0

Eric.ed.gov – Finding “Mathematics”: Parents Questioning School-Centered Approaches to Involvement in Children’s Mathematics Learning

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper reports on a study of parental involvement in children’s mathematics learning in the context of a series of workshops carried out in four primary schools in the United Kingdom. Previous research suggests that, while there are high correlations between parental involvement and positive student outcomes, it can be difficult to raise student achievement via parental involvement interventions. We suggest that part of the reason for this, at least in relation to mathematics, is that parents experience considerable difficulties in negotiating school-centered definitions of and approaches to mathematics. We employed a design and analytic approach informed by Derridean concepts including decentering and différance. We encouraged parents to work with their children to “find the math” in everyday life and activity. A significant component of the discussion… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Philosophy for Children: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Philosophy for Children (P4C) is an approach to teaching in which students participate in group dialogues focused on philosophical issues. Dialogues are prompted by a stimulus (for example, a story or a video) and are based around a concept such as ‘truth,’ ‘fairness’ or ‘bullying.’ The aim of P4C is to help children become more willing and able to ask questions, construct arguments, and engage in reasoned discussion. The primary goal of this evaluation was to assess whether a year of P4C instruction for pupils in Years 4 and 5 would lead to higher academic attainment in terms of maths, reading, and writing. The project also assessed whether P4C instruction had an impact on Cognitive Abilities Test results. The evaluation ran from January to December 2013. Teachers… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Why University Teacher Preparation Programs Should Provide a New Set of Personal Constructions of Mathematics through Math Content Courses for Elementary Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher preparation programs are in danger of seriously under-preparing elementary teachers to teach mathematics for understanding if they wait to provide students with evidence of effective mathematics teaching methods in the mathematics methods courses. With strong traditional beliefs about how mathematics ought to be taught and their determination to be able to explain mathematics to elementary children, the methods course is much too late to change preservice teachers’ perceptions of mathematics or how to teach it. If we want to change the way they teach mathematics, we must do it in their mathematics content courses. In the content courses, we have a chance to provide them with positive and successful personal mathematics constructions. Only when they learn to become active problem-solvers, can they teach others the importance… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Provoking Mathematical Thinking: Experiences of Doing Realistic Mathematics Tasks with Adult Numeracy Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This action research project looks at what happened when a small group of adult numeracy teachers with widely different experiences of learning and teaching mathematics explored their own informal numeracy practices and undertook a series of collaborative mathematical tasks. Evidence from qualitative data collected during the enquiry suggests that “realistic” tasks can provoke a range of mathematical thinking and learning responses which allow us to identify ways in which “procedural” and “conceptual” thinking is being used, and to track learning journeys through different stages of problem-solving. Although more experienced numeracy teachers could move between and within their “real worlds” and “maths worlds” with intent and ease, others had less integrated experiences, often valuing perceived mathematical powers over their own intuitive powers, with mixed success. Link til kilde

0

Eric.ed.gov – Teacher Candidate’s Construction Knowledge about Function and Student’s Difficulties

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The quality of mathematics assignments from teachers to students is one important element that determines whether learning is effective or not. To make quality math assignments requires knowledge from the teacher about content and students, who are subdomains of mathematical knowledge to teach. This knowledge needs to be developed in prospective mathematics teachers since programmed teacher education. By focusing on one of the basic concepts in mathematics, namely the concept of function, research was conducted on 25 mathematics teacher candidates. Through interactions that occur in modified focus group discussions, we want to find out how prospective teachers construct knowledge about the concept of functions and difficulties of students. The results showed that in constructing the concept of functions and difficulties of students, teacher candidates worked backward, there… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Motivating Factors of Online Class Discussions

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: One of the goals of teacher education is to prepare our citizens to communicate in a variety of ways. In our present society, communication using digital media has become essential. Although online discussions are a common component of many online courses, engaging students in online discussions has been a challenge. This study queried 86 educators in a math/science teacher education graduate program to examine their perceptions on the factors that motivate them to participate in online discussions. The results revealed a pragmatic outlook on online education. In terms of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, the participants’ main motivation to participate in online class discussions was extrinsic (85.88%), specifically so that they could earn an acceptable participation grade. With regards to discussion grouping formats, they preferred small group discussions… Continue Reading