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Eric.ed.gov – Increasing Science Literacy in Early Childhood: The Connection between Home and School

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Turning everyday activities such as baking into scientific activities is more than just fun: it is important for our children’s futures. Science investigations provide an opportunity for children to learn about scientific concepts and listen to their peers, family, and community members, and to respond to their questions or ideas. It also provides them with an opportunity to ask and answer their own questions, build persistence, and improve their problem-solving and self-regulation skills, which are essential for academic success. As the world becomes increasingly science- and technology-oriented, all children need to become proficient in science, whatever their chosen field. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education has become a national priority, and even early childhood teachers are expected to increase the quantity and quality of the science… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – What Parents Want: Education Preferences and Trade-Offs. A National Survey of K-12 Parents

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This groundbreaking study finds that nearly all parents seek schools with a solid core curriculum in reading and math, an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and the development in students of good study habits, strong critical thinking skills, and excellent verbal and written communication skills. But some parents also prefer specializations and emphases that are only possible in a system of school choice. “Pragmatists” (36 percent of K-12 parents) assign high value to schools that, “offer vocational classes or job-related programs.” Compared to the total parent population, Pragmatists have lower household incomes, are less likely themselves to have graduated from college, and are more likely to be parents of boys. “Jeffersonians” (24 percent) prefer a school that “emphasizes instruction in citizenship, democracy, and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Reaching Math Potential.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report contains a summary of findings from a study conducted in California and Nevada to investigate attitudes towards mathematics and extent of parental influence on three groups of high school students–high math-achieving males (N=59), high math-achieving feamles (N=44), and high verbal/low math females (N=27). Differences between Asian American students and parents and non-Asian students and parents were also examined. The report includes data on student math/science achievement, math study habits, educational and career plans, perceived aptitudes and abilities, extent and nature of parental influence, math-related attitudes, and demographic data on parents. Conclusions point up the similarities and differences between high-math females and each of the other two student groups. Among the findings were: (1) parents’ efforts can make a substantial difference in encouraging young women in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Science at Home: Parents’ Need for Support to Implement Video-Based Online Science Club with Young Children

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Homes have remarkable possibilities to act as science learning environments for young children (3 – 6 years old). This qualitative case study investigated what kind of support parents need to do online science activities with their children at home. Data consisted of parent’s theme interviews (n=7). As a main result, a model of parents’ need for support was produced. The model contains three dimensions: 1) the affective dimension, 2) the knowledge and skills dimension and 3) the organizational dimension. Parents’ own affective experiences, organization of the experiments and finding time to do experiments are important factors to consider, when looking at parents’ willingness to engage in science activities with their children. The parents might not necessarily be content with only the child’s interest in experimenting as a… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teaching Learning Practices in Schools under Shiksha Vikash Samiti, Odisha: Perception of Major Stakeholders

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study has aimed to seek the perception of stakeholders (HMs, Teachers, and Parents) on quality of education in schools under Shiksha Vikash Samiti, Odisha with reference to the teaching learning practices. The Convergent-Parallel Design under Mixed Research Method has been followed for carrying out the study. The study is delimited to coastal Odisha, so the population of the study comprised all the stakeholders of such schools such as: HMs, Teachers, and Parents and Community Members. Tools used for data collection are interview schedule for Head Master/ Pradhan Acharyas; Questionnaire for teachers; and interview schedule for parents-cum-community members. The findings are: HMs reported globes, maps; charts, science kit, math kit, computers were used frequently in classroom teaching process. Majority of teachers (>60%) reported the same. Majority of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Investigation of Parents’ Expectations from Mathematics Education in Turkey

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this study, the expectations of middle school students’ parents regarding to “conceptual understanding and active student participation” “positive attitude and behavior attitude” and “authority and rule-oriented teaching” were examined. A valid and reliable threefactor instrument developed by the Aytekin, Baltaci, Altunkaya, Kiymaz and Yildiz (2016) was used in collecting parents’ expectations. 749 parents participated in the study. It was found that the variables of parental gender, parental age range, and monthly income of the parents, level of loving mathematics and level of helping the child have no significant effect on the expectations. The university graduates had less authority and rule-oriented teaching expectation than the remaining parents. Besides, it is seen that the 5th grade parents had higher expectations of conceptual understanding and active participation and positive… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Important, but Not for Me: Parents and Students in Kansas and Missouri Talk about Math, Science and Technology Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study details parents’ and students’ current thinking about math, science and technology (MST) education and their satisfaction with the existing curriculum which most experts see as vastly below world-class standards. The study finds just 25% of Kansas/Missouri parents think their children should be studying more math and science; 70% think things “are fine as they are now.” The report also explains why parents and students are so complacent in this area and what kinds of changes might be helpful in building more interest in and support for more rigorous MST courses. The findings are based on a random survey of 1,472 parents and 1,295 middle and high school students in Kansas and Missouri, probing their attitudes on math, science, and to a lesser extent, technology education.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Performance and Preparation: Alignment between Student Achievement, Teacher Ratings, and Parent Perceptions in Urban Middle-Grades Mathematics Classrooms

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The middle grades are a critical transition period in students’ mathematics trajectories, as students move from arithmetic to the more complex and abstract concepts of algebra. Teachers’ and parents’ judgments of students’ math abilities in these years are important to instructional planning and decision making for teachers, and can advise parents and students on future course placement. This study specifically examined teacher and parent judgments of students’ performance and preparedness for the next grade level in 5th and 6th grades mathematics. Results demonstrate that teacher and parent perceptions of students’ abilities are not calibrated to national norms, but to local contexts. Our findings are similar to other work suggesting that high poverty school contexts may provide teachers and parents a false comparative context for judging how well… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Evaluation of “Maths by Email.” Final Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Maths by Email” (MbE) is a free fortnightly email newsletter produced through a partnership between CSIRO Education and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI), with funding from the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). The principal aim of MbE has been “to communicate that mathematics is making a valuable contribution to the community, is relevant, beautiful, interesting and enjoyable and provides many employment opportunities.” This evaluation study was commissioned by CSIRO Education to provide independent feedback to the editors and publisher of the “Maths by Email” (MbE) initiative to potentially improve the service and to inform decision making regarding future plans for the service. In detail, the study was concerned with (i) who is using MbE and how it is being used; (ii)… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math out of School: Families’ Math Game Playing at Home

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study investigated the potential of an approach to involving families in regular integration of math into home life, addressing the following: When families are given math-related games unconnected with children’s school, does what parents believe impact the extent to which their families play the games, and how do parents describe their family’s learning with the games? We distributed games integrating math and U.S. geography to 30 parents with children aged 7 to 13. Over four months, we followed the extent and nature of families’ playing of the games. Families with children under 10 were more likely to continue playing over time; parent education and occupation did not relate to extent of play. Parents described a rich, shared educational experience that they and their children shaped to… Continue Reading