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Eric.ed.gov – Locating Differential Effectiveness of a STEM Initiative through Exploration of Moderators

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In randomized control trials, such as the one the authors conducted in Alabama, moderators are potentially an important source of variation in treatment effects. Whether moderators used in the RCT’s analysis are pre-existing characteristics of students, their teachers, or the school or other organizational context, they can point toward differences in the way the program (treatment) is implemented, the way teachers interact with different kinds of students when implementing the program, or how effects are operating at levels in the organization above the level where the differences were measured. The authors appreciate Cronbach’s (1975) metaphor of the “hall of mirrors” to point to the endless possibilities for higher-order interactions complicating the explanation of what was found. But the goal of this paper is to illustrate a disciplined… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Mathematics: Essential Research, Essential Practice. Volumes 1 and 2. Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This is a record of the proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). The theme of the conference is “Mathematics: Essential research, essential practice.” The theme draws attention to the importance of developing and maintaining links between research and practice and ties in with the joint day of presentations with the 21st biennial conference of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). This special feature highlights the benefits of collaboration between researchers, practicing classroom teachers, and curriculum developers. Volume 1 contains the following papers: (1) The Beginnings of MERGA (Ken Clements); (2) Teaching and Learning by Example: The Annual Clements/Foyster Lecture (Helen L. Chick); (3) Introducing Students to Data Representation and Statistics (Richard Lehrer); (4) Studies in the Zone… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Final Case Study of SCALE Activities at California State University, Northridge: How Institutional Context Influenced a K-20 STEM Education Change Initiative. WCER Working Paper No. 2009-5

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that incorporate technical, social, cultural, and cognitive elements. Guiding questions include (a) how the institutional context influenced the project, (b) whether project activities affected science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction, interdisciplinary collaboration on preservice programs, and inter-institutional collaboration on in-service programs, and (c) if and how change initiatives are accepted and incorporated. In-depth interviews (N = 34), relevant documents, and observation data were collected in 2006 and 2007. Findings identified several factors that supported and several that inhibited achievement… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Predicting High School Students’ Interest in Majoring in a STEM Field: Insight into High School Students’ Postsecondary Plans

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study examined how various individual, family, and school level contextual factors impact the likelihood of planning to major in one of the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields for high school students. A binary logistic regression model was developed to determine the extent to which each of the covariates helped to predict such academic interest. High school course taking in science and performance on science and math standardized tests were significantly and positively related to an increased interest in STEM. College aspirations were significant, and those with loftier educational goals were generally more likely to plan to major in a STEM field. Other individual-level factors also played a significant role, as male high school students were significantly more likely to have an early interest in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Preparing Elementary Teachers to Teach Mathematics: How Field Experiences Impact Pedagogical Content Knowledge

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Student achievement and attitudes toward mathematics are influenced by the teacher, emphasizing the importance of quality teacher preparation. This study explored different preparations and the impact on pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. The sample included 96 pre-service teachers enrolled in a math course at one Midwestern university. Results suggest that field experience combined with other aspects of mathematical teacher preparation impact pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for mathematics. (Contains 7 tables.) Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Engaging District and School Leaders in Continuous Improvement: Lessons from the 2nd Year of Implementing the CORE Improvement Community

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: California’s shift towards continuous improvement in education makes understanding how districts and schools can learn to improve a more pressing question than ever. The CORE Improvement Community (CIC), a network of California school districts engaged in learning about improvement together, is an important testing ground to learn about what this work entails. This report continues drawing lessons from the CIC’s second year as its districts work together towards a common aim: to improve the mathematics achievement of African American and Latinx students in Grades 4-8. The CIC applies a specific continuous improvement approach, called improvement science, to support teams in reaching the aim. Improvement science, unlike many approaches to reform, is not a specific “program” designed to fix educators’ performance in a particular aspect of their work… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Developing the Girl as a Leader

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Single-sex educational environments can create young women who are engaged, active leaders. Girls receive differential treatment in combined-sex education environments. Girls often do not receive the encouragement or instruction to assume leadership. I want to identify the elements of single-sex education that foster female leadership and consider their application in the public education system. The literature in the field clearly indicates that girls and boys develop differently, learn differently, and therefore have unique needs in education. While girls in education have made great strides in the last forty years, a gender gap still exists in education. Girls’ test scores have improved drastically in the areas of math and science since the 1980s, but girls enrollment in math and science courses are still not equal to that of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math In-Service Training for Adult Educators.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In a series of mathematics education workshops in which teachers from adult basic education and vocational education worked together to design teaching situations on particular contents in mathematics in order to make explicit and bring into reflection the teaching strategies used by each group. The workshops constituted a common space of interaction for jointly designing teaching situations and creating common discourses that narrowed the distance between normative curriculum and actual teaching or real curriculum. In order for adult educators to teach effectively they must fulfill the following conditions: (1) they must provide a context for the teaching; (2) the knowledge taught must constitute a solution adapted to the problem; (3) there must be didactic variables that lead to the development of logic in a fruitful way; and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instruction Quality or Working Condition? The Effects of Part-Time Faculty on Student Academic Outcomes in Community College Introductory Courses

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: More than half of community college courses are taught by part-time faculty. Drawing on data from six community colleges, this study estimates the effects of part-time faculty versus full-time faculty on students’ current and subsequent course outcomes in developmental and gateway courses, using course fixed effects and propensity score matching to minimize bias arising from student self-sorting across and within courses. We find that part-time faculty have negative effects on student subsequent enrollments. These negative effects are driven by results in math courses. We also find that course schedules could explain substantial proportions of the estimated negative effects, while faculty individual characteristics could not. Survey results on faculty professional experiences suggest that part-time faculty had less institutional knowledge regarding both academic and nonacademic services. We infer that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Proceedings of the Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) (15th, Assisi, Italy, June 29-July 4, 1991), Volume 2.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research reports from the annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education include: “A Comparison of Children’s Learning in Two Interactive Computer Environments” (Edwards); “On Building a Self-Confidence in Mathematics” (Eisenberg); “Classroom Discourse and Mathematics Learning” (Ellerton); “Constructivism, the Psychology of Learning, and the Nature of Mathematics” (Ernest); “Cognition, Affect, Context in Numerical Activity among Adults” (Evans); “Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge: The Case of Functions” (Even; Markovits); “Cognitive Tendencies and Abstraction Processes in Algebra Learning” (Filloy-Yague); “On Some Obstacles in Understanding Mathematical Texts” (Furinghetti; Paola); “Toward a Conceptual-Representational Analysis of the Exponential Function” (Goldin; Herscovics); “Duality, Ambiguity and Flexibility in Successful Mathematical Thinking” (Gray; Tall); “Children’s Word Problems Matching Multiplication and Division Calculations” (Greer; Mc Cann); “Children’s Verbal Communication in Problem Solving Activities” (Grevsmuhl);… Continue Reading