Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

The Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day, E. G. D. Jones

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

The Reasons Why Many African-American And Hispanic Women Do Not Choose Careers In Technology, Kathryn Elizabeth Guzman

Graduate Research Papers

There have been numerous statistics showing that minorities including women, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, are least likely to choose careers in the science and technology field. Along with those studies have been possible reasons why they choose not to enter into the field. Reasons have ranged from lack of encouragement to people just telling them flat out that there is no possible way that they can succeed in the field.

This study found that African-American and Hispanic women do not choose careers in technology for many of the same reasons. As young children, some factors are the way teachers …

Literature-Based Language Arts Extended To The Science Area : Flight And Space, Thomas F. Ryan

Graduate Research Papers

This instructional project is an integration of the language arts and science areas. A fertile learning environment was established with a literature base that included different genres and related expressive activities. This extensive literature base provided an in-depth study of flight and space, a unit that is part of the third-fourth grade science curriculum.

The goal of this project was to present quality literature, representative of many genres, to integrate study across the curriculum. As the learners progressed through the activities that were student-initiated as well as teacher-directed, they displayed an increased appreciation of literature as well as a working …

Integrated Science Unit : Small Creatures : Spiders And Crickets, Pamela S. Olsen

Graduate Research Papers

This instructional development project integrates the language arts and the science areas. The science content is small creatures, specifically, spiders and crickets, from the first grade curriculum. A rich learning environment is provided through a literature base, representing the different genres and related expressive activity. The unit is presented through teacher-directed activities and learning centers that off er many options from which children could select experiences.

The goals of the program are to give children more control over their learning and to extend children's thinking-language abilities by capitalizing on the common processes of the language arts and science areas and …

Journal Of Mathematics And Science: Collaborative Explorations

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Using Technology To Enhance Pre-Service Teacher Preparation, E. Miele

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Use of the internet to deliver a portion of the content in an introductory science, education, and technology methods course for pre-service teachers provides an opportunity for a much needed introduction to basic computer literacy. A web page was developed for use in conjunction with the math, science, and technology educational methods courses at Brooklyn College. Students are introduced to this page as a group in the computer lab, and work in small groups with more experienced students serving as mentors to other students. The Brooklyn College Science Education Webpage is designed as a simple jump page with links to …

Reports On A Course For Prospective High School Mathematics Teachers, D. A. Stone

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The author describes his design for a course entitled Secondary School Mathematics from an Advanced Viewpoint. He adds subjective comments on how his design has worked in practice.

Portfolios And Performance Assessment: Tools For Changing Pedagogy With Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers, R. Welchman

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Portfolios serve many roles in the development of prospective teachers. Faculty at Brooklyn College found that portfolios can play two other important roles — as tools in faculty development and as a conduit in the development and description of college curriculum. Faculty came together to design a portfolio outline which both defined the introductory mathematics methods course and facilitated establishment of standards. The format was adapted for other populations, each time being modified to suit the new context.

Using Undergraduate Teaching Scholars In A Laboratory Course For Non-Science Majors, T. Jordan

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Although laboratory instruction for non-science majors is a major goal of higher education, its implementation is often difficult in practice. Non-science students are often uncomfortable with a laboratory environment and require close supervision for the laboratory instruction to be effective. To address this problem, support from the New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP) was used to recruit and train undergraduate Teaching Scholars to assist in the instructional laboratories of NYU’s core science program. The Teaching Scholar was paired with a graduate student laboratory instructor to create a “teaching team.” Responses on student evaluations show that the arrangement …

Using Evaluation To Foster Nycetp Goals: Case Studies And Intercampsus Collaboration, C K. Tittle, S. J. Pape, B. Flugman

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This article describes the use of case studies as part of the formative evaluation conducted for the New York Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (NYCETP). While case studies are often conducted for evaluations by outside experts, consultants, or evaluators themselves, we developed a strategy for case studies that used NYCETP faculty to case-study each other. This strategy involved cross-campus collaboration and cross-discipline (Arts & Science and Education) collaboration, and thus actively supported one of the NYCETP goals. The case study strategy also included the development of a faculty (peer) review form for evaluation of documentation of new and revised …

Patterns In The Sand: Mathematical Exploration Of Chladni Patterns, A. M. Coughlin

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Chladni Patterns are formed when sand settles at the nodes of two dimensional standing waves, excited on a metallic plate which is driven at a resonant frequency. By considering a two-dimensional rectangular membrane with fixed boundary and constant density as an idealized model of the metal plate, a formula for predicting the Chladni Patterns that will form at certain frequencies can be found. In addition to mathematically exploring these mysterious patterns, I have created my own “Chladni Patterns” in the lab.

What Does Research Suggest About Successful Programs For Women And Minorities?, D. R. Sterling

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Bridges—Mathematics Support For Third-Grade Girls, J. M. Jarrell

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

A Simple Anharmonic Oscillator, K. Durlacher, J. Boyd, T. Didascalou Waterman

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Aims & Scope

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

It's Fun, But Is It Science? Goals And Strategies In A Problem-Based Learning Course, M. S. Bruno, C. D. Jarvis

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

All students at Hampshire College must complete a science requirement in which they demonstrate their understanding of how science is done, examine the work of science in larger contexts, and communicate their ideas effectively. Human Biology: Selected Topics in Medicine is one of 18-20 freshman seminars designed to move students toward completing this requirement. Students work in cooperative groups of 4-6 people to solve actual medical cases about which they receive information progressively. Students assign themselves homework tasks to bring information back for group deliberation. The goal is for case teams to work cooperatively to develop a differential diagnosis and …

The Impact Of A National Science Foundation Collaborative For Excellence In Teacher Preparation On An Undergraduate Chemistry Course For Non-Chemistry Science Majors, J. Tyson

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In 1999 and 2000 Chemistry 312: Analytical Chemistry for non-chemistry science majors (taken in the junior or senior year), was revised as a result of the instructor’s involvements in the Center for Excellence in Teacher Preparation project and an NSF equipment grant. Changes included the introduction of a K-12 teaching requirement, more emphasis on co-operative learning and on inquiry-based exercises. These latter two pedagogical practices had more impact on the laboratory activities than on the classroom activities. Students in the laboratory were assigned defined roles in the groups and all groups undertook a three-week research project. Students’ responses to the …

Integration Of Multimedia Interactive Web Tools With In-Class Active Learning, A. Ganz, K. Wongthavarawat, A. Phonphoem

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In this paper, we present our experience with an introduction to engineering course in which we used a combination of active and collaborative teaching methods, multimedia web-based material, and web-based interactive tools. The students were engaged in active learning in class with methods such as demonstrations, hands-on work, and group work. After class, the students used the web-based material that we developed, such as multiple choice quizzes, interactive applets, and animations. We have also developed a number of web-based course management tools that were used by the course instructors. We conclude that both the students and instructors had a very …

The Thayer Method: Student Active Learning With Positive Results, E. Connors

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Graduation from West Point requires successful completion of four courses in the mathematical sciences. These core mathematics courses include topics in discrete dynamical systems, differential and integral calculus (single variable and multivariable), differential equations, linear algebra, probability, and statistics. The instructional system employed throughout the core is the "Thayer Method," named for Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, "the Father of the Military Academy." In the Thayer Method, traces of cooperative education and "discovery learning" are evident. It is quintessential active learning. The West Point catalyst is the fundamental principle that cadets are responsible for their own education.

Teaching Innovations In An Introductory Physics Course For Non-Science Majors, W. J. Mullin

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

I have made several innovations to Physics 114: Physics of Sound, a course for Communication Disorders and General Education students at the University of Massachusetts. These changes include the use of a network of wireless communication devices called a Personal Response System, on-line tutorials and classnotes, a collaborative discussion section, exam corrections, microthemes, extra-credit papers, group extra-credit projects, and the use of student teaching assistants.

Experiences And Thoughts On Stemtec-Inspired Changes In Teaching Physics For Life Science Majors, M. S. Z. Rabin

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

I have taught an introductory course for life science majors three times, each time introducing one or more teaching techniques discussed during the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teaching Education Collaborative (STEMTEC) meetings. Typical class size was 275 students. I cannot make quantitative statements about comparisons between the results of STEMTEC-type teaching methods and traditional teaching methods because I have never taught this course in a completely traditional lecture style. During the first year, I introduced conceptual questions into my lectures. The lecture would be interrupted several times with questions posed to the class. The students then had several minutes …

Shaping Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes: An Inquiry Approach To Course Reform, M. F. Neathery, B. Campbell, J. Chandler

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the development of pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward teaching science with inquiry methods as the result of their participation in the two-hour elementary science methods class. Southwestern Oklahoma State University is a partner in the Oklahoma Teacher Education Collaborative (OTEC) which is funded by the National Science Foundation’s reform effort, Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (CETP). The reform effort focuses on the revision of the teacher preparation courses with emphasis on a systemic change in the method in which math, science, and education methods courses are taught across Oklahoma. Nine Oklahoma universities, …

The Impact Of A Summer Workshop: Staff Orientation At Mesa Community College, D. Sawada, J. Turley

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project to reform teacher preparation in Arizona. One of the major modes for initiating both collaboration and reform between and among university and community college staff has been the Summer Faculty Enhancement Workshops developed and offered by ACEPT co-principal investigators each summer since 1996. The summer of 1999 featured five workshops, one of which was the Geology Summer Workshop which brought participants into close contact with eighteen reformed practices appropriate for large lecture style classes. One of the nineteen participants was Ray …

Aims & Scope

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

America Calling: A Social History Of The Telephone To 1940. (Book Review), Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding Of The Limit Of Functions Among College Students, Logesh K. Sivapakianathan

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study explored concept images and concept definitions of college students on limits of functions. Their views concerning the attainability of the limit and the extent to which they understood the stand taken by the formal view on this matter were also probed on. The sample comprised 10 students who had completed the Calculus and Analytic Geometry 1 course in the School of American University Studies at a private college in the Klang Valley. A questionnaire on beliefs about limits was administered to them and 4 students were then selected for a task-based interview on the attainability of the limit. …

College Teacher Trainees Understanding Of The Nature Of Science And Its Relationships With Formal Reasoning Ability, Academic Background And Gender, Lee Kim Low

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study was designed primarily to determine the understanding of the nature of science among science graduate teacher trainees and to identify their misconceptions of the nature of science. The study also investigated the relationships between the trainees' understanding of the nature of science and the independent variables of formal reasoning ability, academic background, and gender. The subjects of the study comprised 80 teacher trainees from four teacher training colleges in Peninsular Malaysia. A two-part survey questionnaire was used 10 collect the trainees' demographic data and to assess their understanding of the nature of science. The instrument used to assess …

Hubungan Antara Kemahiran Proses Sains Bersepadu Dengan Stail Kognitif Pelajar Pusat Asasi Sains Universiti Malaya, Siti Mariam Mohamad

Student Works (2000-2009)

ln the past quarter century. science process skills have become major emphases of science curriculum development. The development of science process skills in students is considered to be a major goal of education. The integrated science process skills, which comprised skills of formulating hypotheses, operationally defining, controlling variables, designing experiments and interpreting data are required in the process of problem solving in science. These cognitive skills can be mastered if the learning activities are appropriately matched to the level of the cognitive development of the learner. Valid science curriculum and special instructional strategies are needed to enhanced the extent of …

Understanding Of Algebraic Notation And Its Relationship With Cognitive Development Among Form Four Students, Saw Hoon Ong

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study attempts to identify the interpretation of letters used in algebraic expressions and equations by a sample of 139 Form Four students in an urban secondary school. It also determines the distribution of their levels of understanding of algebraic notation and their cognitive levels. It further investigates the relationship between the levels of understanding of algebraic notation and cognitive levels. To achieve these aims, two sets of instruments were used: the Algebra Test and the Longeot Reasoning Test. The findings of the study show that more than 80% of the students could successfu lly use the lower level of …