and has decreased over the last twenty years. Why is this the case, when computer science is a wonderful and growing field with many opportunities? I believe that the situation has its roots in the basic differences between men and women, differences that were present from the beginning of creation and are a part of the way that God made male and female uniquely. In order to ensure that both talented men and women are attracted to computer science, we need to understand the differences between men and women, and how …

Mathematics, Science, And George Macdonald, David L. Neuhouser

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

In writing about George MacDonald choosing a college major, biographer William Raeper wrote that he chose “chemistry, a strange choice perhaps for a future novelist and poet and not an easy one for him to make.” He further conjectured that MacDonald’s choice was based on “common sense and sound economics” rather than “his poetic yearnings.” Many would agree with Raeper that science is a strange choice for a future poet and novelist. This paper argues that the role of beauty and imagination is very similar in science, mathematics, and literature, so it might not be so strange that someone could …