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Eric.ed.gov – A Cross-Cultural Study of Teachers’ Instructional Practices in Singapore and the United States

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This cross-cultural study, utilizing a structured instructional behavior rating form, examined distinguishing and comparable teaching practices in secondary gifted classrooms in Singapore and the United States. Teachers from Singapore (n = 67) and teachers from the United States (n = 33) in 5 subject domains including math, science, English, social studies, and second language were observed. The study showed that Singapore teachers demonstrated a higher level of effectiveness than American teachers in both general teacher behaviors and differentiation strategies. The level of instructional effectiveness appeared to be positively related to the number of years of teaching experience and training in differentiation practices for the gifted. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables and 2 end notes.) Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Sustainability of Professional Development to Enhance Student Achievement: A Shift in the Professional Development Paradigm

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to describe the sustainability of professional development, specifically the teacher utilization of the Science-in-CTE pedagogical model and science-enhanced agricultural education lessons in curricula one year following the Science-in-CTE pilot study. This quasiexperimental study included 41 teachers (15 treatment agricultural education, 14 control agricultural education, and 12 science) who participated in seven days of professional development in the pilot study in 2009-2010. This study was a partial replication of the Math-in-CTE follow-up study and data were collected using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were obtained from online questionnaires and qualitative data were collected from personal and telephone interviews. Researchers found that a majority of the treatment agricultural education and science teachers voluntarily incorporated portions of the seven-element pedagogical model and 15… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Preliminary Findings from a Multi-Year Scale-Up Effectiveness Trial of Everyday Mathematics

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Given the importance of early mathematics instruction and curricula for preventing mathematics difficulties in later grades, it is necessary to identify effective mathematics curricula and instruction to ensure that children become proficient in early mathematics content and procedures. Everyday Mathematics (EM), was reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse and is reported to have “potentially positive effects” on students’ mathematics achievement. However, most of the studies that have evaluated EM have used quasi-experimental designs or are small-scale randomized control trials. This study reports the preliminary year one findings for Kindergarten and 3rd grade cohorts of the first scale-up evaluation of this widely used curriculum. The results of this study will contribute to understanding whether EM is effective in promoting mathematic proficiency in the elementary grades when implemented “at… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Implementing the Massachusetts Adult Basic Education Math Standards: Our Research Stories. The ABE Math Standards Project. Volume 2.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The product of a project conducted in Massachusetts to apply the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (NCTM) “Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics” to adult basic education (ABE) learning environments, this volume is a collection of teacher-researchers’ essays on field-based application of the adapted standards. The following essays are included: “Can the Fear of Manipulatives Be Overcome?” (Debra Richard); “Making Connections in Math and Science” (Karen DeCoster); “‘It’s Not through the Book’” (Leonora E. Thomas); “Exploring the Metric System in a Workplace Education Class” (Judith Sulzbach); “Non-Traditional Problems in the Forefront” (Marilyn Moses); “Learning to Learn. How Long Does It Take?” (Leslie Arriola); “Manipulatives vs. Rote Memory” (Margaret Fallon); “When You Have a Problem, Use Your Head (…and Your Instinct)” (Thomson Macdonald); “‘They Never Asked… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instrumental Appropriation of a Collaborative, Dynamic-Geometry Environment and Geometrical Understanding

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: To understand learners’ appropriation of technological tools and geometrical understanding, we draw on the theory of instrumental genesis (Lonchamp, 2012; Rabardel & Beguin, 2005), which seeks to explain how learners accomplish tasks interacting with tools. To appropriate a tool, learners develop their own knowledge of how to use it, which turns the tool into an instrument that mediates an activity between learners and a task. The tool used in our study is the Virtual Math Teams with GeoGebra (VMTwG) environment. It contains a chat panel and multiuser version of GeoGebra. The learners are seven middle and high school mathematics teachers who participated in a professional development course in which they collaborated synchronously in VMTwG to solve geometrical tasks. We use conventional content analysis to analyze the work… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Professional Development Integrating Technology: Does Delivery Format Matter?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The goal of the two Power of Data (POD) projects was to increase science, technology and math skills through the implementation of project-based learning modules that teach students how to solve problems through data collection and analysis utilizing geospatial technologies. Professional development institutes in two formats were offered to encourage teachers to implement the modules. We compared teacher learning, teacher implementation, and student learning from the two different professional development formats to examine how each format supported teachers to implement the modules, and, ultimately, improve student understanding. Teacher surveys, content and technology assessments, classroom observations, student assessments, and student work samples were analyzed for comparison between a two-week summer institute and monthly meetings held throughout the academic year. Teachers and students from both formats showed improvement in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Academically Gifted Co-Teaching in the Wake County Public School System: Implementation, Perceptions and Achievement. DRA Report No. 17.03

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Following the recommendations of a 2013 instructional audit, the Academically or Intellectually Gifted department implemented a co-teaching instructional strategy in 41 volunteer schools starting in the 2014-15 school year. Implementation data and discussions with central office staff suggest that while implementation fidelity was relatively strong in the first year, it declined in 2015-16. Still, the first year of implementation offered evidence to guide any future co-teaching implementation. First, the “one teach, one assist” method of co-teaching was most frequently observed, suggesting that co-teachers may have defaulted to one of the less optimal instructional strategies under the model. Second, AIG teachers and co-teachers perceived the initiative similarly but differed on a few particularly meaningful survey items pertaining to the perceptions and role of the specialist. Third, AIG students… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Learning Preferences of Saudi University Students with Native English Speaking Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Like many countries building up human and technological resources, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has embarked on the goal of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to its citizens. One goal for the KSA Ministry of Education is increasing acceptance rates at teacher colleges for both genders specializing in English, in addition to Arabic, Math, Science and Computer Science (The Executive Summary of the Ministry of Education Ten-Year Plan, 2005). Virtually all government policies come with unexpected results. For example, Native English speaking teachers (NESTs) teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) often interact in ways that can be at odds with their host countries. Concerns involving pedagogy have been expressed in many countries with TEFL programs using NESTs (Degen & Absalom, 1998; Liu &… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – “New Directions for Traditional Lessons”: Can Handheld Game Consoles Enhance Mental Mathematics Skills?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper reports on a pilot study that compared the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) handheld game consoles (HGCs) with traditional teaching methods to develop the automaticity of mathematical calculations and self-concept towards mathematics for year 4 students in two metropolitan schools. One class conducted daily sessions using the HGCs and the Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training software to enhance their mental maths skills while the comparison class engaged in mental maths lessons using more traditional classroom approaches. Students were assessed using standardised tests at the beginning and completion of the term and findings indicated that students who undertook the Brain Training pilot study using the HGCs showed significant improvement in both the speed and accuracy of their mathematical calculations and self-concept compared to students in the control… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Some Ways to Get a Piece of Pi Day Action

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In many parts of the world, Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 (3.14), but because of the day-month ordering of dates in Australia, and because March is very close to the start of the academic year, Australians prefer to celebrate Pi (Approximation) Day on 22 July (22/7). Thirty-eight Year 8 students (aged 13-14 years) from two local high schools in Canberra, Australia, joined ESTeM Maths and Education staff on July 22, 2014, to celebrate Pi Day. This article describes the activities in which the students participated during the Pi Day celebration. The organizers of the activities selected six activities that met a combined criteria of feasibility, pedagogical soundness, and pedagogical appropriateness for the Australian school system. Time constraints were a significant factor in selecting activities. The… Continue Reading