eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year’s curriculum. Both tools target the “instructional core.” A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found evidence of initial success in tool use indicated by teachers’ perceptions that the tools positively influenced teacher practice. In the second year of the Initiative (2011-12), tool use grew within and across sites. The focus of the research has expanded accordingly to include an analysis of how the tools are being introduced to additional classrooms, schools and districts, and what strategies are most effective in sustaining and strengthening tool use. This brief focuses on efforts to scale up and sustain broader… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Two limited studies are reported: (1) a pilot test of sex differences in high school math preparation, and (2) a pilot study of attitudes toward mathematics. The first was a random sample of 81 college applicants (42 boys, 39 girls) which showed that 57 percent of the boys took four years of high school mathematics compared to 8 percent of the girls. The second study summarizes responses on a questionnaire distributed to 38 upper division social science students. Results showed a statistically significant relationship between social support from teachers, parents, and peers and the pursuit of advanced mathematics courses in high school, and between social support and performance. Responses to the survey question of factors influencing student interest and aptitude for mathematics are included. (DT) Link til… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Scaling Effective Programs is a category of giving that is quite unique. Philanthropists have many different interests that guide their giving, but Scaling Effective Programs offers an approach that can produce lasting transformation. This guide speaks to funders who: (1) view their giving as venture capital that stimulates other giving; (2) want to support a program for a limited time, rather than an open-ended commitment; and (3) want their giving to have significant and lasting effects that can be measured. Scaling Effective Programs is based on the principle that a limited period of investment giving can be structured successfully to create the greatest chance of having programs spread to more locations and be sustained long after the initial investment. This approach allows funders to move on to… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This survey of 316 Precalculus, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC students from markedly different socioeconomic levels in four district high schools in San Antonio, Texas, looked at factors that have traditionally caused women to avoid mathematics, and attempted to discover which of them continue to influence women’s decisions to reject the discipline. The questionnaire contained 25 questions based on assumptions drawn from literature on the subject. Reported and discussed are all differences in gender opinion above 9 percentage points, even though a difference of 11.4 percentage points would begin to indicate a statistically significant result. Findings where such differences occur showed that: (1) mathematics enrollment favored men, especially in BC Calculus; (2) female respondents more frequently perceived no bias in teacher expectations; (3) female students less frequently… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study is to compare the results achieved when a computer-managed learning program is used in high school mathematics classes with the results achieved when traditional teaching strategies are utilized. The control groups for Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, and Geometry received traditional classroom instruction. The intervention groups received individualized instruction as their progress through the predetermined objectives were assessed and managed using a computer software package. Following the pre-tests, 3 and a half months of treatment and post-tests, major differences were found. The intervention group showed significantly larger gains in achievement than the control group. Changes in student attitudes were also observed. Computer-managed learning systems appeared to be an effective method for teaching mathematics to high school students. Appended are: Student Surveys; Parent Surveys; Accelerated… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Females’ underperformance in mathematics is discussed as a function of negative expectancies by parents, teachers, and peers. These negative expectancies of significant others lead to negative self-expectancies and negative attitudes about mathematics on the part of female students. These negative expectancies and attitudes lead to lower performance, reinforcing parents’ and teachers’ negative expectancies. Thus a cycle of low expectancies leading to low performance leading to even lower expectancies is perpetuated. Some reasons this cycle persists are: (1) girls, more than boys, tend to believe that mathematical ability is something individuals either have or do not have; (2) girls are more math anxious than boys; (3) girls may believe that “girls just cannot do math”; (4) girls’ belief that their ability is so low that no amount of… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report examines issues in the low achievement of American students in mathematics, with emphasis on the low representation of minority students in this field. American myths about mathematics which emphasize the importance of innate ability rather than hard work are seen as reinforcing racial and gender stereotypes about who can do mathematics. Examples of prominent mathematicians and physicists whose lives counter these myths are offered. Comparisons are made showing that American students at all levels lag behind their foreign counterparts in mathematics achievement. Details of these comparisons and how they have influenced reform efforts in mathematics education are considered. Specific barriers to mathematics achievement experienced by minority students are identified and statistics showing minority underrepresentation in this field are detailed. The Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Mathematics Achievement… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This digest addresses the issue of sex differences in mathematics achievement in K-12 students. The problem is discussed in three sections. The first section examines the progress that has been made in narrowing the gap between girls’ and boys’ achievement in mathematics and the numbers of women and men who enter mathematics-related careers. Issues addressed include the failure of research to find any inherent differences in girls’ and boys’ abilities in mathematics, the underrepresentation of women in mathematics-related fields, strategies to motivate girls to take more mathematics courses, and strategies to encourage girls to consider mathematical and scientific careers. The second section offers innovative approaches in mathematics education funded by the Women’s Educational Equity Act (WEEA) Project. A list of the products mentioned in the article is… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Undergraduate preservice teachers face many challenges implementing inquiry pedagogy in mathematics lessons. This study provides a step-by-step case analysis of an undergraduate preservice teacher’s actions and responses while teaching an inquiry lesson during a summer math camp for grade 3-6 students conducted at a university. Stumbling blocks that hindered achievement of the overall goals of the inquiry lesson emerged when the preservice teacher asked open-ended questions and learners gave diverse, unexpected responses. Because no prior thought was given to possible student answers, the preservice teacher was not equipped to give pedagogically meaningful responses to her students. Often, the preservice teacher simply ignored the unanticipated responses, impeding the students’ meaning-making attempts. Based on emergent stumbling blocks observed, this study recommends that teacher educators focus novice teacher preparation in… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this research was to understand fifth grade children’s cognitive behavior as they wrote, solved and then, in small groups, shared original math story problems. Research questions examined children’s: (1) beliefs about math in this problem-writing classroom, (2) math story problem-writing behavior, (3) difficulties with their self-generated problems, and (4) small-group problem solving behavior. Case studies were conducted in the context of a teaching experiment in one fifth grade classroom. Children were engaged to write, solve and then share math story problems three or four days a week during this one year study. There were three overlapping groups of participant children. Eight children were observed as they wrote and solved math story problems. Seventeen children, including the eight previously observed, were observed via audio-recordings as… Continue Reading →
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