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Eric.ed.gov – Self-Confidence in Math: How and Why Do Men and Women Differ during the College Years? ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study examined mathematical self-concept of college students and how it may develop differently between men and women. The study used data from a 1985 Cooperative Institutional Research Programs Survey and a follow-up survey in 1989 which included information from over 27,000 college freshmen and incorporates information acquired directly from institutions. The sample for the study was limited to 15,050 students attending 192 four-year colleges and universities. The data were analyzed in terms of characteristics at entry to college, intended choice of major, characteristics of the college environment, and college experiences. The dependent variable was students’ self-rating of their mathematical ability. Findings indicated that women are less confident than men about their mathematical abilities and that this disparity increases during the college years and is in large… 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 – Teacher Education Methods Courses: Modelling Practice, Not Perfection.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Public schools are increasingly investigating portfolio assessment as a means of evaluating student performance. A project examined student participation in portfolio assessment and cooperative learning in a “Reading in the Content Areas” class for preservice teachers. Students were a diverse group which included preservice middle school and secondary teachers of English, science, music, and art–as well as preservice elementary teachers seeking to learn methods for teaching math, social studies, science, and art. Of the 30 students, 18 were traditional undergraduate students; 2 were returning students who had been classroom teachers; 5 held baccalaureate degrees but no teacher certification; and the remaining 5 were nontraditional undergraduate students. During the 15-week semester, 10 projects were completed, 8 in cooperative groups and 2 individually. The instructor assessed student knowledge of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Conducting a Mathematics Camp for Girls & Other Mathematics Enthusiasts

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Throughout much of the world, boys continue to outscore girls on standardized mathematics tests. For example, in most of the 57 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, boys’ performance was significantly higher than girls on the mathematics scale. This fact alone can harm girls’ opportunities for competitive scholarships and entry into top colleges, attitudes toward the subject matter and themselves, and participation in mathematics-oriented occupations. Intervention programs are equitable measures for addressing the needs of special populations. They can have successful results in bolstering the knowledge, dispositions, and participation of underrepresented groups in domains in which they are marginalized. In this article, the author describes a mathematics and technology intervention program for middle-grades girls. This description of the Northern Nevada Girls’… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Affective and Motivational Characteristics of 60 Urban JHS Math Classrooms: A Class-Level Analysis of Student Beliefs in Three Instructional Activity Settings.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study is an exploratory analysis of class-level data concerning junior high school (JHS) students’ affective and motivational beliefs. It examines class-level information on selected psychological characteristics that students, who read at the fifth-grade level, bring to learning mathematics and that teachers encounter during instruction. Focus is on the variability among 60 classes on 7 affective and motivational indicators and determining whether teachers encounter different psychological characteristics of a class across classes of different mathematical achievement levels and in the same class across different activity settings. Study data are from the fall 1988 administration of the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire (MAQ) to 1,737 students in 7th- through 9th-grade mathematics classes at 8 junior and senior public high schools in New York City. Students’ responses to four affective beliefs… 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 – Caring and Motivating Middle School Classrooms. Issue Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since 2009, the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (JGC) at Stanford University has worked in partnership with the Redwood City School District (RCSD) to gain a deeper understanding of classroom practices that promote motivation and achievement in middle school. Each spring, all middle school students in the district complete a survey about their motivational beliefs and their classroom experiences. The 2011 survey incorporated a new set of questions designed to capture students’ perceptions of classroom practices that convey care and support. This focus emerged from conversations with teachers and administrators and reflects RCSD’s commitment to building supportive classroom communities that emphasize effort and improvement. This research suggests that all middle school students in the district can benefit from practices that communicate care for… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Engaging Honors Students in Purposeful Planning through a Concept Mapping Assignment

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In Larry Clark’s monograph chapter on the education of academically talented college students, he challenged honors educators to consider their role in helping students find their path, particularly through the addition of self-reflection and exploratory projects in honors courses. In an honors first-year experience (FYE) course for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors at the University of Florida, one assignment was designed in particular to meet the special needs of honors students and to achieve Larry Clark’s goals. This article serves as an illustration and model of “helping students find their path” through Melissa Johnson’s perspective as an instructor, and through the comments of two first-year students–Stephanie Podjed and Sean Taasan–who took an honors FYE course for STEM majors at the University of Florida. The honors… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – How Much Do Study Habits, Skills, and Attitudes Affect Student Performance in Introductory College Accounting Courses?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Background: Financial accounting is a skills course which to a large extent can be best learned through deliberate practice. Teachers implement this by continuously assigning homeworks, encouraging good study habits, asking students to budget time for studying, and generally exhorting students to “work hard”. Aims: This paper examines the impact of “study habits, skills, and attitudes” (SHSAs) on the performance of students in an introductory financial accounting college course. Sample: 395 2nd year business students in a Philippine university. Method: Data related to variables found to have influenced accounting performance in previous researches as well as SHSA variables are collected through student survey and school records. They are treated as independent variables using multiple regression analysis, with the accounting course final grade as the dependent variable. The… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Academic Competitions Serve the U.S. National Interests

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Competitions are used by many teachers at the grass roots level to develop the talents of their gifted students. Each year the top Math, Chemistry, and Physics Olympiad students are identified and assembled into national teams that compete against teams from around the world. This article summarizes findings from the American Olympiad study. Our investigators analyzed data from 345 adult Olympians and found that 52% earned doctorates, and these individuals pursued careers in technical areas that benefit the nation. So far these Olympians have published 8,629 publications, and many of the Olympians have assumed positions in universities or research institutions that contribute to the productivity of the United States. Their success supports competitions as a viable alternative for developing the talents of the gifted. (Contains 1 figure… Continue Reading