Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Winter 2016, Transformations

Transformations

No abstract provided.

Closing The Achievement Gap In Mathematics For Students With Learning Disabilities Utilizing The Resource Room As An Intervention, Esta H. Brownstein

Theses and Dissertations

Students with learning disabilities are placed in general education classrooms in increasing numbers. Many of these students receive additional services in Resource Room programs taught by a special education teacher. The intent of this study was to determine if students with disabilities, who were struggling in mathematics, increased achievement utilizing Resource Room instruction as an intervention. Students in the study were in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and performed at least one grade level below expectations for that grade in mathematics. All of the students had a specific learning disability. This study investigated the correlation, if any, between the amounts …

The Development And Support Of Geometric And Spatial Concepts In Preschool- And Kindergarten-Aged Children, Laura J. Becker

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of the literature review is to discuss the development of geometric and spatial concepts in preschool- and kindergarten-aged children. This development can be seen through the children's mental and manual rotation, as well as children's experiences with spatial reasoning. The factors that influence these concepts, such as spatial talk and spatial play are also examined. This review identifies ways that teachers can support the development of geometric and spatial concepts in the classroom, such as exposure to materials, pedagogy, interventions, and their own professional development. The conclusion of this literature review synthesizes the evidence, discusses recommendations, and provides …

Planning And Implementing A Successful Nsa-Nsf Gencyber Summer Cyber Academy, Bryson R. Payne, Tamirat Abegaz, Keith Antonia

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The GenCyber program is jointly sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help faculty and cybersecurity experts provide summer cybersecurity camp experiences for K-12 students and teachers. The main objective of the program is to attract, educate, and motivate a new generation of young men and women to help address the nationwide shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals. The curriculum is flexible and centers on ten cybersecurity first principles. Currently, GenCyber provides cyber camp options for three types of audiences: students, teachers, and a combination of both teachers and students. In 2016, over 120 …

Associating Mathematics To Its History: Connecting The Mathematics We Teach To Its Past, Joseph M. Furner, Ernest A. Brewer

Transformations

Across the USA and around the world now, globalization has taken a strong hold. The purpose of this paper is to explore the historical considerations that can be incorporated in the teaching of mathematics. The paper will also provide suggestions for teaching math by interweaving historical elements into the mathematics instruction. Teachers should strive to bridge the cultural and historical gap among all students by incorporating innovative ideas as well as historical and cultural connections into their teaching so to foster understanding, appreciation, and tolerance for the richness inherent in diversity and a sound understanding of mathematics and appreciation for …

Every Student Can Be An Einstein: Addressing Math Anxiety In Today’S Classrooms, Joseph M. Furner

Transformations

This article is geared toward mathematics educators in hopes that they can ultimately excite young people about mathematics, encourage students to be confident in their ability to solve problems, understand mathematical concepts, and see math as a human endeavor. The author believes that as students feel less anxious about and more confident in their abilities to do math that their performance will improve. As math test scores are often a concern for principals, teachers, and society at large, success and confidence with mathematics is critical in our high-tech globally competitive world. Math anxiety has become a growing concern in the …

Using Technology And Media-Rich Platforms To Help Teach The Pythagorean Theorem, Hui Fang Huang Su, Denise Gates, Janice Haramis, Farrah Bell, Claude Manigat, Kristin Hierpe, Lourivaldo Da Silva

Transformations

The history of mathematics is quite extensive, dating back to ancient times and elapsing several centuries. Many great mathematicians, philosophers, scientists, and scholars have contributed to mathematics on the subject we see today. For the purpose of this research project, we have chosen to highlight the great mathematician Pythagoras and his famous Pythagorean Theorem. We investigate the history of the Pythagorean Theorem, relationships among Pythagorean numbers, and unusual proofs of the Theorem. This paper provides a suggestive lesson plan, activity, and presentation for classroom use.

Number Pattern, Hui Fang Huang Su, Denise Gates, Janice Haramis, Farrah Bell, Claude Manigat, Kristin Hierpe, Lourivaldo Da Silva

Transformations

In this manuscript, we study the purpose of number patterns, a brief history of number patterns, and classroom uses for number patterns and magic squares. We investigate and summarize number patterns and magic squares in various charts: 6 x 6, 7 x 7, 13 x 13, 21 x 21, and 37 x 37. The results are established by each number pattern along with narrative conjectures about primes and multiples of six from each pattern. Numerical charting examples are provided as an illustration of the theoretical results.

Art-Integration Through Making Dioramas Of Women Mathematicians’ Lives Enhances Creativity And Motivation, Audrey C. Rule, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine, Clayton M. Edwards, Mindy M. Gordon

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

Creativity is essential for solving problems in the workplace, natural environment, and everyday life, necessitating that creativity be nurtured in schools. Identification of factors that intrinsically motivate students to learn difficult or initially unappealing content is also important. This project, in which 24 racially diverse fifth grade girls created dioramas of the lives of diverse successful women mathematicians, explored the girls’ reactions to art integration into mathematics through a phenomenological qualitative analysis of their products, essays, and responses to questionnaires. The project supported the Next Generation Science Standard for engineering design, Standard 3-5-ETS1-1 and two National Core Arts Standards for …

Three- And Four-Year Olds Learn About Gears Through Arts Incorporation, Dessy Stoycheva, Leann M. Perkins

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This research paper explores art integration into a science lesson unit that follows the Next Generation Science Standards (K-PS2-1) and focuses on the effects on memory retention of key concepts along with levels of enjoyment. An experiment was conducted with children ages 3 and 4 teaching scientific concepts about gears while incorporating student-made art products. The children were assigned to alternating experimental (art-integrated) or control (no art) conditions during the four stages of the lesson. The results did not show statistically significant differences at the alpha = 0.05 level between conditions in the amount of information retained based on the …

Fourth Graders Make Inventions Using Scamper And Animal Adaptation Ideas, Mahjabeen Hussain, Anastasia Carignan

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This study explores to what extent the SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Rearrange) technique combined with animal adaptation ideas learned through form and function analogy activities can help fourth graders generate creative ideas while augmenting their inventiveness. The sample consisted of 24 fourth grade students (14 female, 10 male) ages 9-10 at a suburban Midwestern elementary school. A repeated-measures design involving all participants alternately in the two conditions measured students under each treatment condition. In the experimental condition, students used SCAMPER charts with animal adaptation ideas to generate ideas to improve a product using …

Second-Graders Beautify For Butterflies, Andrea E. Anderson, Jessica A. Meier

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This practical article presents activities that support previous research suggesting the integration of art with science is beneficial to the learning and cooperative processes of children. The project showcased here highlights the ability of elementary school children to collaborate with their peers for problem solving and critical thinking through the artistic use of observation and sketching. This article discusses effective lesson activities in which students combined art and science by creating and cultivating a butterfly garden on the school’s property.

Who Moved Those Rain Clouds To Town? Making Windbirds To Learn About The Power Of Wind, Deepanee Samarakoon, Latisha L. Smith

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

In this practical article, a kindergarten teacher shares a lesson designed to teach students about the power of wind. To address the Next Generation Science Standards engineering standards, students discussed the negative and positive aspects of wind and made daily weather observations (K-ESS2-1). Students constructed bird-shaped windsocks, called windbirds, to explore how the shape of the object allowed it to move in the wind (K-2-ETS1-2). To address the National Core Arts Standards, creative arts were integrated as students designed cylindrical windbirds of colorful materials. The windbirds were used to observe the effects of wind in the students’ outdoor environment at …

Water Play, Jane E. Cline, Brandy A. Smith

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The inclusion of activities to develop sensory awareness, spatial thinking, and physical dexterity, operationalized through hands-on science lessons such as water play, have long been part of early childhood education. This practical article addresses Next Generation Science Standards K-2 ETS1-3 and K-2 ETS1-2 by having four-year-old prekindergarten students direct the path of water on a vertical pegboard water table with strategically-placed, attached plastic cups with holes drilled into them that leak streams of water into each other. Students enhanced their retelling of the story of the Billy Goats Gruff by placing student-made watercolor artwork along the path of the water, …

Using Creativity From Art And Engineering To Engage Students In Science, Mason Albert Kuhn, Scott Greenhalgh, Mark Mcdermott

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

STEAM education, referring to integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, is a contemporary buzzword that is popular in many schools. In particular, many elementary school teachers who have been tasked to incorporate STEM teaching, because of the requirements of the Next Generation Science Standards, attempt to apply the arts in their science curriculum because they feel more comfortable using instructional approaches that incorporate creative activities such as crafts, drawing, and model construction than the core practices of STEM disciplines. Teachers can use the creative arts activities in two ways to enhance the STEM learning environment: 1) Using creative processes …

Spatial Thinking Skills And Stem Connections: How Does This Issue Address Them?, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

In this editorial, the Editor considered the importance of spatial thinking skills to STEM careers, provided examples of ways scientists use spatial thinking, noted sex and socioeconomic differences in spatial skill proficiency, and reviewed ways that activities included in articles in this issue involved spatial thinking. Brief summaries and preview images were provided for the articles in the issue. The four-component spatial thinking classification scheme with categories of intrinsic-static, intrinsic-dynamic, extrinsic-static and extrinsic dynamic was applied to the activities from this issue of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions. All categories of this classification scheme were addressed, providing …

Introducing Abstract Mathematics Through Digit Sums And Cyclic Patterns, Sudhir Goel, Shaun V. Ault

Georgia Journal of Science

Using simple concepts that middle and high school students should be able to grasp, including “clock face arithmetic,” the standard multiplication table, and adding the digits of a number together, more abstract concepts such as modular arithmetic and cyclic groups may be introduced at an early stage in the students’ mathematical career. We find this approach to be organic and appealing to most students, encouraging them to think in different ways about familiar objects, and we encourage educators to test the concepts in their own classrooms.

Differentiating Instruction Through Math Stations And Literacy Centers, Olivia Bates

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Differentiating instruction based on students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles is essential for creating effective and meaningful learning activities. Identifying these characteristics allows teachers to meet students’ needs and engage them in learning. By differentiating instruction, educators target specific students’ strengths and challenges in developing lessons to support their understanding of content. Two useful strategies for differentiating math and literacy instruction include stations and centers. In stations and centers, students work on specific skills catered to their educational needs while rotating activities in flexible groups. This guide supports teachers in identifying strategies and understanding the benefits of differentiating math and …

The Creation Of A Video Review Guide For The Free-Response Section Of The Advanced Placement Calculus Exam, Jeffrey Brown

Honors Theses

The Creation of a Video Review Guide for the Free-Response Section of the Advanced Placement Calculus Exam follows the creation of a resource to help students prepare for the College Board’s Advanced Placement Calculus Exam. This project originated out of the authors personal experiences in preparing for this exam. The goal of the project was to create an accessible resource that reviews content, provides insights into the Advanced Placement exam, and creates successful habits in student responses. This paper, chronologically, details the development of the resource and a reflection on the final product and future uses.

Analyse D’Un Projet Pilote D’Intégration D’Une Approche Par Les Situations Dans L’Éducation De Base De La République Démocratique Du Congo, Stéphane Cyr, Annie Savard, Emna Braham

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

En 2015, la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) a entrepris une démarche transitoire de réforme scolaire en adoptant une Approche par les Situations (APS) dans ses programmes pour le primaire. Pour initier cette démarche, le pays a mis en place un projet pilote visant l’amélioration de l’enseignement et des apprentissages des mathématiques et des langues. Dans ce dispositif, des situations ont été crées et des enseignants ont été formés à l’utilisation de ces situations en classe. Le présent article présente les résultats issus des différents outils de collecte de données visant à rendre compte de cette démarche expérimentale en mathématiques …

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Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

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Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities (JSESD)

The Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal with an international focus on providing information on science education for students with varying types and levels of disabilities. We aspire to publish the best of theoretical research and practical application and we review articles by both special and general educators. Interesting topics have included innovative curricular ideas, instructional adaptations, research-based modifications, best practices, and management issues in science education.

Copyright Statement

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Publication rights to works is granted to Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, however, full copyright for works published in this journal is retained by the author(s). The author(s) may post their works online in an institutional repository, on their University departmental website, or on their own personal websites

Stem Stories, December 2016, #2, Marcy Seavey

STEM Stories

Semester End Special - Fall 2016. Here Are Some Highlights

The Effectiveness Of Participation In A Project-Based Learning Project On At-Risk Student Self-Efficacy, Benjamin Aaron Weber

Dissertations and Theses

Project-based learning is a multifaceted approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges while working in small collaborative groups. Project-based learning is active and engaging and drives students to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying, and students develop confidence and self-direction as they move through both team-based and independent work. This project endeavored to assess the effect of participation in a project-based learning (PBL) activity of the Wind and Oar Boat School's curriculum on the self-efficacy of at-risk high school students. Twenty students participated in the program for both math and applied arts credits …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2016, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Pisa 2015 : A First Look At Australia’S Results, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparative study of student achievement directed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA 2015 represents the sixth such study since PISA was first conducted in 2000. Seventy-two OECD countries or partner economies participated in PISA 2015. In Australia, PISA is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and is jointly funded by the Australian Government and the state and territory governments. The goal of PISA is to measure how well 15-year-olds, who are nearing the end of their compulsory schooling in most participating educational systems, …

Formulating A Pharmacy Collection Without A Prescription, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker, Linda Galloway

Library Articles and Research

Librarians without a background in the health sciences were tasked with building a collection to support a new pharmacy school at a traditionally liberal arts institution. Despite little subject expertise, the team assessed current holdings, conducted a review of recommended resources, and collaborated with faculty to prioritize acquisitions to support the developing program as funds became available. The hire of a health sciences librarian provided new opportunities for assessment and for continued collecting. Altogether, this process allowed for the creation of recommended best practices that can be adopted by any librarian procuring resources to support new health science programs.

Project-Based Learning And Design-Focused Projects To Motivate Secondary Mathematics Students, Kelly W. Remijan

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This article illustrates how mathematics teachers can develop design-focused projects, related to project-based learning, to motivate secondary mathematics students. With first-hand experience as a secondary mathematics teacher, I provide a series of steps related to the engineering design process, which are helpful to teachers in developing design-focused projects, describe various projects that have been developed and implemented within my classroom, and share project artifacts illustrated by pictures, student work, and student comments. Referring to the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation and reflecting upon personal observations, student outcomes, and student comments, I provide personal insight on how design-focused projects can be …

A Matter Of Time: The Relationship Of Class Length And Demographics On The South Carolina Algebra I End-Of-Course Test In South Carolina Middle Schools, Jennifer Addie Ramsey

Education Dissertations and Projects

For middle school students taking Algebra 1 as a high school credit, having sufficient instructional time to understand and explore the course content is crucial. While the focus of the literature review helps lend understanding to the study, there has been limited information concerning assessment scores in middle school math classes and the length of class time. This study investigated the differences in the End-of-Course Examination Program (EOCEP) test scores of middle school students in Algebra 1 as influenced by schedules used in South Carolina public middle schools for each individual year in a 5-year span of the 2010-2015 academic …

A Mixed-Methods Program Evaluation Of Two Middle School Mathematics Intervention Programs, Angela Hines

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of two mathematics intervention programs, Transmath and Vmath, in order to discover whether students who are exposed to the intervention programs will show growth in their mathematics performance. The effectiveness of the programs was measured quantitatively by collecting a pre and postassessment score using Moby Max and qualitatively regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the two programs by conducting classroom observations and teacher interviews.

The literature in this study identifies the connection between RTI, tiered intervention, mathematics intervention, and program implementation fidelity. The current literature contains a great deal …