Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Key Benefits Of Small Group Instruction For Diverse Learners, Lydia Mcevoy

Master's Theses

Utilizing a mixed method approach this research study investigated the effects of small group instruction on the learning of diverse learners. Informed by a preliminary literature review that supports the use of small-group instruction, the researcher conducted a small-scale action research project to focus on three diverse learners in a 1st-grade classroom over four weeks. One of the findings of this project shows that small group instruction helps promote social and emotional skills as students feel more comfortable interacting with peers in a small group rather than in a whole group. Another finding indicates that students feel more encouraged by …

Tasks For Learning Trigonometry, Sydnee Andreasen

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Many studies have been done using task-based learning within different mathematics courses. Within the field of trigonometry, task-based learning is lacking. The following research aimed to create engaging, mathematically rich tasks that meet the standards for the current trigonometry course at Utah State University and align with the State of Utah Core Standards for 7th through 12th grades. Four lessons were selected and developed based on the alignment of standards, the relevance to the remainder of the trigonometry course, and the relevance to courses beyond trigonometry. The four lessons that were chosen and developed were related to trigonometric ratios, graphing …

How Daily Movement Impacts Elementary Students In Math, Lesley Mcmahan Lawson

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Lesley McMahan Lawson on April 11, 2023.

Financial Literacy Among Buffalo State College Undergraduate Students, Toni Martinucci

Public Administration Master’s Projects

Financial literacy can be complex and difficult for college students to comprehend. Many students struggle to afford college and are faced with large amounts of student loan debt. Financial awareness needs to be addressed early on for students to make informed decisions about college costs, student debt, and financial aid. However, financial aid applications, terms and conditions, and eligibility requirements are difficult for many students to comprehend on their own. The purpose of this study is to access financial literacy among undergraduate students at Buffalo State College. A quantitative approach is used in this study by implementing a web-based cross-sectional …

Using Teacher Noticing And Video-Mediated Professional Learning To Develop Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge For Teaching The Derivative, Alfred M. Limbere

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study investigated how problem-solving videos can be used in video-mediated professional learning to support secondary preservice mathematics teachers (PMTs) in developing teacher knowledge for noticing student thinking in the context of the derivative concept in calculus. A model of the trajectory of PMTs’ noticing was constructed as six PMTs viewed and analyzed videos of students’ problem solving. At the same time, the nature of video-mediated interactions that were found to be productive in supporting this knowledge development was examined. A design experiment was used as the research methodology. Data was collected from video recordings of eight semi-structured teaching episodes …

Ready To Engage? Urban Middle School Teachers’ Responsiveness To Targeted Engagement Interventions On Their Virtual Instructional Practices: An Action Research Study, Svetlana Nikic

Dissertations

Teachers’ effectiveness is associated with their instructional practices and is ultimately linked to students’ learning outcomes. In order to impact teachers’ effectiveness, schools focus substantial effort and resources on professional development led by an assumption that teachers’ classroom practices can be improved through targeted interventions. Even if this premise is correct, little information is available about how much a teacher’s practice may change through interventions, or which aspects of instructional practice are more receptive to improving teacher effectiveness (Garret et al., 2019).

This study took place at an urban middle school and examined teachers’ responsiveness to targeted engagement intervention in …

Mathematics Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Its Relation To Student Achievement, Michelle Emmalyn Peters-George

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students' performance in national assessments of mathematics at Grades 2, 4, and 6 has been a cause for concern in the Eastern Caribbean. Researchers have called for studies to focus on primary mathematics teachers' pedagogies rather than on laptops and curriculum; however, it is unclear how primary mathematics teachers' pedagogical knowledge influences these student’s achievement. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between primary mathematics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (mathematical knowledge for teaching, quality of instruction, and pedagogical qualifications) and student achievement, measured by national assessment scores in Grenada, controlling for teachers’ age, gender, and experience. …

Fostering Mathematical Creativity Among Middle School Mathematics Teachers, Ceire H. Monahan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this research was to understand in-service teachers’ experiences with and ideas about mathematical creativity after participating in a targeted professional development program. The professional development program encouraged participants to think creatively and foster students’ creativity. In this study I present the results from the main unit of analysis, 12 participants in a professional development program, along with a deep analysis of three exemplar teachers from each of the identified groups, adherence to traditional teaching practices (traditional), appreciation for teaching for creativity (creative but hesitant), and teaching for creativity (creative). The findings of this study highlight the combination …

Transitioning Secondary Mathematics Pedagogy Towards Reform-Oriented Practice Through Coteaching, Jessica Tybursky Nuzzi

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Reform standards in mathematics education have called for classrooms that are student-centered and that incorporate problem solving and reasoning for meaningful learning. After decades of reform efforts involving multiple stakeholders, research indicates that most classrooms remain teacher-centered and procedurally focused, due to the complexity of concerns and competing intentions that teachers face in their work. Coteaching, a commitment between two teachers to coplan, coenact, and coreflect on lessons, can serve as an ongoing, sustained, focused, integrated, reflective professional development structure that supports teachers towards growth. The theoretical constructs used to describe possible growth towards reform orientations in teaching secondary mathematics …

Saudi Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge For Teaching Fractions, Mona Khalifah A Aladil

Dissertations

Recent reform efforts in Saudi Arabia attend to mathematics instruction with a great deal of emphasis to improve Saudi mathematics education. Studies in different countries have confirmed that teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching plays an important role in mathematical quality of instruction and students’ achievement (e.g., Ball, 1990; Baumert et al., 2010; Hill, Rowan, & Ball, 2005). Yet few studies about mathematics teachers’ knowledge for teaching have been conducted in the Saudi context. This study investigates Saudi elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge for teaching in the content strand of rational numbers with an emphasis on fractions, which is an important step …

Social Justice Mathematical Modeling For Teacher Preparation, Patrick L. Seegmiller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Today's math teachers face significant social and political challenges for which they receive little preparation. Mathematics content courses can potentially provide additional preparation in this regard by providing future teachers with experiences to mathematically explore social justice issues. This provides them with opportunities to increase their awareness and sensitivity to social justice issues, develop greater empathy for their future students, and serve as examples for high quality instruction that they can emulate in their future careers. This dissertation recounts the development and revision of three social justice mathematical modeling projects, and shares evidence from student work samples of the ways …

Evolution Of Computational Thinking Contextualized In A Teacher-Student Collaborative Learning Environment., John Arthur Underwood

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The discussion of Computational Thinking as a pedagogical concept is now essential as it has found itself integrated into the core science disciplines with its inclusion in all of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2018). The need for a practical and functional definition for teacher practitioners is a driving point for many recent research endeavors. Across the United States school systems are currently seeking new methods for expanding their students’ ability to analytically think and to employee real-world problem-solving strategies (Hopson, Simms, and Knezek, 2001). The need for STEM trained individuals crosses both the vocational certified and college degreed …

Student Help-Seeking Behaviors And Teacher Instructional Practices: Examining Their Relationship With U.S. Student Mathematics Achievement, Michael C. Osborne

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Even though the United States (U.S.) spends, on average, more money per student than most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, it continues to lag behind its international peers in mathematics achievement. This study, which responded to the call for educational reforms that improve the mathematics achievement of U.S. students, aimed to examine the issue of student help-seeking behaviors and teacher instructional practices as they interact to affect student mathematics achievement. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) defines student help-seeking behaviors as the ways in which students have a propensity to depend on the knowledge and intellect …

Teachers' Reflection On Their Beliefs And Question-Asking Practices During Mathematics Instruction, Kaili Takiyah Hardamon

Wayne State University Dissertations

Teachers’ daily instructional practices are a critical component in creating a rich and meaningful educational experience for students. Thus, factors that inform instructional practices are of particular importance and interest to education researchers and other stakeholders. Beliefs about teaching and learning are a known factor influencing teachers’ instructional practices (Ernest, 1989). This study focused on a specific instructional practice, question-asking, which has a profound impact on students’ experience with mathematics (Weiland, Hudson, and Amador (2014). Understanding the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice helps to make sense of teachers’ decision-making processes, particularly as they choose questions to ask students during …

Teachers' Perceptions About Instructing Underachieving K-5 Students On Mathematical Word Problem-Solving, Crystal Yvette Baldwindouglas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The state of Maryland has implemented the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) operations & algebraic thinking and number & operations-fractions with emphasis on students in Grades K-5 acquiring the ability to solve word problems for state and curriculum math assessments. However, since the implementation of CCSSM, 30% of elementary students in a Maryland school district have demonstrated underachievement (basic or below basic level) on problem-solving sections of the state and school standardized tests. This qualitative case study, guided by Polya's model of the four phases of mathematical problem-solving, was conducted to address this problem. The research questions addressed …

The Bellringer Sequence: Investigating What And How Preservice Mathematics Teachers Learn Through Pedagogies Of Enactment, Mary A. Ochieng

Dissertations

This study examines preservice teacher learning through pedagogies of enactment—approaches to teacher education that allow preservice teachers to learn by doing what teachers do. Preservice teacher (PST) learning is examined through the implementation of the Bellringer Sequence (BRS), a pedagogy of enactment conceptualized in the study. The BRS is centered around bellringers—brief mathematical tasks implemented as students arrive for class. The BRS is a sequence of four activities centered on a bellringer: preparation (for teaching a bellringer) implementation (of the bellringer with peers), debriefing (discussing the implementation as colleagues), and written reflection (about the effectiveness of the bellringer).

Practice-based approaches …

Developmental Mathematics: A Quantitative Investigation Of Instructor Classification As Related To Student Success, Brittany A. Fish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine what type of predictive power exists between an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status on a student’s academic success in developmental mathematics, as measured by final semester grades at a regionally comprehensive state university in Texas between fall 2013 and spring 2017. Data were collected from the institution under study and the sample population included 1932 unique student observations. The data collected in this study were analyzed through a binary logistic regression model to determine whether an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status …

Influence Of Reading Proficiency On Placement And Success In Online Developmental Mathematics, Diane Marie Stryk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community college leaders have spent years trying to improve success rates for students in developmental mathematics (DM) courses, but with little progress. This quantitative study, using a pre-experimental static-group research design, examined if a change in a community college district's policy and practices for student placement into DM courses could improve student success in online DM courses. Bounded rationality theory provided the lens to view how students' decision making is influenced by the lack of timely and appropriate information during the placement process. The study addressed whether a composite placement score, the result of combining the ACCUPLACER placement scores for …

Launch-Explore-Summarize In High School Calculus, Nate Mattis

Honors Theses

Current research on high school calculus instruction indicates that students often possess a procedural knowledge of differentiation and integration as opposed to a conceptual knowledge (Orton, 1983; Ferrini-Mundy & Graham, 1994). Given the prominence of traditional lecture and textbook-based calculus classes in the United States, students are not always given the opportunity to expand their conceptual knowledge of essential calculus concepts. This project introduces calculus students to a more active and communal method of teaching: Launch-Explore-Summarize (LES) (CMP, n.d.). This methodology places students at the center of their learning and emphasizes inquiry-based thinking during a class. Specifically, two LES lessons …

Can Addressing Language Skills For Fifth Grade Ells In A Multiplication Curriculum Help Address The Achievement Gap In Math? A Multiplication Workbook For Big Kids, Michelle Douglas

Master's Projects and Capstones

Currently, the state of California has 1,332,405 students from grades k-12 who speak a language other than English at home (Caledfacts, 2016). When I started my first year teaching fifth grade with 95% of my students being English language learners (ELLs), I was surprised to see an achievement gap of two to three years in my student’s reading and math skills. I found that my student’s developmental language and math skills contributed to a lack of engagement during math time. Upon further research, I found that these three factors play a role in the wide achievement gaps between ELLs and …

International Baccalaureate Mathematics, Advanced Placement Mathematics, And Dual Credit Mathematics Courses – An In Depth Look, Lawrence Benjamin Jaskunas

All Capstone Projects

Every year in the United States, many students who believe they are fully prepared for college find out that they have to take remedial math courses before they can take any credit bearing math courses toward their degree. A student can avoid this situation by taking an early college program in high school and potentially earning a college math credit. The purpose of this research project was to take an in depth look at three such programs. The names of these programs are the International Baccalaureate program, the Advanced Placement program, and Dual Credit programs. This research project looked into …

A Study Of Fourth-Grade Students' Perceptions On Homework Environment And Academic Motivation In Mathematics, Stefanie Harmon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem at an elementary school is teachers' lack of knowledge and information on the perceptions and motivation of students to complete independent mathematics homework. The purpose of this study was to identify students' perceptions regarding their homework environment and academic motivation in mathematics. The study's conceptual framework, attribution theory, supported the examination of drivers of motivation for participants related to homework completion. Guiding research questions, supported by Keller's ARCS model, focused on the identification of students' perceptions of homework attention, relevance, curiosity, satisfaction, and their preferred homework environment. This qualitative research study obtained data from semistructured interviews with 44 …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Manipulatives During Middle School Math Instruction, Angela L. Vizzi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Colorado school district, school personnel and parents were concerned that middle school math proficiency levels were low for 2011-2014 and math teachers were not using manipulatives in their classes to increase math performance. The district's math coordinator did not foresee providing specific professional development (PD) for math manipulative use to address these concerns. Without this PD, math teachers may be ill-quipped to teach math concepts when using manipulatives, which, in turn, could lead to further poor math performance. The purpose of this qualitative bounded collective case study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of PD and perceived …

Understanding The Relationships Among Students' Goal Orientations, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, And Accelerated Academic Success In The Redesign Of Developmental Mathematics, Kelly Ann Hogan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The low success rates of increasing numbers of underprepared students taking developmental mathematics classes 'often minority and economically disadvantaged' are challenging community colleges across the United States. These students, who must start in the lowest levels of precollege mathematics courses, are unlikely to pass the first course and earn a credential. Using a mastery goal orientation theoretical framework, a quantitative, survey research design was used to ascertain any correlations between students' goal orientations, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and success in a new model of learning. Survey data were used to answer 3 research questions: (a) the relationship between success and students' …

The Integration Of Kinesthetic Learning Through The Math & Movement Program: Pilot Study 2015, Benjamin Ferder

Master's Theses

Purpose: The primary purpose of this pilot study was to verify that the use of kinesthetic learning (Math & Movement Program) in the classroom increases retention of multiplication facts at a greater rate than traditional drill and practice. The Math & Movement Program uses a kinesthetic learning-based approach for practicing, learning, and memorizing mathematics through the incorporation of bodily movement(s). Participants: The directors of the research project for the participating school district selected the sample of convenience. The population size of this study included 213 third and fourth grade students during the second half of the 2011-2012 school years. Data …

Fostoria Intermediate Elementary School Family Math Night, Chelsea Nye

Honors Projects

This is a Family Math Night that was planned and held at Fostoria Intermediate Elementary School in Fostoria, Ohio. It includes the Research Questions, Literature Review, Proposed Activity, Methodology, and Expected Results as well as the Annotated Bibliography and Timeline for Completion from my research and planning. Following the Proposal are 20 mathematical activity or game lesson plans and direction sheets that were planned for the Family Math Night. There are 5 different mathematical activities or games for each grade level 3-6, each meeting a different domain in the Common Core State Standards. At the end there is two general …

A Comparison Of Mathematics Content In The 2002 And 2014 Ged Test, Genice Cox

All Capstone Projects

As society changes and competition grows, the skilled worker becomes hard to find. For these reasons, secondary education is the starting point for pursuing college, a trade, and a career. For more than 60 years individuals have been given a second chance to complete their high school education by taking the General Education Development (GED) exam. This exam has been updated to correspond to changes in society and the workforce. As of 2014, the GED test was changed dramatically. This research project traced from past to present the intent of the assessment, teaching methods, curriculum, statistics, and overall preparation of …

A Correlation Of Community College Math Readiness And Student Success, Jayna Nicole Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although traditional college students are more prepared for college-level math based on college admissions tests, little data have been collected on nontraditional adult learners. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between math placement tests and community college students' success in math courses and persistence to degree or certificate completion. Guided by Tinto's theory of departure and student retention, the research questions addressed relationships and predictability of math Computer-adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System (COMPASS) test scores and students' performance in math courses, persistence in college, and degree completion. After conducting correlation and regression analyses, no significant relationships …

Effects Of Single-Gender And Coeducational Learning Environments On Middle School Mathematics Achievement, Tasha Graves Henderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a result of the increased number of schools failing to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP), school districts are searching for innovative ways to raise student achievement and meet the rigorous performance standards set by state governments. Using the theoretical framework provided by brain research and the theory of multiple intelligences, the purpose of this quantitative study was to compare 2 middle school classroom structures for differences in mathematics achievement among students. The study examined whether a significant difference existed in mathematics achievement scores on the state-mandated mathematics test for 2 groups (single gender classes versus coeducational classes) in 6 …

Challenges In Assessing College Students' Conception Of Duality: The Case Of Infinity, Grace Olutayo Babarinsa-Ochiedike

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Interpreting students' views of infinity posits a challenge for researchers due to the dynamic nature of the conception. There is diversity and variation among students' process-object perceptions. The fluctuations between studentsâ?? views however reveal an undeveloped duality conception. This study examined college students' conception of duality in understanding and representing infinity with the intent to design strategies that could guide researchers in categorizing students' views of infinity into different levels.

Data for the study were collected from N=238 college students enrolled in Calculus sequence courses (Pre-Calculus, Calculus I through Calculus III) at one of the southwestern universities in the U.S. …