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Eric.ed.gov – Variation in Content Coverage by Classroom Composition: An Analysis of Advanced Math Course Content

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Everyone knows that there is racial inequality in achievement returns from advanced math; however, they do not know why black students and white students taking the same level of math courses are not leaving with the same or comparable skill levels. To find out, the author examines variation in course coverage by the racial composition of the classroom. She hypothesizes that content coverage varies by classroom composition, because teachers respond to the needs and abilities of their students and make adjustments to teaching. More specifically, she asks: (1) Within advanced math courses with the same title, to what extent does content coverage breadth vary by classroom minority composition; (2) Within advanced math courses with the same title, to what extent does content coverage depth vary by classroom… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Strategies for Reducing Math Anxiety. Information Capsule. Volume 1102

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Approximately 93 percent of Americans indicate that they experience some level of math anxiety. Math anxiety is defined as negative emotions that interfere with the solving of mathematical problems. Studies have found that some students who perform poorly on math assessments actually have a full understanding of the concepts being tested; however, their anxiety interferes with their ability to solve mathematical problems. Researchers believe that implementation of strategies to prevent or reduce math anxiety will improve the math achievement of many students. This Information Capsule summarizes strategies that teachers, parents, and students can use to prevent or reduce math anxiety. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Professional Identity Development in Teachers of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Science and Math Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Much of the science education community has advocated for a new vision of instruction emphasizing inquiry-based teaching (National Research Council, 1996). Unfortunately, as Anderson (2002) notes, many science teachers are not adopting inquiry-based teaching practices for a variety of reasons such as that teachers commonly favor text-book approaches to instruction. To facilitate the adoption of reformed teaching, Luehmann (2007) argues that teacher education must address the development of one’s professional identity as a teacher. Unfortunately, little is known about the beliefs, values, experiences, and ways of acting and interacting that teachers in science and related fields use to form their professional teaching identity. Through repeated interviews with 18 graduate students who taught science and related disciplines, this study outlined generalizations defining the developmental trajectory of science educators’… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Making Maths Useful: How Two Teachers Prepare Adult Learners to Apply Their Numeracy Skills in Their Lives outside the Classroom

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This pilot case study of two teachers and their learner groups from Adult and Community settings, investigates how numeracy teachers, working with adult learners in discrete numeracy classes, motivate and enable learners to build on their informal skills and apply new learning to their own real-life contexts. Teachers used a range of abstract and contextualised activities to achieve this. Similarities and differences between teachers’ approaches were analysed using a Context Continuum model. Whether teachers started with real-life situations then moved to the abstract mathematics within them, or approached it the other way around seemed less important than ensuring there was movement back and/or forth between the different discourses of numeracy and mathematics. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Math Recovery: Making Our School Good and Our Students Successful

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article is an overview of how Flin Flon School Division in Flin Flon, Manitoba, used money received through grant funding to revamp its math programming in order to meet the needs of the students within the division. A combination of standardized test scores and individual teacher assessments revealed where student mathematical understanding was lacking. Specific teachers were then trained in particular math programs purchased through this funding. As well, additional math specialist positions were created to help the division’s students learn better, and therefore become more successful with the math curriculum. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Math, Science, and Technology in the Early Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Do young children naturally develop the foundations of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)? And if so, should we build on these foundations by using STEM curricula in preschools? In this article, Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama argue that the answer to both these questions is yes. First, the authors show that young children possess a sophisticated informal knowledge of math, and that they frequently ask scientific questions, such as “why” questions. Preschoolers’ free play involves substantial amounts of foundational math as they explore patterns, shapes, and spatial relations; compare magnitudes; and count objects. Moreover, preschool and kindergarten children’s knowledge of and interest in math and science predicts later success in STEM. And not only in STEM: the authors show that early math knowledge also predicts later… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Developing Math Skills in Early Childhood. Issue Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief presents a promising approach to supporting the development of early math skills in young children. The approach synthesizes the influence of parents, the home environment, and children’s health care providers, and is being implemented in Washington State by Reach Out and Read. Reach Out and Read is a program in which health care providers give young children new books while modeling effective reading techniques and encouraging parents to read with their children at home. When families participate in Reach Out and Read, parents read aloud more often and children improve their language and literacy skills. Because math and reading can be integrated through Reach Out and Read, parents can learn to simultaneously support the development of their children’s early language, literacy, and math skills in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Promoting Numeracy through a Family Math Night

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Over the past decade, the international (PISA) and national (CMEC Pan-Canadian Assessment), standardized testing results have shown that students in Manitoba have relatively low results in the area of mathematics when compared to the rest of Canada. This article discusses a project that was devised as a means of reaching out to a school community in order to support numeracy development. The local Family Math Night (FMN) hosted as part of this research project fostered positive relationships between school, university, and community; engaged parents and students in curriculum-based mathematics activities in a supportive, non-threatening, and fun atmosphere; and potentially had a positive effect on teacher perceptions of parental involvement and school-parent partnerships. The emergent school-wide follow-up event provided teacher candidates with opportunities to plan for and engage… Continue Reading