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Eric.ed.gov – Who Counts in Adult Literacy Programs? A National Survey of Numeracy Education. NCAL Brief.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A national survey examined the following: the extent of math-related activities in adult literacy programs, staff training in math, assessment frameworks being used, and the use of computers for teaching math. Of the 605 programs that received the questionnaire, 350 (57.9%) completed questionnaires. The 350 programs served more than 750,000 adult students in 1992-1993. Among the key findings of the study were the following: (1) although more than 80% of adult literacy students receive math-related instruction, less than 5% of their teachers are certified to teach math; (2) the math skills of adult literacy students are usually assessed by standardized tests that do not adequately cover many of the math skills required in new curricular frameworks or high-performance workplaces; and (3) although more than 75% of adult… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Geometry in the Adult Education Classroom.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: For many adults, geometry is a mathematics topic that immediately makes sense to them and gives them confidence in their ability to learn, while other adult learners identify geometry with failure. Most adults, however, do recognize the need for measurement, and many have a basic understanding of measurement concepts, although they may need to learn English measurements if they already know metric measurement. Implications for teaching and learning are the following: (1) teachers must use exact and estimated measurements to describe and compare phenomena to increase the understanding of the structure, concepts, and process of measurement; (2) teachers must address the impact of measurement skills on self-efficacy and self-reliance; (3) measurement skills should be extended to concept areas such as volume, proportion, and problem solving; (4) teachers… 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 – Threshold Concepts: From Personal Practice to Communities of Practice. Proceedings of the National Academy’s Sixth Annual Conference and the Fourth Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference [E-publication] (Dublin, Ireland, June 27-29, 2012)

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 6th Annual Conference of the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) and the 4th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference was held at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, on June 27-29, 2012. The NAIRTL is a collaborative initiative between University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin, and Waterford Institute of Technology. It is supported by the Higher Education Authority under the Strategic Innovation Fund. The proceedings from the 2012 NAIRTL conference bring together “key insights” on the topic of Threshold Concepts. This publication includes a selection of papers from the conference. The papers provide insights into how to apply the Threshold Concepts idea to gain a deeper understanding of how students learn, and also how to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – SHINE in Secondaries: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This is a report of a pilot programme of the SHINE in Secondaries Saturday school transition intervention. The programme aims to improve attainment by focusing on literacy and numeracy and revisiting areas where pupils are struggling through a creative curriculum approach and enrichment opportunities. The Saturday programme is run by teachers from the school for 25 weeks throughout Year 7. Schools are responsible for developing their own curriculum of activities to suit the abilities and needs of their pupils following guiding principles specified by SHINE. The programme is designed to run for approximately 60 pupils staffed by four qualified teachers, three teaching assistants and three peer mentors all recruited and employed by the host secondary school. This evaluation was set up as a pilot study with four… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Car Costs. Six Units of Maths around the Theme of Car Ownership.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This curriculum material is designed to be used effectively in any adult literacy and basic education program to develop numeracy skills in learners with an interest in cars. This flexible course consists of six units. It can be taught as a short course, units can be taught individually, and units can be taught in any sequence. Each unit is divided into two sessions, each taking approximately 2 hours. Each unit includes an overview of the unit and the sessions, a list of the materials required for each session, activities, and handouts. Activities contain two different types of information: notes for the teacher and suggestions of what the teacher could say to the learner. At the end of each session, learners are asked to spend a few minutes… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Focus on Basics: Connecting Research & Practice. Volume 9, Issue A

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Focus on Basics” is a publication of the US Division of World Education, Inc. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. “Focus on Basics” is dedicated to connecting research with practice, to connecting teachers with research and researchers with the reality of the classroom, and by doing so, making adult basic education research more relevant to the field. The theme of this issue of “Focus on Basics” is “Numeracy.” Articles in this issue include: (1) Using Part-Whole Thinking in Math (Dorothea Steinke); (2) Numeracy Matters (Myrna Manly); (3) Designing Instruction with the Components of Numeracy in Mind (Lynda Ginsburg); (4) Changing Practice, Expanding Minds (Kate Nonesuch); (5) A… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Case Study: Teaching Engineering Concepts in Science

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study was conducted to describe a high school engineering curriculum, identify teaching strategies used to increase math and science literacy, and discover challenges and constraints that occur during its development and delivery, as well as what strategies are used to overcome these obstacles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the engineering instructor. In addition, students were observed and curriculum documents, teacher lesson plans, and teacher resources were examined. Concepts created the platform for delivery, curricular trial and error was at work, science and engineering competitions were leveraged as a basis for learning activities, and project based learning and teaching was critical. There was a clear emphasis on creative thought and work. Assessment of student learning was dubious and elusive and stakeholders tended to be uneasy with this… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Pre-K Outcomes and Classroom Quality in Georgia’s Pre-K Program: Findings from the 2013-2014 Evaluation Study

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of the 2013-2014 Georgia’s Pre-K Program Evaluation was to examine the learning outcomes for children and the quality of their classrooms during Pre-K, as the baseline year of the Pre-K through third-grade longitudinal study. The primary evaluation questions addressed included: (1) What are the learning outcomes for children attending Georgia’s Pre-K Program?; (2) What factors predict better learning outcomes for children?; and (3) What is the quality of children’s experiences in Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms? To address these questions, the evaluation study included a random sample of 199 Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms and a sample of 1,169 children attending these classrooms. Researchers conducted individual child assessments near the beginning and end of the Pre-K year to examine growth in children’s skills. The assessment measures covered multiple domains… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – What Can Other Areas Teach Us about Numeracy?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Education professionals, regardless of their specialist area, are broadly aware of the importance of numeracy. Internationally, definitions of numeracy (known elsewhere as mathematical literacy or quantitative reasoning), describe “an individual’s capacity to formulate, employ and interpret mathematics in a variety of contexts… reasoning mathematically and using mathematical concepts, procedures, facts, and tools to describe, explain and predict phenomena… recognising the role that mathematics plays in the world and to make the well-founded judgements and decisions needed by constructive, engaged and reflective citizens.” (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2014, p. 37), or more locally, numeracy is “the knowledge and skills to use mathematics confidently across all learning areas at school and in their lives more broadly… It involves students recognising and understanding the role of mathematics in… Continue Reading