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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Observing Change In Students’ Attitudes Towards Mathematics: Contrasting Quantitative And Qualitative Approaches, Wes Maciejewski Nov 2018

Observing Change In Students’ Attitudes Towards Mathematics: Contrasting Quantitative And Qualitative Approaches, Wes Maciejewski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

A student’s attitude towards mathematics affects how they learn and perform in mathematics. What exactly is meant by attitude and how this interacts with mathematics education is a current debate in the mathematics education research community. Regardless, practitioners often acknowledge a consideration of improving students’ attitudes towards mathematics in their course design. This creates an impetus to study attitudes towards mathematics in a way that lends itself to observing changes over a course in mathematics. The current study draws on two approaches to observing and measuring attitudes towards mathematics in an effort to contrast disparate approaches and deepen an investigation …


Departmental Action Teams: A Five-Year Update On A Model For Sustainable Change, Daniel Reinholz, Mary Pilgrim, Karen Falkenberg, Courtney Ngai, Gina Quan, Sarah Wise, Chris Geanious, Joel Corbo, Noah Finkelstein Nov 2018

Departmental Action Teams: A Five-Year Update On A Model For Sustainable Change, Daniel Reinholz, Mary Pilgrim, Karen Falkenberg, Courtney Ngai, Gina Quan, Sarah Wise, Chris Geanious, Joel Corbo, Noah Finkelstein

Faculty Publications

Fostering sustainable improvements in undergraduate education remains a formidable challenge. To address this challenge, our team has developed the Departmental Action Team (DAT) model. DATs are small working groups of faculty, students, and staff, that work collaboratively to envision, plan, develop, and build sustainable structures in their department. To support the uptake of such structures, DATs collect and analyze data to reflect on the root causes of an issue, which they use to shift beliefs, values, and practices within their context. This paper provides a five-year status report on the DAT project. We describe the history of the model, its …


Changes In Attitudes Revealed Through Students’ Writing About Mathematics, Wes Maciejewski Jul 2018

Changes In Attitudes Revealed Through Students’ Writing About Mathematics, Wes Maciejewski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The ways in which a student relates to mathematics is known to affect how they learn and perform in mathematics: anxiety may be compensated with avoidance; enjoyment with engagement. Therefore, there is a need to understand students’ relationships with mathematics and to see how these are affected by mathematics education. This paper presents results from the early stages of a mixed-methods study aimed at assessing changes in students’ attitudes towards mathematics as revealed in their writings about mathematics. In contrast to existing survey instruments on attitudes towards mathematics, the methods and discussion presented here have the potential to inform the …


Unpacking Teacher Practice Through A Moves-Based Formative Assessment Framework Using Video-Based Cycles Of Inquiry, Brent Duckor, Carrie Holmberg Apr 2018

Unpacking Teacher Practice Through A Moves-Based Formative Assessment Framework Using Video-Based Cycles Of Inquiry, Brent Duckor, Carrie Holmberg

Faculty Publications

Research has shown for over a decade that teachers who engage in formative assessment (FA) practices may have the most powerful impact on student learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2012). Yet less is known about the development of teachers’ knowledge and use of formative assessment as they plan, enact, and reflect on their questioning practices. Our qualitative case study focuses on how in-service middle school math teachers take up three specific moves (Author A, 2014) associated with formative assessment practice as as part of a video-based cycle of inquiry project. The study found focusing participants’ planning and reflection through …


Using The Real-Time Instructor Observing Tool (Riot) For Reflection On Teaching Practice, Cassandra Paul, Emily West Feb 2018

Using The Real-Time Instructor Observing Tool (Riot) For Reflection On Teaching Practice, Cassandra Paul, Emily West

Faculty Publications

As physics educators, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our practice. There are many different kinds of professional development opportunities that have been shown to help us with this endeavor. We can seek assistance from professionals, like mentor teachers or centers for faculty development, we can attend workshops to learn new curricula or pedagogical skills, and we can engage in learning communities to develop shared visions and become more reflective educators.1However, when these activities end, what can we do on our own to continue to improve? How can we track our improvement? And perhaps even most …


Teens-As-Teachers Nutrition Program Increases Interest In Science Among Schoolchildren And Fosters Self-Efficacy In Teens, Virginia Bolshakova, John Gieng, C. Sheena Sidhu Jan 2018

Teens-As-Teachers Nutrition Program Increases Interest In Science Among Schoolchildren And Fosters Self-Efficacy In Teens, Virginia Bolshakova, John Gieng, C. Sheena Sidhu

Faculty Publications

The Healthy Living Ambassador Program brings health, teen leadership, and teamwork to California's elementary school gardens through interdisciplinary UC Cooperative Extension collaboration, community-based partnerships and teen teaching. During spring 2015, teen ambassadors trained by Extension educators and volunteers at UC Elkus Ranch in San Mateo County taught nutrition science, food cultivation and healthy living skills in an 8-week, garden-based, after-school nutrition and physical education program for elementary school children in an urban setting. We conducted a pilot study using a mixed-methods approach to measure and explore the program's impact on children's vegetable selection and consumption preferences, as well as perceived …