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Eric.ed.gov – Mathematics Teaching for the Future

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The universities and faculties which educate teachers of mathematics for teaching pupils/students of any age group from pre-school age to higher education carefully monitor and compare valuable results of this research, detect the areas in which the mathematical achievements of pupils should be improved at the national level and propose the ways to improve the quality of education and achieve better learning outcomes. We deem particularly valuable contributions of the researchers regarding the samples of poorer mathematical achievements at the “local level” in neighbouring countries, as well as the presentation of examples of good practice by means of which we pave the path towards better achievements of pupils and, consequently, the improvement in the quality of teaching mathematics at the “local,” as well as the global level.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instructional Interactions of Kindergarten Mathematics Classrooms: Validating a Direct Observation Instrument

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this paper, the authors report research focused directly on the validation of the Coding of Academic Teacher-Student interactions (CATS) direct observation instrument. They use classroom information gathered by the CATS instrument to better understand the potential mediating variables hypothesized to influence student achievement. Their study’s purpose is to gather the kinds of validity evidences that match the proposed interpretations and uses of the CATS instrument (Kane, 2008; Messick, 1995). Therefore, they first explore the content aspect of construct validity by collecting information about the content relevance and representativeness of the observation instrument (Messick, 1995). Second, concerned about the consistency of the observation data collected across a number of independent observers, they measure inter-observer agreement. Finally, they focus on the criterion-predictive aspect of construct validity and investigate… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Learner-Centered Professional Development Environments in Mathematics: The InterMath Experience.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this paper is to examine two InterMath pilot workshops and how they were able to meet the goals of learner-centered professional development. The paper focuses on the experiences of the learners, offers insights from each case as well as across cases, and provides suggestions to improve the experience for later learners. The data reported in this paper came only from the workshops and interviews with the teachers and the instructors. Several findings emerged that spanned across both cases. Support and interaction became very intertwined in the cross-case analysis. Another support/interaction issue that appeared was the overwhelming number of procedural questions that were asked by the participants. Finally, while the researchers provided every opportunity for collaborative learning, few teachers chose to engage in it. There… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Impacts of a Discussion-Based Academic Language Program on Classroom Interactions in 4th through 7th Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper presents an exploratory analysis of treatment-control differences in the quality of classroom interactions in 4th through 7th grade urban classrooms. Word Generation (WG) is a research-based academic language program for middle school students designed to teach novel vocabulary and literacy through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. Previous research found significant positive effects of WG on classroom discussion quality, and this study extends that work by examining whether specific classroom interactions that are integral to the WG program, such as those promoting analysis and inquiry or engaging adolescent perspectives, are higher quality in WG classrooms as compared to control classrooms. As part of the Institute of Education Sciences funded project “Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate” (CCDD), the data for this study were… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Social Skills and Problem Behaviors as Mediators of the Relationship between Behavioral Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Early behavioral self-regulation is an important predictor of the skills children need to be successful in school. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which self-regulation affects academic achievement. The current study investigates the possibility that two aspects of children’s social func- tioning, social skills and problem behaviors, mediate the relationship between preschool self-regulation and literacy and math achievement. Additionally, we investigated whether the meditational processes differed for boys and girls. We expected that better self-regulation would help children to interact well with others (social skills) and minimize impulsive or aggressive (problem) behaviors. Positive interac- tions with others and few problem behaviors were expected to relate to gains in achievement as learning takes place within a social context. Preschool-aged children (n = 118) were tested with… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instructional Scaffolds in Mathematics Instruction for English Learners with Learning Disabilities: An Exploratory Case Study

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As today’s classrooms become more and more diverse, there is a growing need to explore the intersection between English Learners (ELs) and students with learning disabilities (LD) in the content-specific instruction of mathematics problem solving. The aim of this study was to determine which types of instructional scaffolds may be used by math teachers to effectively support ELs with LD learning multiplicative reasoning. To this end, we employed an exploratory case study based on a frequency count analysis of four scaffold types used by the students and the teacher in their sessions. The results showed that kinesthetic and linguistic scaffolds were the most beneficial for helping ELs with LD to cultivate mathematical thinking with both concrete and abstract units, while also helping to increase the sophistication of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Secondary Computer Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Needs

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study is to identify secondary computer science (CS) teachers’ pedagogical needs in the United States. Participants were selected from secondary teachers who were teaching CS courses or content in a school setting (public, private, or charter) or an after-school program during the time of data collection. This is a qualitative study using CS teachers’ discussions in the Computer Science Teachers Association’s (CSTA) email listserv, responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire, and discussions in follow-up interviews. Content analysis, thematic analysis and constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis were used to analyze the data. The most common pedagogical need expressed was learning student-centered strategies for teaching CS and guiding students’ understanding with the use of scaffolding and team-management strategies in CS classes. Furthermore,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Co-Constructing “Quiet” through Peer Interactions: Understanding “Quiet” Participation in a Small-Group Math Task

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: To disrupt patterns of marginalization that play out through interactions in math classrooms, teachers need to identify and address inequities in student participation, both in terms of participation outcomes and processes. In this study, I take an expansive view of participation and examine how the “quiet” participation of one 9th grade student is co-constructed through small-group interactions during an Algebra task. Analysis reveals three features of the group’s interactions that fostered the co-construction of Becca’s “quiet” participation: 1. Becca was positioned as a non-contributing silent beneficiary of learning, 2. Becca’s contributions received less support than her peers’, 3. Disagreement with Becca was softer than with John. Findings suggest that the perceived issue of low verbal production did not reside within Becca, but rather was the result of… Continue Reading