Advanced Math Course Taking: Effects on Math Achievement and College Enrollment

PubMed Central

Byun, Soo-yong; Irvin, Matthew J.; Bell, Bethany A.

2014-01-01

Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002–2006 (ELS:02/06), this study investigated the effects of advanced math course taking on math achievement and college enrollment and how such effects varied by socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity. Results from propensity score matching and sensitivity analyses showed that advanced math course taking had positive effects on math achievement and college enrollment. Results also demonstrated that the effect of advanced math course taking on math achievement was greater for low SES students than for high SES students, but smaller for Black students than for White students. No interaction effects were found for college enrollment. Limitations, policy implications, and future research directions are discussed. PMID:26508803

Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class, Grades K-2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bresser, Rusty; Melanese, Kathy; Sphar, Christine

2009-01-01

More than 10 percent of the students in our nation's public schools are English language learners, and this number grows each year. Many of these students are falling behind in math. "Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class, Grades K-2" outlines the challenges ELL students face when learning math and provides a wealth of specific…

Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class, Grades 3-5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bresser, Rusty; Melanese, Kathy; Sphar, Christine

2009-01-01

More than 10 percent of the students in our nation's public schools are English language learners, and this number grows each year. Many of these students are falling behind in math. "Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class, Grades 3-5" outlines the challenges ELL students face when learning math and provides a wealth of specific…

Is It Possible to Improve Mathematical Achievement by Means of Self-Regulation Strategies? Evaluation of an Intervention in Regular Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perels, Franziska; Dignath, Charlotte; Schmitz, Bernhard

2009-01-01

After the effectiveness of self-regulation training outside school was demonstrated, a self-regulation intervention was developed to foster the learning achievement in regular math classes. Based on the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning, self-regulation training was integrated into a math class unit. The evaluation of the…

The Impact of a Classroom-Based Guidance Program on Student Performance in Community College Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butcher, Kristin F.; Visher, Mary G.

2013-01-01

Passing through remedial and required math classes poses a significant barrier to success for many community college students. This study uses random assignment to investigate the impact of a "light-touch" intervention, where an individual visited math classes a few times during the semester, for a few minutes each time, to inform…

Relation of Opportunity to Learn Advanced Math to the Educational Attainment of Rural Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irvin, Matthew; Byun, Soo-yong; Smiley, Whitney S.; Hutchins, Bryan C.

2017-01-01

Our study examined the relation of advanced math course taking to the educational attainment of rural youth. We used data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Regression analyses demonstrated that when previous math achievement is accounted for, rural students take advanced math at a significantly lower rate than urban students.…

InDemand: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Issue 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Career Voyages, 2006

2006-01-01

The gateway to a successful future is not so much knowing your intended career path today but in keeping an open and curious mind about the information you are learning now in your classes and how it relates to potential career opportunities for the future--whether entering the work force after high school, college or advanced studies. This issue…

Function Plotters for Secondary Math Teachers. A MicroSIFT Quarterly Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, Dave; And Others

This report examines mathematical graphing utilities or function plotters for use in introductory algebra classes of more advanced courses. Each product selected for inclusion in this report is able to construct the graph of a given equation on the screen and serves as a utility which may be used by the student for an open-ended exploration of a…

Do student self-efficacy and teacher-student interaction quality contribute to emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math?

PubMed

Martin, Daniel P; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E

2015-10-01

This study examined (a) the contribution of math self-efficacy to students' perception of their emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math classes, and (b) the extent to which high quality teacher-student interactions compensated for students' low math self-efficacy in contributing to engagement. Teachers (n = 73) were observed three times during the year during math to measure the quality of teacher-student interactions (emotional, organizational, and instructional support). Fifth graders (n = 387) reported on their math self-efficacy at the beginning of the school year and then were surveyed about their feelings of engagement in math class three times during the year immediately after the lessons during which teachers were observed. Results of multi-level models indicated that students initially lower in math self-efficacy reported lower emotional and social engagement during math class than students with higher self-efficacy. However, in classrooms with high levels of teacher emotional support, students reported similar levels of both emotional and social engagement, regardless of their self-efficacy. No comparable findings emerged for organizational and instructional support. The discussion considers the significance of students' own feelings about math in relation to their engagement, as well as the ways in which teacher and classroom supports can compensate for students lack of agency. The work has implications for school psychologists and teachers eager to boost students' engagement in math class. Copyright © 2015 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of a Class-Wide Peer-Mediated Elementary Math Differentiation Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lloyd, Jason D.

2017-01-01

Approximately 60% of classroom students have insufficient math skills. Within a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, teachers can implement core differentiation strategies targeted at improving math skills of an entire class of students. Differentiation programs are developed in order to target academic skills of groups of students…

Embedded Mathematics in Chemistry: A Case Study of Students' Attitudes and Mastery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preininger, Anita M.

2017-02-01

There are many factors that shape students' attitudes toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This exploratory study of high school students examined the effect of enriching chemistry with math on chemistry students' attitudes toward math and careers involving math. To measure student attitudes, a survey was administered before and after the 18-week chemistry class; results from the chemistry class were compared to survey results from students in an elective science class that did not emphasize mathematics. At the end of the 18-week period, only the chemistry students exhibited more positive views toward their abilities in mathematics and careers that involve mathematics, as compared to their views at the outset of the course. To ensure that chemistry mastery was not hindered by the additional emphasis on math, and that mastery on state end-of-course examinations reflected knowledge acquired during the math-intensive chemistry class, a chemistry progress test was administered at the start and end of the term. This exploratory study suggests that emphasizing mathematical approaches in chemistry may positively influence attitudes toward math in general, as well as foster mastery of chemistry content.

Characterizing Containment and Related Classes of Graphs,

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

Math . to appear. [G2] Golumbic,. Martin C., D. Rotem and J. Urrutia. "Comparability graphs and intersection graphs" Discrete Math . 43 (1983) 37-40. [G3...intersection classes of graphs" Discrete Math . to appear. [S2] Scheinerman, Edward R. Intersection Classes and Multiple Intersection Parameters of Graphs...graphs and of interval graphs" Canad. Jour. of blath. 16 (1964) 539-548. [G1] Golumbic, Martin C. "Containment graphs: and. intersection graphs" Discrete

Is There a Causal Effect of High School Math on Labor Market Outcomes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joensen, Juanna Schroter; Nielsen, Helena Skyt

2009-01-01

In this paper, we exploit a high school pilot scheme to identify the causal effect of advanced high school math on labor market outcomes. The pilot scheme reduced the costs of choosing advanced math because it allowed for a more flexible combination of math with other courses. We find clear evidence of a causal relationship between math and…

Brief Report: Gum Chewing Affects Standardized Math Scores in Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Craig A.; Tyler, Chermaine; Stansberry, Sandra A.; Moreno, Jennette P.; Foreyt, John P.

2012-01-01

Gum chewing has been shown to improve cognitive performance in adults; however, gum chewing has not been evaluated in children. This study examined the effects of gum chewing on standardized test scores and class grades of eighth grade math students. Math classes were randomized to a gum chewing (GC) condition that provided students with gum…

A Real Fear

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruffins, Paul

2007-01-01

For years, mainstream thinking about math anxiety assumed that people fear math because they are bad at it. However, a growing body of research shows a much more complicated relationship between math ability and anxiety. It is true that people who fear math have a tendency to avoid math-related classes, which decreases their math competence.…

Maximizing Gender Equality by Minimizing Course Choice Options? Effects of Obligatory Coursework in Math on Gender Differences in STEM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hübner, Nicolas; Wille, Eike; Cambria, Jenna; Oschatz, Kerstin; Nagengast, Benjamin; Trautwein, Ulrich

2017-01-01

Math achievement, math self-concept, and vocational interests are critical predictors of STEM careers and are closely linked to high school coursework. Young women are less likely to choose advanced math courses in high school, and encouraging young women to enroll in advanced math courses may therefore bring more women into STEM careers. We…

An Exploratory Study of Risk-Taking and Attitudes in a Girls-Only Middle School Math Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streitmatter, Janice

1997-01-01

Studied attitudes of girls, toward themselves and their classmates, and their behavior in a girls-only math classroom. Found girls were more likely to ask and answer questions in the math classroom than in coeducational classes and that the girls-only setting enhanced their ability to learn. The girls-only environment was overwhelmingly preferred.…

On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early elementary school: The role of problem solving strategies.

PubMed

Ramirez, Gerardo; Chang, Hyesang; Maloney, Erin A; Levine, Susan C; Beilock, Sian L

2016-01-01

Even at young ages, children self-report experiencing math anxiety, which negatively relates to their math achievement. Leveraging a large dataset of first and second grade students' math achievement scores, math problem solving strategies, and math attitudes, we explored the possibility that children's math anxiety (i.e., a fear or apprehension about math) negatively relates to their use of more advanced problem solving strategies, which in turn relates to their math achievement. Our results confirm our hypothesis and, moreover, demonstrate that the relation between math anxiety and math problem solving strategies is strongest in children with the highest working memory capacity. Ironically, children who have the highest cognitive capacity avoid using advanced problem solving strategies when they are high in math anxiety and, as a result, underperform in math compared with their lower working memory peers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors related to student performance in statistics courses in Lebanon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naccache, Hiba Salim

The purpose of the present study was to identify factors that may contribute to business students in Lebanese universities having difficulty in introductory and advanced statistics courses. Two statistics courses are required for business majors at Lebanese universities. Students are not obliged to be enrolled in any math courses prior to taking statistics courses. Drawing on recent educational research, this dissertation attempted to identify the relationship between (1) students’ scores on Lebanese university math admissions tests; (2) students’ scores on a test of very basic mathematical concepts; (3) students’ scores on the survey of attitude toward statistics (SATS); (4) course performance as measured by students’ final scores in the course; and (5) their scores on the final exam. Data were collected from 561 students enrolled in multiple sections of two courses: 307 students in the introductory statistics course and 260 in the advanced statistics course in seven campuses across Lebanon over one semester. The multiple regressions results revealed four significant relationships at the introductory level: between students’ scores on the math quiz with their (1) final exam scores; (2) their final averages; (3) the Cognitive subscale of the SATS with their final exam scores; and (4) their final averages. These four significant relationships were also found at the advanced level. In addition, two more significant relationships were found between students’ final average and the two subscales of Effort (5) and Affect (6). No relationship was found between students’ scores on the admission math tests and both their final exam scores and their final averages in both the introductory and advanced level courses. On the other hand, there was no relationship between students’ scores on Lebanese admissions tests and their final achievement. Although these results were consistent across course formats and instructors, they may encourage Lebanese universities to assess the effectiveness of prerequisite math courses. Moreover, these findings may lead the Lebanese Ministry of Education to make changes to the admissions exams, course prerequisites, and course content. Finally, to enhance the attitude of students, new learning techniques, such as group work during class meetings can be helpful, and future research should aim to test the effectiveness of these pedagogical techniques on students’ attitudes toward statistics.

Advanced Math Equals Career Readiness. Math Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

The equation is simple: No matter their background, students who take challenging math courses in high school get better jobs and earn more money throughout their entire lives. This paper stresses that: (1) Higher-level math opens doors for any and all postsecondary programs and keeps it open for advancement beyond entry-level jobs; and (2)…

Detecting Math Anxiety with a Mixture Partial Credit Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ölmez, Ibrahim Burak; Cohen, Allan S.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate a new methodology for detection of differences in middle grades students' math anxiety. A mixture partial credit model analysis revealed two distinct latent classes based on homogeneities in response patterns within each latent class. Students in Class 1 had less anxiety about apprehension of math…

Student Achievement in Large-Lecture Remedial Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monte, Brent M.

2011-01-01

Due to the increase in students seeking remedial math classes at the community college level, coupled with declining revenues to the community colleges and a lack of classroom availability, the need to consider increasing class size has become a relevant and timely issue. This study is a mixed-method, quasi-experimental study testing effects of…

Birth weight, childhood socioeconomic environment, and cognitive development in the 1958 British birth cohort study

PubMed Central

Jefferis, Barbara J M H; Power, Chris; Hertzman, Clyde

2002-01-01

Objectives To examine the combined effect of social class and weight at birth on cognitive trajectories during school age and the associations between birth weight and educational outcomes through to 33 years. Design Longitudinal, population based, birth cohort study. Participants 10 845 males and females born during 3-9 March 1958 with information on birth weight, social class, and cognitive tests. Main outcome measures Reading, maths, draw a man, copying designs, verbal and non-verbal ability tests at ages 7, 11, and 16, highest qualifications achieved by 33, and trajectories of maths standardised scores at 7-16 years. Results The outcome of all childhood cognitive tests and educational achievements improved significantly with increasing birth weight. Analysis of maths scores at 7 and of highest qualifications achieved by 33 showed that the relations were robust to adjustment for potential confounding factors. For each kilogram increase in birth weight, maths z score increased by 0.17 (adjusted estimate 0.15, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.21) for males and 0.21 (0.20, 0.14 to 0.25) for females. Trajectories of maths z scores between 7 and 16 years diverged for different social class groups: participants from classes I and II increased their relative position on the score with increasing age, whereas classes IV and V showed a relative decline with increasing age. Birth weight explained much less of the variation in cognition than did social class (range 0.5-1.5% v 2.9-12.5%). Conclusions The postnatal environment has an overwhelming influence on cognitive function through to early adulthood, but these strong effects do not explain the weaker but independent association with birth weight. What is already known on this topicWeight at birth is associated with later cognitive developmentThis is maintained across the range of normal birth weightsWhat this study addsSocial class at birth and birth weight have independent effects on maths scores in childhood, but social class at birth explains more of the variation in the scoresThe relation between maths scores and birth weight persists across birth weights after adjustment for gestational age, parental education, and other potential confounding factorsTrajectories of maths attainment diverge, with more affluent social groups increasing their relative advantage whereas the effect of birth weight remains constant over time PMID:12169505

Math Magician.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Anne Lowrey

1984-01-01

Charles Pine, CASE's Professor of the Year, is a professor who gets students to know and love math and physics and who has emerged as a leading teacher of math teachers. It started when Pine found that his students couldn't do the math involved in his physics classes. (MLW)

Lift the Math Curse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albrecht, Cathlene

2006-01-01

"When am I ever going to use this?" This question is heard or thought in every middle-level math class across the land. Teachers struggle to apply math lessons to everyday life and make math meaningful and useful for their students. This author, too, struggled with this problem, until she read the book "Math Curse" by Jon Scieszka (Viking Books,…

Evaluating the Benefits of Providing Archived Online Lectures to In-Class Math Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cascaval, Radu C.; Fogler, Kethera A.; Abrams, Gene D.; Durham, Robert L.

2008-01-01

The present study examines the impact of a novel online video lecture archiving system on in-class students enrolled in traditional math courses at a mid-sized, primarily undergraduate, university in the West. The archiving system allows in-class students web access to complete video recordings of the actual classroom lectures, and sometimes of…

Academic and Social Functioning Associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Latent Class Analyses of Trajectories from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade.

PubMed

DuPaul, George J; Morgan, Paul L; Farkas, George; Hillemeier, Marianne M; Maczuga, Steve

2016-10-01

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to exhibit significantly lower academic and social functioning than other children. Yet the field currently lacks knowledge about specific impairment trajectories experienced by children with ADHD, which may constrain early screening and intervention effectiveness. Data were analyzed from a nationally representative U.S. cohort in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) for 590 children (72.7 % male) whose parents reported a formal diagnosis of ADHD. Children's math, reading, and interpersonal skills were assessed at 5 time points between kindergarten and fifth grade. Growth mixture model analyses indicated 4 latent trajectory classes for reading, 8 classes for math, and 4 classes for interpersonal skills. Membership in reading and math trajectory classes was strongly related; overlaps with interpersonal skills classes were weaker. Trajectory class membership was correlated with demographic characteristics and behavioral functioning. Children with ADHD display substantial heterogeneity in their reading, math, and interpersonal growth trajectories, with some groups of children especially likely to display relatively severe levels of academic and social impairment over time. Early screening and intervention to address impairment, particularly reading difficulties, among kindergarten students with ADHD is warranted.

Engaging High School Students in Advanced Math and Science Courses for Success in College: Is Advanced Placement the Answer?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley-Kemple, Thomas; Proger, Amy; Roderick, Melissa

2011-01-01

The current study provides an in-depth look at Advanced Placement (AP) math and science course-taking in one school district, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Using quasi-experimental methods, this study examines the college outcomes of students who take AP math and science courses. Specifically, this study asks whether students who take AP math…

Smart in Mathematics? Exploring the Effects of In-Class-Level Differentiation Using SMARTboard on Math Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabus, Sofie J.; Haelermans, Carla; Franken, Sonja

2017-01-01

This paper explored the effects of in-class-level differentiation by making innovative use of an interactive whiteboard (SMARTboard) on math proficiency. Therefore, this paper evaluates the use of SMARTboard in class, in combination with teacher training, using a randomized field experiment among 199 pre-vocational students in seventh grade in the…

Gum chewing affects academic performance in adolescents

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Chewing gum may have an impact on improved memory during specific tasks of recognition and sustained attention. Research objective was to determine the effect of gum chewing on standardized test scores and math class grades of eighth grade students. Four math classes, 108 students, were randomized i...

How Do You Use Math?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Joan Marie

1996-01-01

Describes a multimedia math activity for sixth-grade students who have access to a computer lab. Students work in groups and interview an adult who uses math in his or her job. Then, they write an explanatory narrative describing how that adult uses math. Finally, they create a KidPix video slideshow with voice overlays to share with the class.…

MathsFlip: Flipped Learning. Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudd, Peter; Aguilera, Alaidde Berenice Villaneuva; Elliott, Louise; Chambers, Bette

2017-01-01

The MathsFlip intervention aimed to improve the attainment of pupils in Years 5 and 6. The programme, developed by Shireland Collegiate Academy, used a 'flipped learning' approach involving pupils learning core content online, outside of class time, and then participating in activities in class to reinforce their learning. The programme used an…

Teaching Inquiry with Linked Classes and Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piercey, Victor; Cullen, Roxanne

2017-01-01

In order to improve problem-solving dispositions, a section of an inquiry-based math sequence for first-year business students was linked with a section of our general education English sequence. We describe how the linked classes worked and compare some preliminary results from linked and unlinked sections of the math sequence.

Emerging Scholars: The Class of 2008

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forde, Dana; Lum, Lydia; Nealy, Michelle J.; Pluviose, David; Roach, Ronald; Rogers, Ibram; Rolo, Mark Anthony; Seymour, Add, Jr., Valdata, Patricia; Watson, Jamal

2008-01-01

This year's crop of "Emerging Scholars"--The Class of 2008--includes a math biologist who was only the second woman to receive the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in math; a geneticist who recently became one of 20 winners of the National Science Foundation's Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers; and an extensively published…

Solving Behavior Problems in Math Class: Academic, Learning, Social, and Emotional Empowerment (Grades K-12)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor-Cox, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Reduce the number of discipline issues that arise in your math classroom with ideas from math education expert Jennifer Taylor-Cox. In this book, you'll learn a variety of ways to handle disruptive, disinterested, avoidant, and/or disrespectful students in K-12 math classrooms. Using realistic, case-by-case examples, the author reveals practical…

Literacy Specialists in Math Class! Closing the Achievement Gap on State Math Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiGisi, Lori L.; Fleming, Dianne

2005-01-01

Sixth and eighth grade students who are English language learners must be able to read and interpret 39 math word problems in order to successfully calculate the answers on the Massachusetts state math assessment (MCAS). The first year that MCAS was administered, many ELL students read the questions, found them confusing, and left them blank,…

The Impact of Stability Balls, Activity Breaks, and a Sedentary Classroom on Standardized Math Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mead, Tim; Scibora, Lesley

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine if standardized math test scores improve by administering different types of exercise during math instruction. Three sixth grade classes were assessed on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) standardized math tests during the 2012 and 2013 academic year.…

Variation in Content Coverage by Classroom Composition: An Analysis of Advanced Math Course Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Covay, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

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…

We're in Math Class Playing Games, Not Playing Games in Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFeetors, P. Janelle; Palfy, Kylie

2017-01-01

Early experiences of reasoning while playing games of strategy are foundational for future proofs that students will be expected to build using conventionally structured arguments. But how did game playing in school occur? How can educators be sure that mathematical reasoning is going on? The authors investigated these questions to understand how…

Gender-Based Education: Why It Works at the Middle School Level.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, William C.

1996-01-01

To counter gender bias effects and improve student learning, staff at a Virginia middle school decided to group eighth-grade students by gender for math and science instruction. Girls felt freer to speak out. Grade point averages in gender-based science and math classes for both girls and boys were higher than in coeducational classes. (MLH)

Social Cognitive Factors, Support, and Engagement: Early Adolescents' Math Interests as Precursors to Choice of Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowan-Kenyon, Heather T.; Swan, Amy K.; Creager, Marie F.

2012-01-01

The authors examined the central hypothesis that students' early perceptions of support and sense of engagement in math classes and math activities strongly influence the broadening or narrowing of their math interest. The focus was on the first wave of qualitative data collected from 5th-, 7th-, and 9th-grade students during the 2007-2008…

Birth weight, childhood socioeconomic environment, and cognitive development in the 1958 British birth cohort study.

PubMed

Jefferis, Barbara J M H; Power, Chris; Hertzman, Clyde

2002-08-10

To examine the combined effect of social class and weight at birth on cognitive trajectories during school age and the associations between birth weight and educational outcomes through to 33 years. Longitudinal, population based, birth cohort study. 10 845 males and females born during 3-9 March 1958 with information on birth weight, social class, and cognitive tests. Reading, maths, draw a man, copying designs, verbal and non-verbal ability tests at ages 7, 11, and 16, highest qualifications achieved by 33, and trajectories of maths standardised scores at 7-16 years. The outcome of all childhood cognitive tests and educational achievements improved significantly with increasing birth weight. Analysis of maths scores at 7 and of highest qualifications achieved by 33 showed that the relations were robust to adjustment for potential confounding factors. For each kilogram increase in birth weight, maths z score increased by 0.17 (adjusted estimate 0.15, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.21) for males and 0.21 (0.20, 0.14 to 0.25) for females. Trajectories of maths z scores between 7 and 16 years diverged for different social class groups: participants from classes I and II increased their relative position on the score with increasing age, whereas classes IV and V showed a relative decline with increasing age. Birth weight explained much less of the variation in cognition than did social class (range 0.5-1.5% v 2.9-12.5%). The postnatal environment has an overwhelming influence on cognitive function through to early adulthood, but these strong effects do not explain the weaker but independent association with birth weight.

The Effect of Cooperative Groups on Math Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batton, Melissa

2010-01-01

Research indicates that many students have difficulty with mathematics, which can be attributed to many factors including math anxiety. Students who experience math anxiety have poor attitudes towards mathematics and perform below grade level based on class and statewide assessments. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to…

Overlap Cycles for Permutations: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-19

for Weak Orders, To appear in SIAM Journal of Discrete Math . [9] G. Hurlbert and G. Isaak, Equivalence class universal cycles for permutations, Discrete ... Math . 149 (1996), pp. 123–129. [10] J. R. Johnson, Universal cycles for permutations, Discrete Math . 309 (2009), pp. 5264– 5270. [11] E. A. Ragland

From Skeletons to Bridges & Other STEM Enrichment Exercises for High School Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riechert, Susan E.; Post, Brian K.

2010-01-01

The national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education Initiative favors a curriculum shift from the compartmentalization of math and science classes into discrete subject areas to an integrated, multidisciplinary experience. Many states are currently implementing programs in high schools that provide greater integration of math,…

Reading and Math.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin, Anna; And Others

This publication contains materials used in the three phases of the reading and mathematics components of work-specific classes. Each section begins with an overview of developments in that phase. Section 1 focuses on Phase 1 during which math and reading were taught as separate components. It contains a math placement appraisal, worksheets and…

Opening the World of Mathematics: The Daily Math Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donoahue, Zoe

2016-01-01

During the author's everyday math discussions with her class, young children talk about mathematical ideas, theories, and concepts within a predictable structure. These discussions include many concepts from--and beyond--the first-grade math curriculum, and their depth and complexity build throughout the school year. Concepts and skills include…

Reading Coaching for Math Word Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Sharon A.; Maloy, Robert W.; Anderson, Gordon

2009-01-01

"Math is language, too," Phyllis and David Whitin (2000) remind everyone in their informative book about reading and writing in the mathematics classroom. This means that students in elementary school math classes are learning two distinct, yet related languages--one of numbers, the other of words. These languages of numbers and words…

Examination of the Relationship between Eighth Grade Students' Learning Styles and Attitudes towards Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Bünyamin

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is to determine eighth grade students' learning styles and attitudes toward math class and to show the relationship between their learning styles and attitudes toward math class. Sample of the research consists of 100 eighth grade students having education in a school in the Central Anatolia of our country. As data…

"It Was My Understanding That There Would Be No Math": Using Thematic Cases to Teach Undergraduate Research Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oldmixon, Elizabeth A.

2018-01-01

Undergraduates frequently approach research methods classes with trepidation and skepticism, owing in part to math-phobia and confusion over how methodology is relevant to their interests. These self-defeating barriers to learning undermine the efficacy of methods classes. This essay discusses a strategy for overcoming these barriers--use of a…

Impact of Student Calculator Use on the 2013 NAEP Twelfth-Grade Mathematics Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klecker, Beverly M.; Klecker, Richard L.

2014-01-01

This descriptive research study examined 2013 NAEP 12th-grade mathematics scores by students' use of graphing calculators in math classes and the kind of calculator students used during NAEP assessment. NAEP Data Explorer analysis included two questions from Student Factors: How often do you use these different kinds of calculators in math class?…

World Class: The Massachusetts Agenda to Meet the International Challenge for Math- and Science-Educated Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortmann, Thomas

2005-01-01

This report draws on the findings of nearly four dozen others: national and international studies that speak with a strong, collective voice about what it takes to improve math and science education. But the authors' intent with "World Class" is not simply to synthesize those reports. It is to establish a statewide, working agenda for…

Advanced placement math and science courses: Influential factors and predictors for success in college STEM majors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoepner, Cynthia Colon

President Obama has recently raised awareness on the need for our nation to grow a larger pool of students with knowledge in science mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM). Currently, while the number of women pursuing college degrees continues to rise, there remains an under-representation of women in STEM majors across the country. Although research studies offer several contributing factors that point to a higher attrition rate of women in STEM than their male counterparts, no study has investigated the role that high school advanced placement (AP) math and science courses play in preparing students for the challenges of college STEM courses. The purpose of this study was to discover which AP math and science courses and/or influential factors could encourage more students, particularly females, to consider pursuing STEM fields in college. Further, this study examined which, if any, AP math or science courses positively contribute to a student's overall preparation for college STEM courses. This retrospective study combined quantitative and qualitative research methods. The survey sample consisted of 881 UCLA female and male students pursuing STEM majors. Qualitative data was gathered from four single-gender student focus groups, two female groups (15 females) and two male groups (16 males). This study examined which AP math and science courses students took in high school, who or what influenced them to take those courses, and which particular courses influenced student's choice of STEM major and/or best prepared her/him for the challenges of STEM courses. Findings reveal that while AP math and science course-taking patterns are similar of female and male STEM students, a significant gender-gap remains in five of the eleven AP courses. Students report four main influences on their choice of AP courses; self, desire for math/science major, higher grade point average or class rank, and college admissions. Further, three AP math and science courses were highlighted throughout the study. First, AP Chemistry was described as a foundational course necessary for the challenges of STEM courses. AP Calculus was considered a course with practical benefits across STEM majors. Finally, AP Biology was found to be a gateway course, which inspired students to continue to pursue STEM majors in college. All three courses were strongly recommended to high school students considering a STEM major. The findings will help grow a larger and equally prepared pool of females and males and help sustain a more even distribution of women across STEM fields.

Stereotype Threat? Male and Female Students in Advanced High School Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corra, Mamadi

Propositions of stereotype threat theory imply that the social consequences of academic distinction in advanced quantitative areas (such as math and the physical sciences) for women may promote the under representation of female students in advanced quantitative academic courses. The hypothesis that female students will be underrepresented in advanced quantitative (honors and advanced placement math and physical science) courses is tested using academic performance and enrollment data for high school students in a "Student/Parent Informed Choice" (open registration) school district in North Carolina. Results show female students to be overrepresented in both advanced verbal/writing intensive (honors and advanced placement English, foreign language, and social science) and advanced quantitative (honors and advanced placement math and physical science) courses compared to their proportion of the student body. More surprisingly, results also indicate female students (compared to male students) to be overrepresented in advanced courses compared to their proportion of high-performing students. Furthermore, as with patterns observed at the district level, additional analysis of enrollment data for the entire state reveals similar results. Taken together, the findings call into question the prevailing presumption that female students continue to be underrepresented in math and physical science courses. Instead, the changing social context within which females and males experience schooling may provide an explanation for the findings.

MathPatch - Raising Retention and Performance in an Intro-geoscience Class by Raising Students' Quantitative Skills

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baer, E. M.; Whittington, C.; Burn, H.

2008-12-01

The geological sciences are fundamentally quantitative. However, the diversity of students' mathematical preparation and skills makes the successful use of quantitative concepts difficult in introductory level classes. At Highline Community College, we have implemented a one-credit co-requisite course to give students supplemental instruction for quantitative skills used in the course. The course, formally titled "Quantitative Geology," nicknamed "MathPatch," runs parallel to our introductory Physical Geology course. MathPatch teaches the quantitative skills required for the geology class right before they are needed. Thus, students learn only the skills they need and are given opportunities to apply them immediately. Topics include complex-graph reading, unit conversions, large numbers, scientific notation, scale and measurement, estimation, powers of 10, and other fundamental mathematical concepts used in basic geological concepts. Use of this course over the past 8 years has successfully accomplished the goals of increasing students' quantitative skills, success and retention. Students master the quantitative skills to a greater extent than before the course was implemented, and less time is spent covering basic quantitative skills in the classroom. Because the course supports the use of quantitative skills, the large number of faculty that teach Geology 101 are more comfortable in using quantitative analysis, and indeed see it as an expectation of the course at Highline. Also significant, retention in the geology course has increased substantially, from 75% to 85%. Although successful, challenges persist with requiring MathPatch as a supplementary course. One, we have seen enrollments decrease in Geology 101, which may be the result of adding this co-requisite. Students resist mandatory enrollment in the course, although they are not good at evaluating their own need for the course. The logistics utilizing MathPatch in an evening class with fewer and longer class meetings has been challenging. Finally, in order to better serve our students' needs, we began to offer on-line sections of MathPatch; this mode of instruction is not as clearly effective, although it is very popular. Through the new The Math You Need project, we hope to improve the effectiveness of the on-line instruction so it can provide comparable results to the face-to-face sections of this class.

Thinking beyond the Obvious Boundaries in Mathematics: An Exploration of Joyous Discovery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vries, Marianne E.

1992-01-01

Ideas for the development of creative exploration in mathematics are offered, including games to play in class (e.g., card games and tangrams), competitions (sample problems), clubs and math evenings (math relays and treasure hunts), projects (possible topics in patchwork quilting, art, and music), and math camps. (DB)

Integrating Vocational Competencies and Math Skills. Industrial Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Missouri Univ., Columbia. Instructional Materials Lab.

This document is designed to help teachers identify those math skills that students must master to complete the vocational competencies taught in industrial education classes. Included in the document are 10 program area/math skills matrices that were developed as a result of a research development project during which secondary-level Missouri…

Math in Plain English: Literacy Strategies for the Mathematics Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benjamin, Amy

2011-01-01

Do word problems and math vocabulary confuse students in your mathematics classes? Do simple keywords like "value" and "portion" seem to mislead them? Many words that students already know can have a different meaning in mathematics. To grasp that difference, students need to connect English literacy skills to math. Successful students speak,…

Explaining Variation in Student Efforts towards Using Math and Science Knowledge in Engineering Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berland, Leema K.; Steingut, Rebecca

2016-01-01

Previous research suggests that in classes that take an integrated approach to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, students tend to engage in fulfilling goals of their engineering design challenges, but only inconsistently engage with the related math and science content. The present research examines these inconsistencies…

Basic Math Skills and Performance in an Introductory Statistics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Marianne; Kuennen, Eric

2006-01-01

We identify the student characteristics most associated with success in an introductory business statistics class, placing special focus on the relationship between student math skills and course performance, as measured by student grade in the course. To determine which math skills are important for student success, we examine (1) whether the…

Integrating Quantitative Reasoning into STEM Courses Using an Energy and Environment Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers, J. D.; Lyford, M. E.; Mayes, R. L.

2010-12-01

Many secondary and post-secondary science classes do not integrate math into their curriculum, while math classes commonly teach concepts without meaningful context. Consequently, students lack basic quantitative skills and the ability to apply them in real-world contexts. For the past three years, a Wyoming Department of Education funded Math Science Partnership at the University of Wyoming (UW) has brought together middle and high school science and math teachers to model how math and science can be taught together in a meaningful way. The UW QR-STEM project emphasizes the importance of Quantitative Reasoning (QR) to student success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). To provide a social context, QR-STEM has focused on energy and the environment. In particular, the project has examined how QR and STEM concepts play critical roles in many of the current global challenges of energy and environment. During four 3-day workshops each summer and over several virtual and short face-to-face meetings during the academic year, UW and community college science and math faculty work with math and science teachers from middle and high schools across the state to improve QR instruction in math and science classes. During the summer workshops, faculty from chemistry, physics, earth sciences, biology and math lead sessions to: 1) improve the basic science content knowledge of teachers; 2) improve teacher understanding of math and statistical concepts, 3) model how QR can be taught by engaging teachers in sessions that integrate math and science in an energy and environment context; and 4) focus curricula using Understanding by Design to identify enduring understandings on which to center instructional strategies and assessment. In addition to presenting content, faculty work with teachers as they develop classroom lessons and larger units to be implemented during the school year. Teachers form interdisciplinary groups which often consist of math and science teachers from the same school or district. By jointly developing units focused on energy and environment, math and science curricula can be coordinated during the school year. During development, teams present their curricular ideas for peer-review. Throughout the school year, teachers implement their units and collect pre-post data on student learning. Ultimately, science teachers integrate math into their science courses, and math teachers integrate science content in their math courses. Following implementation, participants share their experiences with their peers and faculty. Of central interest during these presentations are: 1) How did the QR-STEM experience change teacher practices in the classroom?; and 2) How did the modification of their teaching practices impact student learning and their ability to successfully master QR? The UW QR-STEM has worked with Wyoming science and math teachers from across the state over the three year grant period.

An Investigation of the Effect of Interventions Based on Common Core Mathematical Practices on the Math Achievement of Struggling Students in Grade 6

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murthy, Geetha J.

2016-01-01

This study examined the effect of the eight Common Core mathematical practices on math achievement and math attitudes for a sample of low-performing students in Grade 6. The treatment sample (n = 63) consisted of four classes of Grade 6 students who had scored below proficient levels in state math assessments. This study was conducted in a…

Examining the Predominant Parenting Style for Students in Academically Accelerated 8th Grade Math Classes as Compared to Students in Typical Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Melody

2013-01-01

Parenting style has been shown to have significant impact on a child's development. Baumrind developed the concept of three parenting styles that is still used today including: Authoritarian/controlling, authoritative/directive, and permissive. Of these, the authoritative/directive parenting style has proven the most effective with children.…

Investigations of Stability in Junior High School Math and English Classes: The Texas Junior High School Study. Research and Development Report No. 77-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evertson, Carolyn M.; And Others

The stability of classroom behavior is examined from several perspectives: (1) the relative consistency of teacher behavior in two different sections of the same course taught concurrently; (2) the relative consistency of student behavior in math and English classes attended concurrently; and (3) differences in student and teacher behavior in math…

When math hurts: math anxiety predicts pain network activation in anticipation of doing math.

PubMed

Lyons, Ian M; Beilock, Sian L

2012-01-01

Math can be difficult, and for those with high levels of mathematics-anxiety (HMAs), math is associated with tension, apprehension, and fear. But what underlies the feelings of dread effected by math anxiety? Are HMAs' feelings about math merely psychological epiphenomena, or is their anxiety grounded in simulation of a concrete, visceral sensation - such as pain - about which they have every right to feel anxious? We show that, when anticipating an upcoming math-task, the higher one's math anxiety, the more one increases activity in regions associated with visceral threat detection, and often the experience of pain itself (bilateral dorso-posterior insula). Interestingly, this relation was not seen during math performance, suggesting that it is not that math itself hurts; rather, the anticipation of math is painful. Our data suggest that pain network activation underlies the intuition that simply anticipating a dreaded event can feel painful. These results may also provide a potential neural mechanism to explain why HMAs tend to avoid math and math-related situations, which in turn can bias HMAs away from taking math classes or even entire math-related career paths.

Investigation of Remedial Education Course Scores as a Predictor of Introduction-Level Course Performances

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulmer, Ward; Means, Darris R.; Cawthon, Tony W.; Kristensen, Sheryl A.

2016-01-01

This study explores whether performance in remedial English and remedial math is a predictor of success in a college-level introduction English or college-level math class; and whether demographic variables increase the likelihood of remedial English and remedial math as a predictor of success in a college-level introduction English or…

The Impact of Structured Note Taking Strategies on Math Achievement of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Gregory Ashley

2012-01-01

Student math achievement continues to be a national, state, and local concern. Research suggests that note taking can improve academic achievement, but current research has failed to report how low achievers might benefit from using note taking during math classes. The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching students structured note…

Problem Solvers: Teacher Leader Teams with Content Specialist to Strengthen Math Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zrike, Sara; Connolly, Christine

2015-01-01

In early November 2013, the authors started talking about visiting the Hurley School, a dual-language school in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hurley School had spent considerable time transitioning to the Common Core State Standards on literacy, but little time addressing the shifts in math. They worried that math classes were no longer rigorous…

Effectiveness of ST Math in College Remedial Mathematics Students Learning of Fraction Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ito, Taro

2017-01-01

This study examined the extent to which the iPad app, Spatial Temporal Mathematics (ST Math), diminished college remedial mathematics students' natural number bias and deepened their fraction conceptual understanding. In this quasi-experimental study one class played the ST Math fraction games for 8 weeks, and they were compared to a control class…

Basic Math Skills and Performance in an Introductory Economics Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballard, Charles L.; Johnson, Marianne F.

2004-01-01

The authors measure math skills with a broader set of explanatory variables than have been used in previous studies. To identify what math skills are important for student success in introductory microeconomics, they examine (1) the student's score on the mathematics portion of the ACT Assessment Test, (2) whether the student has taken calculus,…

School Subtracts Math Texts to Add E-Lessons, Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trotter, Andrew

2007-01-01

This article discusses how math teachers at San Marcos High School turned to an online curriculum and in-class assessments to increase student achievement. Setting aside their 7-year-old textbooks, teachers filled the void largely with an online math curriculum, called Agile Mind, that comes equipped with an array of assessment tools. The idea was…

A Comparison between Male and Female Mathematics Anxiety at a Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruben, Thomas

This study was performed using a convenience sample of 90 students at a northeastern community college to determine gender differences of math anxiety and its effect on math avoidance. Four sections of an introductory English class were given a mathematics anxiety rating scale (MARS) and a math avoidance survey. Five hypotheses were analyzed using…

Calculation Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

MathSoft Plus 5.0 is a calculation software package for electrical engineers and computer scientists who need advanced math functionality. It incorporates SmartMath, an expert system that determines a strategy for solving difficult mathematical problems. SmartMath was the result of the integration into Mathcad of CLIPS, a NASA-developed shell for creating expert systems. By using CLIPS, MathSoft, Inc. was able to save the time and money involved in writing the original program.

Advanced Math: Closing the Equity Gap. Math Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

Minority and low-income students are less likely to have access to, enroll in and succeed in higher-level math courses in high school than their more advantaged peers. Under these circumstances, higher-level math courses function not as the intellectual and practical boost they should be, but as a filter that screens students out of the pathway to…

Children with Essential Tremor

MedlinePlus

... or the blackboard. • Encourage oral responses, even in math. • Allow the use of a computer for written ... X” can mark the correct answer. More accommodations Math class. • Allow verbal testing. • Allow inaccuracy when drawing ...

Effects of Remedial Instruction on Low-SES & Low-Math Students' Mathematics Competence, Interest and Confidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Der-Ching; Lai, Meng-Lung; Yao, Ru-Fen; Huang, Yueh-Chun

2014-01-01

This study aimed to examine the effects of remedial instruction on low-SES & low-math first graders' basic mathematics competence as well as their interest and confidence in mathematics learning. Fourteen participants of low-SES & low-math were selected from two classes totaling fifty-seven first graders at a public elementary school in…

The Effects of Guided Discussion on Math Anxiety Levels, Course Performance, and Retention in a College Algebra Internet Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emig, Christa

2009-01-01

The study sought to test the hypotheses that effective, guided discussions that facilitate meaningful dialogue about math anxiety would reduce levels of math anxiety in college algebra students, and would enhance course performance and course retention at a large community college in South Texas. The study was quantitative with a qualitative…

What Literacy Means in Math Class: Teacher Team Explores Ways to Remake Instruction to Develop Students' Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ippolito, Jacy; Dobbs, Christina L.; Charner-Laird, Megin

2017-01-01

Secondary teachers and leaders, many of whom are implementing the Common Core State Standards, are seeking guidance about how to implement disciplinary literacy practices. Of the four core subjects taught in secondary schools--English, history, math, and science--the authors have found through their work with secondary teachers that math teachers…

"With Percentages the 100 Is Always in the Denominator": From the Field to Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cincinatus, Ronit Bassan; Sheffet, Malka

2016-01-01

The ubiquity of the subject of percentages in our everyday life demands that math teachers and pre-service math teachers demonstrate a profound knowledge and thorough understanding of the concept of percentages. This work, which originated from one specific lesson in an 8th grade math class, studies the conceptual understanding and problem-solving…

Cardboard Boat Building in Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Omundsen, John

2014-01-01

If you want to get the attention of a group of eighth grade math students, tell them they are going to build a life-size cardboard boat. To increase interest, follow up this statement by telling them that two to four of them will actually be rowing this boat across a small pond. Eighth grade math students at Oasis Charter Middle School in…

When Math Hurts: Math Anxiety Predicts Pain Network Activation in Anticipation of Doing Math

PubMed Central

Lyons, Ian M.; Beilock, Sian L.

2012-01-01

Math can be difficult, and for those with high levels of mathematics-anxiety (HMAs), math is associated with tension, apprehension, and fear. But what underlies the feelings of dread effected by math anxiety? Are HMAs’ feelings about math merely psychological epiphenomena, or is their anxiety grounded in simulation of a concrete, visceral sensation – such as pain – about which they have every right to feel anxious? We show that, when anticipating an upcoming math-task, the higher one’s math anxiety, the more one increases activity in regions associated with visceral threat detection, and often the experience of pain itself (bilateral dorso-posterior insula). Interestingly, this relation was not seen during math performance, suggesting that it is not that math itself hurts; rather, the anticipation of math is painful. Our data suggest that pain network activation underlies the intuition that simply anticipating a dreaded event can feel painful. These results may also provide a potential neural mechanism to explain why HMAs tend to avoid math and math-related situations, which in turn can bias HMAs away from taking math classes or even entire math-related career paths. PMID:23118929

10 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Middle School

MedlinePlus

... dog (dinner) study for social studies test finish math worksheet read over science class notes put clothes ... number of tries to remember something correctly. In math or science, doing practice problems is a great ...

It is not known the impact or implications of a study skills class and its effect on high school students in relation to performance on math and science Georgia High School Graduation Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Mary E.

The Georgia State Board of Education has put in place requirements that high school students must meet in order to advance to a higher grade level and to achieve credits for graduation. Georgia requires all ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders to take an end-of-course test after completing class time for academic core subjects. The student's final grade in the end-of-course test course will be calculated using the course grade as 85% and the end-of-course test score as 15%. The student must have a final course grade of 70 or above to pass the course and to earn credit toward graduation. Students in Georgia are required to take the Georgia High School Graduation Test. The tests consist of five parts, writing, math, science, social studies and language arts. Students must make a minimum score of 500 which indicates the student was proficient in mastering the objectives for that particular section of the test. Not all students finish high school in four years due to obstacles that occur. Tutorial sessions are provided for those that wish to participate. High schools may offer study skills classes for students that need extra help in focusing their attention on academic courses. Study skill courses provide the student with techniques that he or she may find useful in organizing thoughts and procedures that direct the student towards success.

Students' confidence in the ability to transfer basic math skills in introductory physics and chemistry courses at a community college

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, Reginald

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the confidence levels that community college students have in transferring basic math skills to science classes, as well as any factors that influence their confidence levels. This study was conducted with 196 students at a community college in central Mississippi. The study was conducted during the month of November after all of the students had taken their midterm exams and received midterm grades. The instrument used in this survey was developed and validated by the researcher. The instrument asks the students to rate how confident they were in working out specific math problems and how confident they were in working problems using those specific math skills in physics and chemistry. The instrument also provided an example problem for every confidence item. Results revealed that students' demographics were significant predictors in confidence scores. Students in the 18-22 year old range were less confident in solving math problems than others. Students who had retaken a math course were less confident than those who had not. Chemistry students were less confident in solving math problems than those in physics courses. Chemistry II students were less confident than those in Chemistry I and Principals of Chemistry. Students were least confident in solving problems involving logarithms and the most confident in solving algebra problems. In general, students felt that their math courses did not prepare them for the math problems encountered in science courses. There was no significant difference in confidence between students who had completed their math homework online and those who had completed their homework on paper. The researcher recommends that chemistry educators find ways of incorporating more mathematics in their courses especially logarithms and slope. Furthermore, math educators should incorporate more chemistry related applications to math class. Results of hypotheses testing, conclusions, discussions, and recommendations for future research are included.

Completing the Remedial Sequence and College-Level Credit-Bearing Math: Comparing Binary, Cumulative, and Continuation Ratio Logistic Regression Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidson, J. Cody

2016-01-01

Mathematics is the most common subject area of remedial need and the majority of remedial math students never pass a college-level credit-bearing math class. The majorities of studies that investigate this phenomenon are conducted at community colleges and use some type of regression model; however, none have used a continuation ratio model. The…

The Effects of Personalized Practice Software on Learning Math Standards in the Third through Fifth Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gomez, Angela Nicole

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of "MathFacts in a Flash" software in helping students learn math standards. In each of their classes, the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a small private Roman Catholic school from the Pacific Northwest were randomly assigned either to a control group that used…

e-Alert from Fermilab Education Office November 2014 - Spring 2015

Science.gov Websites

math enrichment classes. Fermilab Friends for Science Education offers scholarships for teachers to out our new space for curriculum committees to examine the breadth of up-to-date K-12 math and science

Math at home adds up to achievement in school.

PubMed

Berkowitz, Talia; Schaeffer, Marjorie W; Maloney, Erin A; Peterson, Lori; Gregor, Courtney; Levine, Susan C; Beilock, Sian L

2015-10-09

With a randomized field experiment of 587 first-graders, we tested an educational intervention designed to promote interactions between children and parents relating to math. We predicted that increasing math activities at home would increase children's math achievement at school. We tested this prediction by having children engage in math story time with their parents. The intervention, short numerical story problems delivered through an iPad app, significantly increased children's math achievement across the school year compared to a reading (control) group, especially for children whose parents are habitually anxious about math. Brief, high-quality parent-child interactions about math at home help break the intergenerational cycle of low math achievement. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Is Math Anxiety Always Bad for Math Learning? The Role of Math Motivation.

PubMed

Wang, Zhe; Lukowski, Sarah L; Hart, Sara A; Lyons, Ian M; Thompson, Lee A; Kovas, Yulia; Mazzocco, Michèle M M; Plomin, Robert; Petrill, Stephen A

2015-12-01

The linear relations between math anxiety and math cognition have been frequently studied. However, the relations between anxiety and performance on complex cognitive tasks have been repeatedly demonstrated to follow a curvilinear fashion. In the current studies, we aimed to address the lack of attention given to the possibility of such complex interplay between emotion and cognition in the math-learning literature by exploring the relations among math anxiety, math motivation, and math cognition. In two samples-young adolescent twins and adult college students-results showed inverted-U relations between math anxiety and math performance in participants with high intrinsic math motivation and modest negative associations between math anxiety and math performance in participants with low intrinsic math motivation. However, this pattern was not observed in tasks assessing participants' nonsymbolic and symbolic number-estimation ability. These findings may help advance the understanding of mathematics-learning processes and provide important insights for treatment programs that target improving mathematics-learning experiences and mathematical skills. © The Author(s) 2015.

Fueling Interest in Science: An After-School Program Model that Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koenig, Kathleen; Hanson, Margaret

2008-01-01

As our society becomes more technologically advanced and jobs require additional related skills, it is important that all girls, not just those interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (commonly referred to as the STEM disciplines), take advanced levels of science and math in high school. Evidence suggests that intervention…

Speaking Math: Using Chat in the Multicultural Math Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Janet; Hodgson, Ted

2008-01-01

Electronic communication is a powerful tool teachers can leverage to improve learning. In this article, the authors explain how they used chat and discussion forums to improve their mathematics classes, and how others can adapt their strategies across the curriculum.

Competency and Persistence of New College Students Enrolled in Math 310 at San Jose City College, Fall 1990. Research Report #127.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kangas, Jon; Budros, Kathleen

A study was conducted at San Jose City College (SJCC) to identify and track 163 new students enrolled in Math 310 over a period of several semesters. Data on the students' competency and persistence rates were collected for fall 1990 and spring 1991, along with subsequent math class enrollments and success rates. Study findings included the…

Regularity Results for a Class of Functionals with Non-Standard Growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acerbi, Emilio; Mingione, Giuseppe

We consider the integral functional under non-standard growth assumptions that we call p(x) type: namely, we assume that a relevant model case being the functional Under sharp assumptions on the continuous function p(x)>1 we prove regularity of minimizers. Energies exhibiting this growth appear in several models from mathematical physics.

Degrees of Freedom: Diversifying Math Requirements for College Readiness and Graduation (Report 1 of a 3-Part Series)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdman, Pamela

2015-01-01

Since the mid-20th century, the standard U.S. high school and college math curriculum has been based on two years of algebra and a year of geometry, preparing students to take classes in pre-calculus followed by calculus. Students' math pursuits have been differentiated primarily by how far or how rapidly they proceed along a clearly defined…

Trajectories of Math Achievement and Perceived Math Competence over High School and Postsecondary Education: Effects of an All-Girl Curriculum in High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shapka, Jennifer D.

2009-01-01

This study investigated the benefits of all-girls' classroom instruction in math and/or science during Grades 9 and/or 10, within the context of a public co-educational high school. There were 118 participants in this longitudinal investigation: 26 girls in the all-girl classes, as well as 42 girls and 50 boys in the regular co-educational…

Pathways Post-Participation Outcomes: Preliminary Findings. Carnegie Math Pathways Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, Jon

2017-01-01

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's Math Pathways seek to improve outcomes for community college students who take remedial math courses. The Pathways include two comprehensive instructional systems--Statway® and Quantaway® and are described in this report. They are designed to support students to achieve the necessary math…

Mathematics/Arithmetic Knowledge-Based Way of Thinking and Its Maintenance Needed for Engineers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harada, Shoji

Examining curriculum among universities revealed that no significant difference in math class or related subjects can be seen. However, amount and depth of those studies, in general, differed depending on content of curriculum and the level of achievement at entrance to individual university. Universalization of higher education shows that students have many problems in learning higher level of traditional math and that the memory of math they learned quickly fades away after passing in exam. It means that further development of higher math knowledgebased engineer after graduation from universities. Under these circumstances, the present author, as one of fun of math, propose how to maintain way of thinking generated by math knowledge. What necessary for engineer is to pay attention to common books, dealing with elementary mathematics or arithmetic- related matters. This surely leads engineer to nourish math/arithmetic knowledge-based way of thinking.

Is Mathematical Anxiety Always Bad for Math Learning: The Role of Math Motivation

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhe; Lukowski, Sarah L.; Hart, Sara Ann; Lyons, Ian M.; Thompson, Lee A.; Kovas, Yulia; Mazzocco, Michèle M.; Plomin, Robert; Petrill, Stephen A.

2015-01-01

The linear relations between math anxiety and math cognition have been frequently studied. However, the relations between anxiety and performance on complex cognitive tasks have been repeatedly demonstrated to follow a curvilinear fashion. Given the lack of attention to the possibility of such complex interplay between emotion and cognition in the math learning literature, the current study aimed to address this gap via exploring the relations between math anxiety, math motivation, and math cognition. The current study consisted of two samples. One sample included 262 pairs of young adolescent twins and the other included 237 adult college students. Participants self-reported their math anxiety and math motivation. Math cognition was assessed using a comprehensive battery of mathematics tasks. In both samples, results showed inverted-U relations between math anxiety and math performance in students with high intrinsic math motivation, and modest negative associations between math anxiety and math performance in students with low intrinsic math motivation. However, this pattern was not observed in tasks assessing student’s nonsymbolic and symbolic number estimation. These findings may help advance our understanding of mathematics learning processes and may provide important insights for treatment programs that target improving mathematics learning experiences and mathematical skills. PMID:26518438

Curriculum Boosters. Social Studies, Math, Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reissman, Rose; And Others

1994-01-01

Presents three curriculum boosting activities for elementary classes. A social studies activity builds bridges to other cultures via literature. A math activity teaches students about percentages using baseball card statistics. A language arts activity helps students learn to appreciate the language of Shakespeare. A student page presents a…

Star Students Make Connections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Anne Marie; Superfine, Alison Castro; Canty, Reality S.

2010-01-01

Ms. Beyer's first graders have been working for several weeks on solving problems that encourage the use of such multiple representations as ten frames and number lines. The class is using Math Trailblazers, a National Science Foundation-supported elementary school math curriculum developed to reflect recent reform efforts in mathematics…

Dynamics of two-strain influenza model with cross-immunity and no quarantine class.

PubMed

Chung, K W; Lui, Roger

2016-12-01

The question about whether a periodic solution can exists for a given epidemiological model is a complicated one and has a long history (Hethcote and Levin, Applied math. ecology, biomathematics, vol 18. Springer, Berlin, pp 193-211, 1989). For influenza models, it is well known that a periodic solution can exists for a single-strain model with periodic contact rate (Aron and Schwartz, J Math Biol 110:665-679, 1984; Kuznetsov and Piccardi, J Math Biol 32:109-121, 1994), or a multiple-strain model with cross-immunity and quarantine class or age-structure (Nuño et al., Mathematical epidemiology. Lecture notes in mathematics, vol 1945. Springer, Berlin, 2008, chapter 13). In this paper, we prove the local asymptotic stability of the interior steady-state of a two-strain influenza model with sufficiently close cross-immunity and no quarantine class or age-structure. We also show that if the cross-immunity between two strains are far apart; then it is possible for the interior steady-state to lose its stability and bifurcation of periodic solutions can occur. Our results extend those obtained by Nuño et.al. (SIAM J Appl Math 65:964-982, 2005). This problem is important because understanding the reasons behind periodic outbreaks of seasonal flu is an important issue in public health.

U.S. Poised to Sit Out TIMSS Test: Physics, Advanced Math Gauged in Global Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viadero, Debra

2007-01-01

This article reports on reactions to the U.S. Department of Education's first time decision to sit out an international study designed to show how advanced high school students around the world measure up in math and science. Mark S. Schneider, the commissioner of the department's National Center for Education Statistics, which normally takes the…

Friends and Family: A Literature Review on How High School Social Groups Influence Advanced Math and Science Coursetaking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottfried, Michael; Owens, Ann; Williams, Darryl; Kim, Hui Yon; Musto, Michela

2017-01-01

In this study, we synthesized the literature on how informal contexts, namely friends and family social groups, shape high school students' likelihood of pursuing advanced math and science coursework. Extending scholarly understandings of STEM education, we turned to the body of literature with three guiding questions: (1) What influence do…

On a class of Newton-like methods for solving nonlinear equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argyros, Ioannis K.

2009-06-01

We provide a semilocal convergence analysis for a certain class of Newton-like methods considered also in [I.K. Argyros, A unifying local-semilocal convergence analysis and applications for two-point Newton-like methods in Banach space, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 298 (2004) 374-397; I.K. Argyros, Computational theory of iterative methods, in: C.K. Chui, L. Wuytack (Eds.), Series: Studies in Computational Mathematics, vol. 15, Elsevier Publ. Co, New York, USA, 2007; J.E. Dennis, Toward a unified convergence theory for Newton-like methods, in: L.B. Rall (Ed.), Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Applications, Academic Press, New York, 1971], in order to approximate a locally unique solution of an equation in a Banach space. Using a combination of Lipschitz and center-Lipschitz conditions, instead of only Lipschitz conditions [F.A. Potra, Sharp error bounds for a class of Newton-like methods, Libertas Math. 5 (1985) 71-84], we provide an analysis with the following advantages over the work in [F.A. Potra, Sharp error bounds for a class of Newton-like methods, Libertas Math. 5 (1985) 71-84] which improved the works in [W.E. Bosarge, P.L. Falb, A multipoint method of third order, J. Optimiz. Theory Appl. 4 (1969) 156-166; W.E. Bosarge, P.L. Falb, Infinite dimensional multipoint methods and the solution of two point boundary value problems, Numer. Math. 14 (1970) 264-286; J.E. Dennis, On the Kantorovich hypothesis for Newton's method, SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 6 (3) (1969) 493-507; J.E. Dennis, Toward a unified convergence theory for Newton-like methods, in: L.B. Rall (Ed.), Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Applications, Academic Press, New York, 1971; H.J. Kornstaedt, Ein allgemeiner Konvergenzstaz fü r verschä rfte Newton-Verfahrem, in: ISNM, vol. 28, Birkhaü ser Verlag, Basel and Stuttgart, 1975, pp. 53-69; P. Laasonen, Ein überquadratisch konvergenter iterativer algorithmus, Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn. Ser I 450 (1969) 1-10; F.A. Potra, On a modified secant method, L'analyse numérique et la theorie de l'approximation 8 (2) (1979) 203-214; F.A. Potra, An application of the induction method of V. Pták to the study of Regula Falsi, Aplikace Matematiky 26 (1981) 111-120; F.A. Potra, On the convergence of a class of Newton-like methods, in: Iterative Solution of Nonlinear Systems of Equations, in: Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 953, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982; F.A. Potra, V. Pták, Nondiscrete induction and double step secant method, Math. Scand. 46 (1980) 236-250; F.A. Potra, V. Pták, On a class of modified Newton processes, Numer. Funct. Anal. Optim. 2 (1) (1980) 107-120; F.A. Potra, Sharp error bounds for a class of Newton-like methods, Libertas Math. 5 (1985) 71-84; J.W. Schmidt, Untere Fehlerschranken für Regula-Falsi Verfahren, Period. Math. Hungar. 9 (3) (1978) 241-247; J.W. Schmidt, H. Schwetlick, Ableitungsfreie Verfhren mit höherer Konvergenzgeschwindifkeit, Computing 3 (1968) 215-226; J.F. Traub, Iterative Methods for the Solution of Equations, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1964; M.A. Wolfe, Extended iterative methods for the solution of operator equations, Numer. Math. 31 (1978) 153-174]: larger convergence domain and weaker sufficient convergence conditions. Numerical examples further validating the results are also provided.

Americans Need Advanced Math to Stay Globally Competitive. Math Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

No student who hopes to compete in today's rapidly evolving global economy and job market can afford to graduate from high school with weak mathematical skills, which include the ability to use logic, reason, and solve problems. The benefits associated with improving the math performance of American students also extend to the larger U.S. economy.…

Connecting Mathematics and Writing Workshop: It's Kinda like Ice Skating

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Susan

2009-01-01

Second-grade students struggle with writing about mathematical topics during math class, so the teacher begins to integrate mathematical topics into their Writing Workshop. Content journals are used during math, and students are encouraged to write about personal connections to mathematical situations, as well as incorporate mathematical concepts…

Making WAVES.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hindes, Victoria A.; Hom, Keri; Brookshaw, Keith

About 46% of high school graduates enrolled in California State Universities need remedial courses in both math and English to prepare them for college level. These students typically earned B averages in their high school math and English classes. In order to address this issue, Shasta College launched Operation WAVES (Win by Achieving Valuable…

Master Class: Children's Literature and Mathematics--an Unhealthy Alliance?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Terrell

1999-01-01

Responds to current interest in the integration of children's literature and mathematics. Suggests that although using trade books instead of textbooks in teaching math holds promise, it is potentially negative. Concludes that aligning children's literature and math has the potential to help children better understand and appreciate both…

2-Extendability in Two Classes of Claw-Free Graphs

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-01

extendability of planar graphs, Discrete Math ., 96, 1991, 81-99. [Lai M. Las Verguas, A note on matchings in graphs, Colloque sur la Thiorie des Graphes...43, 1987, 187-222. [LP L. Loviss and M.D. Plummet, Matching Theory, Ann. Discrete Math . 29, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986. [P11 M.D. Plummer, On n...extendable graphs, Discrete Math . 31, 1960, 201-210. [P21 Extending matchinp in planar graphs IV, Proc. of the Conference in honor of Cert Sabidussi, Ann

Long-term Stable Conservative Multiscale Methods for Vortex Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-31

Computational and Applied Mathematics and Engeneering, Eccomas 2016 (Crete, June, 2016) - M. A. Olshanskii, Scientific computing seminar of Math ...UMass Dartmouth (October 2015) - L. Rebholz, Applied Math Seminar Talk, University of Alberta (October 2015) - L. Rebholz, Colloquium Talk, Scientific...Colloquium, (November 2016) - L. Rebholz, Joint Math Meetings 2017, Special session on recent advances in numerical analysis of PDEs, Atlanta GA

Tai chi/yoga effects on anxiety, heartrate, EEG and math computations.

PubMed

Field, Tiffany; Diego, Miguel; Hernandez-Reif, Maria

2010-11-01

To determine the immediate effects of a combined form of Tai chi/yoga. 38 adults participated in a 20-min Tai chi/yoga class. The session was comprised of standing Tai chi movements, balancing poses and a short Tai chi form and 10 min of standing, sitting and lying down yoga poses. The pre- and post- Tai chi/yoga effects were assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), EKG, EEG and math computations. Heartrate increased during the session, as would be expected for this moderate-intensity exercise. Changes from pre to post-session assessments suggested increased relaxation including decreased anxiety and a trend for increased EEG theta activity. The increased relaxation may have contributed to the increased speed and accuracy noted on math computations following the Tai chi/yoga class. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tai Chi/ Yoga Effects on Anxiety, Heartrate, EEG and Math Computations

PubMed Central

Field, Tiffany; Diego, Miguel; Hernandez-Reif, Maria

2010-01-01

Objective To determine the immediate effects of a combined form of tai chi/yoga. Design 38 adults participated in a 20-minute tai chi/yoga class. The session was comprised of standing tai chi movements, balancing poses and a short tai chi form and 10 minutes of standing, sitting and lying down yoga poses. Main outcome measures The pre- and post- tai chi/ yoga effects were assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), EKG, EEG and math computations. Results Heartrate increased during the session, as would be expected for this moderate intensity exercise. Changes from pre to post session assessments suggested increased relaxation including decreased anxiety and a trend for increased EEG theta activity. Conclusions The increased relaxation may have contributed to the increased speed and accuracy noted on math computations following the tai chi/yoga class. PMID:20920810

Communication Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

MedlinePlus

... or an advanced ability to count and do math calculations. Approximately 10 percent of children with ASD ... areas, such as memorization, calendar calculation, music, or math. Uneven language development. Many children with ASD develop ...

z -classes of isometries of the hyperbolic space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gongopadhyay, Krishnendu; Kulkarni, Ravi S.

Let G be a group. Two elements x, y are said to be z -equivalent if their centralizers are conjugate in G . The class equation of G is the partition of G into conjugacy classes. Further decomposition of conjugacy classes into z -classes provides important information about the internal structure of the group; cf. J. Ramanujan Math. Soc. 22 (2007), 35-56, for the elaboration of this theme. Let I(H^n) denote the group of isometries of the hyperbolic n -space, and let I_o(H^n) be the identity component of I(H^n) . We show that the number of z -classes in I(H^n) is finite. We actually compute their number; cf. theorem 1.3. We interpret the finiteness of z -classes as accounting for the finiteness of ``dynamical types'' in I(H^n) . Along the way we also parametrize conjugacy classes. We mainly use the linear model of the hyperbolic space for this purpose. This description of parametrizing conjugacy classes appears to be new; cf. Academic Press, New York, 1974, 49-87 and Conformal geometry (Bonn, 1985/1986), 41-64, Aspects Math., E12, Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1988, for previous attempts. Ahlfors (Differential Geometry and Complex Analysis (Springer, 1985), 65-73) suggested the use of Clifford algebras to deal with higher dimensional hyperbolic geometry; cf. Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn. Ser. A I Math. 10 (1985), 15-27, Quasiconformal Mappings and Analysis (Springer, 1998), 109-139, Complex Variables Theory Appl. 15 (1990), 125-133, and Adv. Math. 101 (1993), 87-113. These works may be compared to the approach suggested in this paper. In dimensions 2 and 3 , by remarkable Lie-theoretic isomorphisms, I_o(H2) and I_o(H3) can be lifted to GL_o(2, R) , and GL(2, C) respectively. For orientation-reversing isometries there are some modifications of these liftings. Using these liftings, in the appendix A, we have introduced a single numerical invariant c(A) , to classify the elements of I(H2) and I(H3) , and explained the classical terminology. Using the ``Iwasawa decomposition'' of I_o(H^n) , it is possible to equip H^n with a group structure. In the appendix B, we visualize the stratification of the group H^n into its conjugacy and z -classes.

Efficacy Expectations and Vocational Interests as Mediators between Sex and Choice of Math/Science College Majors: A Longitudinal Study

PubMed

Lapan; Shaughnessy; Boggs

1996-12-01

A longitudinal study was conducted to test the mediational role of efficacy expectations in relation to sex differences in the choice of a math/science college major. Data on 101 students were gathered prior to their entering college and then again after they had declared a major 3 years later. Path analytic results support the importance of both math self-efficacy beliefs and vocational interest in mathematics in predicting entry into math/science majors and mediating sex differences in these decisions. Also, students who described themselves as more extroverted were less likely to take additional math classes in high school. Students with stronger artistic vocational interests chose majors less related to math and science. School personnel are strongly encouraged to develop programs that challenge the crystallization of efficacy beliefs and vocational interest patterns before students enter college.

The Quantitative Reasoning for College Science (QuaRCS) Assessment in non-Astro 101 Courses II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkman, Thomas W.; Jensen, Ellen

2017-06-01

The Quantitative Reasoning for College Science (QuaRCS) Assessment[1] aims to measure the pre-algebra mathematical skills that are often part of "general education" science courses like Astro 101. In four majors STEM classes, we report comparisons between QuaRCS metrics, ACT math, GPAO, and the course grade. In three of four classes QuaRCS QR score and ACT math were statistically significantly correlated (with r˜.6), however in the fourth course —a senior-level microbiology course— there was no statistically significantly correlation (in fact, r<0). In all courses —even in courses with seemingly little quantitative content— course grade was statistically significantly correlated to GPAO and QR. A QuaRCS metric aiming to report the students belief in the importance of math in science was seen to grow with the course level. Pre/post QuaRCS testing in Physics courses showed fractional sigma gains in QR, self-estimated math fluency and math importance, but not all of those increases were statistically significant. Using a QuaRCS map relating the questions to skill areas, we found graph reading, percentages, and proportional reasoning to be the most misunderstood skills in all four courses.[1] QuaRCS, Follette, et al.,2015, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.8.2.2

We?re Poppin' For Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levert, Brenda

2004-01-01

Each year, students in my seventh- and eighth-grade math classes plan and organize a schoolwide popcorn sale. This activity brings to life mathematical concepts learned in the classroom. By transferring textbook mathematics to a real-world situation, my students learn to value the mathematics being studied and are able to understand how it can…

Acceleration across California: Shorter Pathways in Developmental English and Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hern, Katie

2012-01-01

Developmental courses in English, math, and reading have an important purpose in higher education, especially in the open-access world of community colleges. These classes--also referred to as "remedial"--are intended to give less-prepared students a chance to catch up and meet the challenges of college-level coursework. However,…

An Inquiry into Flipped Learning in Fourth Grade Math Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'addato, Teresa; Miller, Libbi R.

2016-01-01

The objective of this action research project was to better understand the impact of flipped learning on fourth grade math students in a socioeconomically disadvantaged setting. A flipped instructional model was implemented with the group of students enrolled in the researcher's class. Data was collected in the form of classroom observations,…

Remembering Math: The Design of Digital Learning Objects to Spark Professional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halverson, Richard; Wolfenstein, Moses; Williams, Caroline C.; Rockman, Charles

2009-01-01

This article describes how the design of digital learning objects can spark professional learning. The challenge was to build learning objects that would help experienced special education teachers, who had been teaching in math classes, to demonstrate their proficiency in middle and secondary school mathematics on the PRAXIS examination. While…

Buoys and Springs--Building Connections between Math and Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tenhoff, Amanda C.; Gerenz, Adam J.; Jalkio, Jeffrey A.

2016-01-01

Students often tend to compartmentalize material learned in school. While we see this phenomenon within our own classes, it is even more apparent that students have difficulty making connections between their math and physics courses. We believe that hands-on experiments are particularly useful in helping students make these connections. In this…

Robots Bring Math-Powered Ideas to Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Kasi C.

2013-01-01

What if every middle school student learned to create a robot in math class? What if every middle school had a robotics team? Would students view mathematics differently? Would they have a different relationship with technology? Might they see science and engineering as fields driven by innovation rather than memorization? As students find…

Voice, Identity, and Mathematics: Narratives of Working Class Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodge, Lynn Liao; Harris, Ramona Gartman

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an analysis of student interview data focusing on students' ideas about mathematics and their experiences learning mathematics. We draw on the idea of "personal identity" (Cobb, Gresalfi, & Hodge, 2009) to capture the differences and similarities in students' views of math and themselves as math learners,…

Designing Tasks for Math Modeling in College Algebra: A Critical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staats, Susan; Robertson, Douglas

2014-01-01

Over the last decade, the pedagogical approach known as mathematical modeling has received increased interest in college algebra classes in the United States. Math modeling assignments ask students to develop their own problem-solving tools to address non-routine, realistic scenarios. The open-ended quality of modeling activities creates dilemmas…

Effect of Training in Math Metacognitive Strategy on Fractional Achievement of Nigerian Schoolchildren

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onu, V. C.; Eskay, M.; Igbo, J. N.; Obiyo, N.; Agbo, O.

2012-01-01

This study examined the effect of training in math metacognition on fractional mathematics among primary school pupils, with a quasi-experimental design, specifically a post-test only control group design. Two intact classes were randomly selected and assigned to treatment and control conditions. Sixty primary six pupils constituted the sample…

The Efficacy of Instructional Strategy on Mathematics Achievement, Attitudes, and Anxiety Levels of Developmental Math Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas-Browne, Carmen G.

2009-01-01

This dissertation investigated three instructional strategies in developmental math classes to determine if instructional strategy had a positive effect on student achievement, attitude towards mathematics, and anxiety level towards mathematics at a college in western Pennsylvania for students majoring in applied arts. The significance of this…

Effects of Direct Teaching Using Creative Memorization Strategies To Improve Math Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bielsker, Staci; Napoli, Lori; Sandino, Melissa; Waishwell, Lesa

This report describes a program for enhancing direct teaching using creative memorization strategies in order to improve retention and quick retrieval of math facts. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in two separate districts in middle class communities. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students were…

Proof Positive

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harac, Lani

2005-01-01

After figuring out why many kids hate math, these longtime educators Bob and Ellen Kaplan created an after-school program in which children as young as 5 formulate equations of their own--and actually enjoy doing it. This paper discusses the experiences of the Kaplan couple, Bob and Ellen, on their Math Circle class during after-school sessions…

Talking about Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hintz, Allison; Kazemi, Elham

2014-01-01

By simply asking students how they got the answer to a problem, math teachers can open the door to stimulating discussions in class. But how can they make sure those discussions promote mathematical understanding? Allison Hintz and Elham Kazemi explain that teachers need to know what the goal is for a discussion and plan accordingly. The authors…

Manufacturing Math Classes: An Instructional Program Guide for Manufacturing Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBride, Pamela G.; And Others

This program guide documents a manufacturing job family curriculum that develops competence in generic work force education skills through three courses: Reading Rulers, Charts, and Gauges and Math for Manufacturing Workers I and II. An annotated table of contents lists a brief description of the questions answered in each section. An introduction…

Mathematicians in Schools: Uncovering Maths' Beautiful Secrets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welch, Bronwyn

2016-01-01

Mathematics professionals are working with teachers revealing the reality and beauty that happens in the world of math and to show that this is essentially a "human endeavour," embedded in much of what people do and the ways in which they think. In this article, the author shares vignettes of primary classes working with mathematicians…

Student Perceptions of Active Instructional Designs in Four Inner City Adult Education Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, LaToya S.

2010-01-01

The focus of this study was to examine the attitudes, experiences, and opinions of adult math students in Adult Basic Education programs. Sixty students participated in the study, by completing observations, questionnaires, and completing the Attitude Towards Mathematics Survey (ATMS). The ATMS survey analyzed four factors. These factors included…

Single Sex Classes for Gifted Students: A Case Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kravetz, Nathan

A summer math class for gifted girls (grades 5-9) was established and conducted by a female instructor for 3 weeks. The class involved take-home work, puzzles, problem solving, and computer work. Parents and students were satisfied with the enrichment class, but questions remained concerning such an approach's legality, the advisability of…

Do girls really experience more anxiety in mathematics?

PubMed

Goetz, Thomas; Bieg, Madeleine; Lüdtke, Oliver; Pekrun, Reinhard; Hall, Nathan C

2013-10-01

Two studies were conducted to examine gender differences in trait (habitual) versus state (momentary) mathematics anxiety in a sample of students (Study 1: N = 584; Study 2: N = 111). For trait math anxiety, the findings of both studies replicated previous research showing that female students report higher levels of anxiety than do male students. However, no gender differences were observed for state anxiety, as assessed using experience-sampling methods while students took a math test (Study 1) and attended math classes (Study 2). The discrepant findings for trait versus state math anxiety were partly accounted for by students' beliefs about their competence in mathematics, with female students reporting lower perceived competence than male students despite having the same average grades in math. Implications for educational practices and the assessment of anxiety are discussed.

Instruction, Teacher–Student Relations, and Math Achievement Trajectories in Elementary School

PubMed Central

Crosnoe, Robert; Morrison, Fred; Burchinal, Margaret; Pianta, Robert; Keating, Daniel; Friedman, Sarah L.; Clarke-Stewart, K. Alison

2010-01-01

Children enter elementary school with widely different skill levels in core subjects. Whether because of differences in aptitude or in preparedness, these initial skill differences often translate into systematic disparities in achievement over time. How can teachers reduce these disparities? Three possibilities are to offer basic skills training, to expose students to higher order instruction, or to provide socioemotional support. Repeated measures analyses of longitudinal data from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development revealed that children with low, average, or high math skills prior to elementary school followed different but parallel trajectories of math achievement up through fifth grade. When enrolled in classes with inference-based instruction, however, the initially least skilled children narrowed the achievement gap as long as they did not have conflictual relations with their teachers. They did not make this kind of progress if they were in classes focused exclusively on basic skills instruction or if they were in inference-focused classes but had conflictual relations with teachers. PMID:20657743

Who Will Do Science? Trends, and Their Causes in Minority and Female Representation among Holders of Advanced Degrees in Science and Mathematics. A Special Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berryman, Sue E.

This paper describes trends in and causes of minority and female representation among holders of advanced science and math degrees. The minority groups studied are Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and Asian Americans, all of whom are compared with Whites. The degrees looked at include those in math, the computer sciences, physical…

On Some Algebraic and Combinatorial Properties of Dunkl Elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirillov, Anatol N.

2013-06-01

We introduce and study a certain class of nonhomogeneous quadratic algebras together with the special set of mutually commuting elements inside of each, the so-called Dunkl elements. We describe relations among the Dunkl elements. This result is a further generalization of similar results obtained in [S. Fomin and A. N. Kirillov, Quadratic algebras, Dunkl elements and Schubert calculus, in Advances in Geometry (eds. J.-S. Brylinski, V. Nistor, B. Tsygan and P. Xu), Progress in Math. Vol. 172 (Birkhäuser Boston, Boston, 1995), pp. 147-182, A. Postnikov, On a quantum version of Pieri's formula, in Advances in Geometry (eds. J.-S. Brylinski, R. Brylinski, V. Nistor, B. Tsygan and P. Xu), Progress in Math. Vol. 172 (Birkhäuser Boston, 1995), pp. 371-383 and A. N. Kirillov and T. Maenor, A Note on Quantum K-Theory of Flag Varieties, preprint]. As an application we describe explicitly the set of relations among the Gaudin elements in the group ring of the symmetric group, cf. [E. Mukhin, V. Tarasov and A. Varchenko, Bethe Subalgebras of the Group Algebra of the Symmetric Group, preprint arXiv:1004.4248]. Also we describe a few combinatorial properties of some special elements in the associative quasi-classical Yang-Baxter algebra in a connection with the values of the β-Grothendieck polynomials for some special permutations, and on the other hand, with the Ehrhart polynomial of the Chan-Robbins polytope.

On Some Algebraic and Combinatorial Properties of Dunkl Elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirillov, Anatol N.

2012-11-01

We introduce and study a certain class of nonhomogeneous quadratic algebras together with the special set of mutually commuting elements inside of each, the so-called Dunkl elements. We describe relations among the Dunkl elements. This result is a further generalization of similar results obtained in [S. Fomin and A. N. Kirillov, Quadratic algebras, Dunkl elements and Schubert calculus, in Advances in Geometry (eds. J.-S. Brylinski, V. Nistor, B. Tsygan and P. Xu), Progress in Math. Vol. 172 (Birkhäuser Boston, Boston, 1995), pp. 147-182, A. Postnikov, On a quantum version of Pieri's formula, in Advances in Geometry (eds. J.-S. Brylinski, R. Brylinski, V. Nistor, B. Tsygan and P. Xu), Progress in Math. Vol. 172 (Birkhäuser Boston, 1995), pp. 371-383 and A. N. Kirillov and T. Maenor, A Note on Quantum K-Theory of Flag Varieties, preprint]. As an application we describe explicitly the set of relations among the Gaudin elements in the group ring of the symmetric group, cf. [E. Mukhin, V. Tarasov and A. Varchenko, Bethe Subalgebras of the Group Algebra of the Symmetric Group, preprint arXiv:1004.4248]. Also we describe a few combinatorial properties of some special elements in the associative quasi-classical Yang-Baxter algebra in a connection with the values of the β-Grothendieck polynomials for some special permutations, and on the other hand, with the Ehrhart polynomial of the Chan-Robbins polytope.

Exposing the Myth: Advanced Math Does Not Increase Drop out Rates. Math Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

A common argument against raising math course-taking requirements for all students is that it will cause more students to drop out of high school. But most students who drop out for academic reasons do so not because they are being "too challenged," but rather because they are not being challenged enough. It is important to raise the rigor and…

Consumer Education in Any Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wingo, Rosetta F.

1977-01-01

Examples are offered of how the classroom teacher can blend consumer education into typewriting, business English, business math, and other classes by intentionally focusing on principles and concepts or by including it incidentally when the opportunity arises. (TA)

Methods to Improve Performance of Students with Weaker Math Skills in an Algebra-based Physics Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Leigh

2015-03-01

I will describe methods used at the University of Cincinnati to enhance student success in an algebra-based physics course. The first method is to use ALEKS, an adaptive online mathematics tutorial engine, before the term begins. Approximately three to four weeks before the beginning of the term, the professor in the course emails all of the students in the course informing them of the possibility of improving their math proficiency by using ALEKS. Using only a minimal reward on homework, we have achieved a 70% response rate with students spending an average of 8 hours working on their math skills before classes start. The second method is to use a flipped classroom approach. The class of 135 meets in a tiered classroom twice per week for two hours. Over the previous weekend students spend approximately 2 hours reading the book, taking short multiple choice conceptual quizzes, and viewing videos covering the material. In class, students use Learning Catalytics to work through homework problems in groups, guided by the instructor and one learning assistant. Using these interventions, we have reduced the student DWF rate (the fraction of students receiving a D or lower in the class) from an historical average of 35 to 40% to less than 20%.

Literacy Profiles of At-Risk Young Adults Enrolled in Career and Technical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellard, Daryl F.; Woods, Kari L.; Lee, Jae Hoon

2016-01-01

A latent profile analysis of 323 economically and academically at-risk adolescent and young adult learners yielded two classes: an average literacy class (92%) and a low literacy class (8%). The class profiles significantly differed in their word reading and math skills, and in their processing speeds and self-reported learning disabilities. The…

Our Move: Using Chess to Improve Math Achievement for Students Who Receive Special Education Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrett, David C.; Fish, Wade W.

2011-01-01

This causal-comparative study evaluated a 30-week chess instructional program implemented within special education math classes for students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in a suburban middle school located in the southwestern United States. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was utilized to compare the adjusted means for the comparison…

Single Sex Math Classes: What and for Whom? One School's Experiences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durost, Richard A.

1996-01-01

Presque Isle (Maine) High School has offered a section of all-girls algebra for seven years. The intent was to narrow the gap between 11th-grade boys' and girls' math achievement scores and create a more comfortable learning atmosphere for girls. The achievement score gap has decreased from 72 to 16 points. (MLH)

Active Learning in a Math for Liberal Arts Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lenz, Laurie

2015-01-01

Inquiry-based learning is a topic of growing interest in the mathematical community. Much of the focus has been on using these methods in calculus and higher-level classes. This article describes the design and implementation of a set of inquiry-based learning activities in a Math for Liberal Arts course at a small, private, Catholic college.…

A Bold New Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Salman; Slavitt, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Summit San Jose is part of the Summit Public Schools network, a group of charter schools in California's Bay Area. In 2011, when Summit San Jose first opened its new high school with a cohort of 9th graders, the teachers decided to pilot Khan Academy. At the time, they had piloted their math resources and platform with five classrooms in Los…

Educational Investment, Family Context, and Children's Math and Reading Growth from Kindergarten through the Third Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheadle, Jacob E.

2008-01-01

Drawing on longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, this study used IRT modeling to operationalize a measure of parental educational investments based on Lareau's notion of concerted cultivation. It used multilevel piece-wise growth models regressing children's math and reading achievement…

Reaching for the Moon: Overcoming Learning Disabilities. An Interview with Samantha Abeel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schools in the Middle, 1995

1995-01-01

In this interview, 16-year-old Samantha Abeel, who is learning-disabled in math, describes the frustrations of dealing with seventh-grade responsibilities like locker combinations, unfamiliar teachers, and algebra. Sam is gifted in writing but didn't receive special help with math until entering a special education class in eighth grade, where a…

Collaboration between Mathematics Facilitators and Preschool Teachers Using the Innovative "Senso-Math" Preschool Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassidov, Dina; Ilany, Bat-Sheva

2018-01-01

This article presents a mixed-method study of the innovative "Senso-Math" preschool program and the reactions of both the facilitators, who underwent a special training program, and the preschool teachers in whose classes the program was implemented. The goal of the program is to enhance mathematical development in preschool children…

Middle School Student Factors as Predictors of College Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karnick, Kelley

2013-01-01

In this study, several middle school factors of students from two consecutive graduating classes were analyzed to determine what relation they had to college readiness, as measured by ACT subtest scores. The academic factors included: 8th grade EXPLORE composite score, 7th grade spring reading and math MAP scores, highest math course completed in…

Academic Intervention: Acceleration and Remediation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franklin, Barbara Gail

2016-01-01

Eighth grade math students must pass a standards based test to be promoted to the next grade. Students who were at risk of failing the state's annual test faced impending retention. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to see if an intensive nine-week (55 min per day) remedial Math Connection (MC) class for 67 suburban, eighth grade…

A Quantitative Study of the Use of "DreamBox Learning" and Its Effectiveness in Improving Math Achievement of Elementary Students with Math Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grams, Devonee

2018-01-01

Math underachievement is of grave concern with 42% of 4th grade and 36% of 8th grade students achieving at a proficient or advanced level in mathematics, and schools are continually searching for interventions to implement with struggling students. The problem addressed in this study is recently an elementary school purchased access to…

Restructuring the CS 1 classroom: Examining the effect of open laboratory-based classes vs. closed laboratory-based classes on Computer Science 1 students' achievement and attitudes toward computers and computer courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henderson, Jean Foster

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of classroom restructuring involving computer laboratories on student achievement and student attitudes toward computers and computer courses. The effects of the targeted student attributes of gender, previous programming experience, math background, and learning style were also examined. The open lab-based class structure consisted of a traditional lecture class with a separate, unscheduled lab component in which lab assignments were completed outside of class; the closed lab-based class structure integrated a lab component within the lecture class so that half the class was reserved for lecture and half the class was reserved for students to complete lab assignments by working cooperatively with each other and under the supervision and guidance of the instructor. The sample consisted of 71 students enrolled in four intact classes of Computer Science I during the fall and spring semesters of the 2006--2007 school year at two southern universities: two classes were held in the fall (one at each university) and two classes were held in the spring (one at each university). A counterbalanced repeated measures design was used in which all students experienced both class structures for half of each semester. The order of control and treatment was rotated among the four classes. All students received the same amount of class and instructor time. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) via a multiple regression strategy was used to test the study's hypotheses. Although the overall MANOVA model was statistically significant, independent follow-up univariate analyses relative to each dependent measure found that the only significant research factor was math background: Students whose mathematics background was at the level of Calculus I or higher had significantly higher student achievement than students whose mathematics background was less than Calculus I. The results suggest that classroom structures that incorporate an open laboratory setting are just as effective on student achievement and attitudes as classroom structures that incorporate a closed laboratory setting. The results also suggest that math background is a strong predictor of student achievement in CS 1.

Common fixed points in best approximation for Banach operator pairs with Ciric type I-contractions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, N.

2008-02-01

The common fixed point theorems, similar to those of Ciric [Lj.B. Ciric, On a common fixed point theorem of a Gregus type, Publ. Inst. Math. (Beograd) (N.S.) 49 (1991) 174-178; Lj.B. Ciric, On Diviccaro, Fisher and Sessa open questions, Arch. Math. (Brno) 29 (1993) 145-152; Lj.B. Ciric, On a generalization of Gregus fixed point theorem, Czechoslovak Math. J. 50 (2000) 449-458], Fisher and Sessa [B. Fisher, S. Sessa, On a fixed point theorem of Gregus, Internat. J. Math. Math. Sci. 9 (1986) 23-28], Jungck [G. Jungck, On a fixed point theorem of Fisher and Sessa, Internat. J. Math. Math. Sci. 13 (1990) 497-500] and Mukherjee and Verma [R.N. Mukherjee, V. Verma, A note on fixed point theorem of Gregus, Math. Japon. 33 (1988) 745-749], are proved for a Banach operator pair. As applications, common fixed point and approximation results for Banach operator pair satisfying Ciric type contractive conditions are obtained without the assumption of linearity or affinity of either T or I. Our results unify and generalize various known results to a more general class of noncommuting mappings.

Facilitating and Bridging Out-of-Class and In-Class Learning: An Interactive E-Book-Based Flipped Learning Approach for Math Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Lai, Chiu-Lin

2017-01-01

Flipped learning is a well-recognized learning mode that reverses the traditional in-class instruction arrangement by delivering learning content outside of the classroom and engaging students in more activities in class. However, it remains a challenge for students to comprehend the learning material by themselves, particularly when learning…

Innovative Teaching Games: Climbing the Hills of Math Skills. California Demonstration Mathematics Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittsburg Unified School District, CA.

The card games in this publication are an alternative activity to help students master computational skills. Games for operations with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, integers, and square roots are included. They can be used to introduce math topics and for practice and review, with either the whole class or in small groups with 2 to…

Their Side of the Story: Remedial College Algebra Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Gideon L.

2004-01-01

Not too many years ago the author started out to study the students' own perspectives on their experience with the intent to answer the question, "How do college remedial math students define success, and what are they striving for in their math classes?" The author did not quite manage to answer such a grand question, but did gain some very…

The Differences of Mathematics Achievement between American Children and Chinese Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Wenyuan

This study compared intact beginning fifth grade classes in one of the districts in Shanghai, People's Republic of China to American Norms on the KeyMath-Revised: A Diagnostic Inventory of Essential Mathematics (KeyMath-R) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT-3). The review of literature contrasted the two cultures with regard to students,…

Creating a Positive Classroom Culture: Minute by Minute

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Ali

2014-01-01

This article offers a peek into high school math teacher Ali Wright's typical school day, which includes time-tested strategies that she uses to build a positive culture in her classroom. Scheduled timeframes and activities include before school starts, five minutes before class, during announcements, during class, last five minutes of class,…

Are Face-to-Face Classes More Effective than Online Classes? An Empirical Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganesh, Gopala; Paswan, Audhesh; Sun, Qin

2015-01-01

Using data from a unique undergraduate marketing math course offered in both traditional and online formats, this study looks at four dimensions of course evaluation: overall evaluation, perceived competence, perceived communication, and perceived challenge. Results indicate that students rate traditional classes better on all four dimensions.…

Attitudes of Prospective High School Mathematics Teachers towards Integrating Information Technologies into Their Future Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazzan, Orit

This paper examines why the number of high school mathematics teachers who integrate computers into their math classes remains relatively low by analyzing the attitudes of prospective high school mathematics teachers. Data were gathered from written questionnaires and class discussions of four classes of prospective high school mathematics…

Separation of variables for the Dirac equation in an extended class of Lorentzian metrics with local rotational symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyer, B. R.; Kamran, N.

1991-09-01

The question of the separability of the Dirac equation in metrics with local rotational symmetry is reexamined by adapting the analysis of Kamran and McLenaghan [J. Math. Phys. 25, 1019 (1984)] for the metrics admitting a two-dimensional Abelian local isometry group acting orthogonally transitively. This generalized treatment, which involves the choice of a suitable system of local coordinates and spinor frame, allows one to establish the separability of the Dirac equation within the class of metrics for which the previous analysis of Iyer and Vishveshwara [J. Math. Phys. 26, 1034 (1985)] had left the question of separability open.

On the growth of solutions of a class of higher order linear differential equations with coefficients having the same order

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tu, Jin; Yi, Cai-Feng

2008-04-01

In this paper, the authors investigate the growth of solutions of a class of higher order linear differential equationsf(k)+Ak-1f(k-1)+...+A0f=0 when most coefficients in the above equations have the same order with each other, and obtain some results which improve previous results due to K.H. Kwon [K.H. Kwon, Nonexistence of finite order solutions of certain second order linear differential equations, Kodai Math. J. 19 (1996) 378-387] and ZE-X. Chen [Z.-X. Chen, The growth of solutions of the differential equation f''+e-zf'+Q(z)f=0, Sci. China Ser. A 31 (2001) 775-784 (in Chinese); ZE-X. Chen, On the hyper order of solutions of higher order differential equations, Chinese Ann. Math. Ser. B 24 (2003) 501-508 (in Chinese); Z.-X. Chen, On the growth of solutions of a class of higher order differential equations, Acta Math. Sci. Ser. B 24 (2004) 52-60 (in Chinese); Z.-X. Chen, C.-C. Yang, Quantitative estimations on the zeros and growth of entire solutions of linear differential equations, Complex Var. 42 (2000) 119-133].

Achievement, motivation, and educational choices: A longitudinal study of expectancy and value using a multiplicative perspective.

PubMed

Guo, Jiesi; Parker, Philip D; Marsh, Herbert W; Morin, Alexandre J S

2015-08-01

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes during the transition into early adulthood. Participants were from a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 15-year-old Australian youths (N = 10,370). The results suggest that (a) both math self-concept and intrinsic value interact in predicting advanced math course selection, matriculation results, entrance into university, and STEM fields of study; (b) prior reading achievement has negative effects on advanced math course selection and STEM fields through math motivational beliefs; and (c) gender differences in educational outcomes are mediated by gender differences in motivational beliefs and prior academic achievement, while the processes underlying choice of educational pathway were similar for males and females. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Social class and the STEM career pipeline an ethnographic investigation of opportunity structures in a high-poverty versus affluent high school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikischer, Andrea B.

This research investigates science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) high school opportunity structures, including student experiences with math and science course sequences and progress, college guidance and counseling, and STEM extracurricular activities (Weis and Eisenhart, 2009), specifically related to STEM fields and career and college choice, for top-performing math and science students. Differences in these structures and processes as they play out in two representative high schools that vary by social class and racial/ethnic makeup are examined. This comparative ethnography includes 36 school and classroom observations, 56 semi-structured individual interviews, and a review of relevant documents, all gathered during the focal students' junior year of high school. Three data chapters are presented, discussing three distinct, yet interconnected themes. In the first, I examine the ways in which chronic attendance problems and classroom distractions negatively impact math and science instruction time and lead to an instruction (time) deficit. In the second, I compare the math and science course and extra-curricular offerings at each school, and discuss the significant differences between sites regarding available STEM exposure and experience, also known as "STEM educational dose" (Wai, et al., 2010). In the third, I investigate available guidance counseling services and STEM and college-linking at each site. Perceived failures in the counseling services available are discussed. This dissertation is grounded in the literature on differences in academic achievement based on school setting, the nature/distribution of knowledge based on social class, and STEM opportunity structures. The concepts of "social capital" and "STEM capital" are engaged throughout. Ultimately, I argue through this dissertation that segregation by race, and most importantly social class, both between and within districts, damages the STEM pipeline for high-performing math and science students located in high-poverty, low-performing schools. I further argue that both federal and state accountability-based school reform efforts are failing to improve outcomes for students with proficiency and interest in STEM learning and STEM fields, and in fact, these reforms are harming top performing students and high school STEM opportunity structures. Recommendations for changes in policy and practice, and for further research, are provided.

Teaching Math to the Talented

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanushek, Eric A.; Peterson, Paul E.; Woessmann, Ludger

2011-01-01

Maintaining America's productivity as a nation depends importantly on developing a highly qualified cadre of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals. To realize that objective requires a system of schooling that produces students with advanced math and science skills. To see how well schools in the United States do at…

Language of Physics, Language of Math: Disciplinary Culture and Dynamic Epistemology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redish, Edward F.; Kuo, Eric

2015-07-01

Mathematics is a critical part of much scientific research. Physics in particular weaves math extensively into its instruction beginning in high school. Despite much research on the learning of both physics and math, the problem of how to effectively include math in physics in a way that reaches most students remains unsolved. In this paper, we suggest that a fundamental issue has received insufficient exploration: the fact that in science, we don't just use math, we make meaning with it in a different way than mathematicians do. In this reflective essay, we explore math as a language and consider the language of math in physics through the lens of cognitive linguistics. We begin by offering a number of examples that show how the use of math in physics differs from the use of math as typically found in math classes. We then explore basic concepts in cognitive semantics to show how humans make meaning with language in general. The critical elements are the roles of embodied cognition and interpretation in context. Then, we show how a theoretical framework commonly used in physics education research, resources, is coherent with and extends the ideas of cognitive semantics by connecting embodiment to phenomenological primitives and contextual interpretation to the dynamics of meaning-making with conceptual resources, epistemological resources, and affect. We present these ideas with illustrative case studies of students working on physics problems with math and demonstrate the dynamical nature of student reasoning with math in physics. We conclude with some thoughts about the implications for instruction.

A Randomized Control Trial Evaluating the Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction in Numeracy on Math Outcomes for Monolingual English Speaking Kindergartners from Title 1 Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, M. E.; Anthony, J. L.; Clements, D. H.; Sarama, J.; Williams, J. M.

2016-01-01

Children from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds have demonstrated substantially lower levels of math achievement than their middle class majority peers for decades. The present study addressed two research questions: (1) when used as a supplement to typical classroom instruction and in isolation from the larger curriculum, does Building…

Class in the Classroom: The Relationship between School Resources and Math Performance among Low Socioeconomic Status Students in 19 Rich Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baird, Katherine

2012-01-01

This paper investigates achievement gaps between low and high socioeconomic students in 19 high-income countries. On average, math scores of students with indicators of high socioeconomic status (SES) are over one standard deviation above those with low SES indicators. The paper estimates the extent to which these achievement gaps can be…

The Association of Peer Academic Reputations in Math and Science with Achievement Beliefs and Behaviors during Early Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North, Elizabeth A.; Ryan, Allison M.

2018-01-01

This study examines the nature and implications of peer academic reputations in math and science classes for early adolescents' achievement beliefs and behaviors. The sample was 840 students (51% girls; 36% African American, 47% European American, 7% Latino, 6% Asian American, and 3% Other). About half the sample (47%) was from 27 fifth-grade…

Students' Confidence in the Ability to Transfer Basic Math Skills in Introductory Physics and Chemistry Courses at a Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Reginald

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the confidence levels that community college students have in transferring basic math skills to science classes, as well as any factors that influence their confidence levels. This study was conducted with 196 students at a community college in central Mississippi. The study was conducted during the month…

Math anxiety and exposure to statistics in messages about genetically modified foods: effects of numeracy, math self-efficacy, and form of presentation.

PubMed

Silk, Kami J; Parrott, Roxanne L

2014-01-01

Health risks are often communicated to the lay public in statistical formats even though low math skills, or innumeracy, have been found to be prevalent among lay individuals. Although numeracy has been a topic of much research investigation, the role of math self-efficacy and math anxiety on health and risk communication processing has received scant attention from health communication researchers. To advance theoretical and applied understanding regarding health message processing, the authors consider the role of math anxiety, including the effects of math self-efficacy, numeracy, and form of presenting statistics on math anxiety, and the potential effects for comprehension, yielding, and behavioral intentions. The authors also examine math anxiety in a health risk context through an evaluation of the effects of exposure to a message about genetically modified foods on levels of math anxiety. Participants (N = 323) were randomly assigned to read a message that varied the presentation of statistical evidence about potential risks associated with genetically modified foods. Findings reveal that exposure increased levels of math anxiety, with increases in math anxiety limiting yielding. Moreover, math anxiety impaired comprehension but was mediated by perceivers' math confidence and skills. Last, math anxiety facilitated behavioral intentions. Participants who received a text-based message with percentages were more likely to yield than participants who received either a bar graph with percentages or a combined form. Implications are discussed as they relate to math competence and its role in processing health and risk messages.

Double Ramification Cycles and Quantum Integrable Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buryak, Alexandr; Rossi, Paolo

2016-03-01

In this paper, we define a quantization of the Double Ramification Hierarchies of Buryak (Commun Math Phys 336:1085-1107, 2015) and Buryak and Rossi (Commun Math Phys, 2014), using intersection numbers of the double ramification cycle, the full Chern class of the Hodge bundle and psi-classes with a given cohomological field theory. We provide effective recursion formulae which determine the full quantum hierarchy starting from just one Hamiltonian, the one associated with the first descendant of the unit of the cohomological field theory only. We study various examples which provide, in very explicit form, new (1+1)-dimensional integrable quantum field theories whose classical limits are well-known integrable hierarchies such as KdV, Intermediate Long Wave, extended Toda, etc. Finally, we prove polynomiality in the ramification multiplicities of the integral of any tautological class over the double ramification cycle.

Physics First: Impact on SAT Math Scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouma, Craig E.

Improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become a national priority and the call to modernize secondary science has been heard. A Physics First (PF) program with the curriculum sequence of physics, chemistry, and biology (PCB) driven by inquiry- and project-based learning offers a viable alternative to the traditional curricular sequence (BCP) and methods of teaching, but requires more empirical evidence. This study determined impact of a PF program (PF-PCB) on math achievement (SAT math scores) after the first two cohorts of students completed the PF-PCB program at Matteo Ricci High School (MRHS) and provided more quantitative data to inform the PF debate and advance secondary science education. Statistical analysis (ANCOVA) determined the influence of covariates and revealed that PF-PCB program had a significant (p < .05) impact on SAT math scores in the second cohort at MRHS. Statistically adjusted, the SAT math means for PF students were 21.4 points higher than their non-PF counterparts when controlling for prior math achievement (HSTP math), socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnicity/race.

Mining EEG with SVM for Understanding Cognitive Underpinnings of Math Problem Solving Strategies

PubMed Central

López, Julio

2018-01-01

We have developed a new methodology for examining and extracting patterns from brain electric activity by using data mining and machine learning techniques. Data was collected from experiments focused on the study of cognitive processes that might evoke different specific strategies in the resolution of math problems. A binary classification problem was constructed using correlations and phase synchronization between different electroencephalographic channels as characteristics and, as labels or classes, the math performances of individuals participating in specially designed experiments. The proposed methodology is based on using well-established procedures of feature selection, which were used to determine a suitable brain functional network size related to math problem solving strategies and also to discover the most relevant links in this network without including noisy connections or excluding significant connections. PMID:29670667

Mining EEG with SVM for Understanding Cognitive Underpinnings of Math Problem Solving Strategies.

PubMed

Bosch, Paul; Herrera, Mauricio; López, Julio; Maldonado, Sebastián

2018-01-01

We have developed a new methodology for examining and extracting patterns from brain electric activity by using data mining and machine learning techniques. Data was collected from experiments focused on the study of cognitive processes that might evoke different specific strategies in the resolution of math problems. A binary classification problem was constructed using correlations and phase synchronization between different electroencephalographic channels as characteristics and, as labels or classes, the math performances of individuals participating in specially designed experiments. The proposed methodology is based on using well-established procedures of feature selection, which were used to determine a suitable brain functional network size related to math problem solving strategies and also to discover the most relevant links in this network without including noisy connections or excluding significant connections.

Effects of a Math Intervention Program on Math Academic Performance among African American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Willie F., Jr.

2013-01-01

In the United States, an academic achievement gap has prevented many African American students from advancement and educational empowerment. Guided by Bandura's theoretical belief, which posits a relationship between social factors and an individual's perception, this non-experimental, causal comparative, control treatment group design study…

Math Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oguntoyinbo, Lekan

2012-01-01

Many experts give the nation's schools a poor grade for their approach to teaching mathematics and for their preparation of mathematics teachers. While many policymakers make much of data that suggest children in the United States lag behind many other advanced countries in math, many experts call for a change in mathematics education,…

Math Interventions for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Seth A.; Lemons, Christopher J.; Davidson, Kimberly A.

2016-01-01

Educators need evidence-based practices to assist students with disabilities in meeting increasingly rigorous standards in mathematics. Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly expected to demonstrate learning of basic and advanced mathematical concepts. This review identifies math intervention studies involving children and…

A Mohawk Vision of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Mary

1996-01-01

Discusses the Ahkwesahsne Science and Math Project, a holistic bioregional curriculum designed to help students of the Mohawk culture in Canada. The program aimed to stress the local ecosystem and develop a curriculum based in Mohawk culture while encouraging the students to also pursue the advanced levels of math and science. (AIM)

Avoiding math on a rapid timescale: Emotional responsivity and anxious attention in math anxiety.

PubMed

Pizzie, Rachel G; Kraemer, David J M

2017-11-01

Math anxiety (MA) is characterized by negative feelings towards mathematics, resulting in avoidance of math classes and of careers that rely on mathematical skills. Focused on a long timescale, this research may miss important cognitive and affective processes that operate moment-to-moment, changing rapid reactions even when a student simply sees a math problem. Here, using fMRI with an attentional deployment paradigm, we show that MA influences rapid spontaneous emotional and attentional responses to mathematical stimuli upon brief presentation. Critically, participants viewed but did not attempt to solve the problems. Indicating increased threat reactivity to even brief presentations of math problems, increased MA was associated with increased amygdala response during math viewing trials. Functionally and anatomically defined amygdala ROIs yielded similar results, indicating robustness of the finding. Similar to the pattern of vigilance and avoidance observed in specific phobia, behavioral results of the attentional paradigm demonstrated that MA is associated with attentional disengagement for mathematical symbols. This attentional avoidance is specific to math stimuli; when viewing negatively-valenced images, MA is correlated with attentional engagement, similar to other forms of anxiety. These results indicate that even brief exposure to mathematics triggers a neural response related to threat avoidance in highly MA individuals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Regression Model Optimization for the Analysis of Experimental Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulbrich, N.

2009-01-01

A candidate math model search algorithm was developed at Ames Research Center that determines a recommended math model for the multivariate regression analysis of experimental data. The search algorithm is applicable to classical regression analysis problems as well as wind tunnel strain gage balance calibration analysis applications. The algorithm compares the predictive capability of different regression models using the standard deviation of the PRESS residuals of the responses as a search metric. This search metric is minimized during the search. Singular value decomposition is used during the search to reject math models that lead to a singular solution of the regression analysis problem. Two threshold dependent constraints are also applied. The first constraint rejects math models with insignificant terms. The second constraint rejects math models with near-linear dependencies between terms. The math term hierarchy rule may also be applied as an optional constraint during or after the candidate math model search. The final term selection of the recommended math model depends on the regressor and response values of the data set, the user s function class combination choice, the user s constraint selections, and the result of the search metric minimization. A frequently used regression analysis example from the literature is used to illustrate the application of the search algorithm to experimental data.

Effects of Small-Group Tutoring with and without Validated Classroom Instruction on At-Risk Students' Math Problem Solving: Are Two Tiers of Prevention Better Than One?

PubMed

Fuchs, Lynn S; Fuchs, Douglas; Craddock, Caitlin; Hollenbeck, Kurstin N; Hamlett, Carol L; Schatschneider, Christopher

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of small-group tutoring with and without validated classroom instruction on at-risk (AR) students' math problem solving. Stratifying within schools, 119 3(rd)-grade classes were randomly assigned to conventional or validated problem-solving instruction (Hot Math [schema-broadening instruction]). Students identified as AR (n = 243) were randomly assigned, within classroom conditions, to receive Hot Math tutoring or not. Students were tested on problem-solving and math applications measures before and after 16 weeks of intervention. Analyses of variance, which accounted for the nested structure of the data, revealed the tutored students who received validated classroom instruction achieved better than tutored students who received conventional classroom instruction (ES = 1.34). However, the advantage for tutoring over no tutoring was similar whether or not students received validated or conventional classroom instruction (ESs = 1.18 and 1.13). Tutoring, not validated classroom instruction reduced the prevalence of math difficulty. Implications for responsiveness-to-intervention prevention models and for enhancing math problem-solving instruction are discussed.

Effects of Small-Group Tutoring with and without Validated Classroom Instruction on At-Risk Students' Math Problem Solving: Are Two Tiers of Prevention Better Than One?

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas; Craddock, Caitlin; Hollenbeck, Kurstin N.; Hamlett, Carol L.; Schatschneider, Christopher

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of small-group tutoring with and without validated classroom instruction on at-risk (AR) students' math problem solving. Stratifying within schools, 119 3rd-grade classes were randomly assigned to conventional or validated problem-solving instruction (Hot Math [schema-broadening instruction]). Students identified as AR (n = 243) were randomly assigned, within classroom conditions, to receive Hot Math tutoring or not. Students were tested on problem-solving and math applications measures before and after 16 weeks of intervention. Analyses of variance, which accounted for the nested structure of the data, revealed the tutored students who received validated classroom instruction achieved better than tutored students who received conventional classroom instruction (ES = 1.34). However, the advantage for tutoring over no tutoring was similar whether or not students received validated or conventional classroom instruction (ESs = 1.18 and 1.13). Tutoring, not validated classroom instruction reduced the prevalence of math difficulty. Implications for responsiveness-to-intervention prevention models and for enhancing math problem-solving instruction are discussed. PMID:19122881

Generalized Poisson-Kac Processes: Basic Properties and Implications in Extended Thermodynamics and Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giona, Massimiliano; Brasiello, Antonio; Crescitelli, Silvestro

2016-04-01

We introduce a new class of stochastic processes in Rn,{{{mathbb R}}^n}, referred to as generalized Poisson-Kac (GPK) processes, that generalizes the Poisson-Kac telegrapher's random motion in higher dimensions. These stochastic processes possess finite propagation velocity, almost everywhere smooth trajectories, and converge in the Kac limit to Brownian motion. GPK processes are defined by coupling the selection of a bounded velocity vector from a family of N distinct ones with a Markovian dynamics controlling probabilistically this selection. This model can be used as a probabilistic tool for a stochastically consistent formulation of extended thermodynamic theories far from equilibrium.

Use of On-Line Math Skills Modules in an Introductory General Education Geoscience Course at a Community College: The Importance of Integration Across Lab & Lecture Sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moosavi, S. C.

2011-12-01

The NSF sponsored on-line math skills module series The Math You Need When You Need It (TMYN) was constructed to provide math skill development and support to introductory geoscience course instructors whose students science learning is often hindered by deficiencies in critical math skills. The on-line modules give instructors a mechanism for student-centered, skill-specific math tutorials, practice exercises and assessments outside regular class time. In principle, a student deficient in a skill such as graphing, calculating a best-fit line or manipulating and quantifying a concept such as density can use the appropriate TMYN module to identify their area of weakness, focus on developing the skill using geologically relevant examples, and get feedback reflecting their mastery of the skill in an asynchronous format just as the skill becomes critical to learning in the course. The asynchronous format allows the instructor to remain focused on the geoscience content during class time without diverting all students' attention to skill remediation needed by only a subset of the population. Such a blended approach prevents the progression of the class from being slowed by the need for remediation for some students while simultaneously not leaving those students behind. The challenge to geoscience educators comes in identifying the best strategy for implementing TMYN modules in their classrooms. This presentation contrasts the effectiveness of 2 strategies for implementing TMYN in an introductory Earth System Science class taken as a general education science lab requirement by lower division students at a community college. This course is typical of many such large general education courses in that lab instruction is provided by separate educators from the primary instructor in charge of the lecture, often creating 2 parallel and only dimly connected courses in the experience of many students. In case 1, TMYN was implemented in 3 of 4 lab sections by an adjunct lab instructor while the primary instructor made no mention or use of TMYN in lecture or in the remaining lab section. In case 2, the same instructors each taught independent lecture and lab (2) sections, with TMYN being fully integrated in the course of the first instructor while not mentioned in that of the second. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach both for faculty implementation and student learning are compared with important insights into how such modules should be implemented in lecture/lab courses with separate instructors.

Effects of Web-Based Instruction on Math Anxiety, the Sense of Mastery, and Global Self-Esteem: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Undergraduate Statistics Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Gundy, Karen; Morton, Beth A.; Liu, Hope Q.; Kline, Jennifer

2006-01-01

To explore the effects of web-based instruction (WBI) on math anxiety, the sense of mastery, and global self-esteem, we use quasi-experimental data from undergraduate statistics students in classes assigned to three study conditions, each with varied access to, and incentive for, the use of online technologies. Results suggest that when statistics…

"I Can't "Evn" Get Why She Would Make Me "Rite" in Her Class:" Using Think-Alouds in Middle School Math for "At-Risk" Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernadowski, Carianne

2016-01-01

A qualitative case study design was used to explore the use of the think-aloud reading comprehension strategy in the implementation of math journals. The goal of the study was to determine if a teacher's direct instruction in the implementation of think-alouds improved "at risk" eighth-graders' abilities to answer word problems more…

The Conundrum of Social Class: Disparities in Publishing among STEM Students in Undergraduate Research Programs at a Hispanic Majority Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grineski, Sara; Daniels, Heather; Collins, Timothy; Morales, Danielle X.; Frederick, Angela; Garcia, Marilyn

2018-01-01

Research on the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) student development pipeline has largely ignored social class and instead examined inequalities based on gender and race. We investigate the role of social class in undergraduate student research publications. Data come from a sample of 213 undergraduate research participants…

Shrinking Your Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herron-Thorpe, Farren L.; Olson, Jo Clay; Davis, Denny

2010-01-01

Toys in the classroom was the result of a National Science Foundation grant that brought two engineering graduate students to a middle school math class. The graduate students and teachers collaborated in an effort to enhance students' mathematical learning. An engineering context was theorized as a way to further develop students' understanding…

Quantum cluster algebras and quantum nilpotent algebras.

PubMed

Goodearl, Kenneth R; Yakimov, Milen T

2014-07-08

A major direction in the theory of cluster algebras is to construct (quantum) cluster algebra structures on the (quantized) coordinate rings of various families of varieties arising in Lie theory. We prove that all algebras in a very large axiomatically defined class of noncommutative algebras possess canonical quantum cluster algebra structures. Furthermore, they coincide with the corresponding upper quantum cluster algebras. We also establish analogs of these results for a large class of Poisson nilpotent algebras. Many important families of coordinate rings are subsumed in the class we are covering, which leads to a broad range of applications of the general results to the above-mentioned types of problems. As a consequence, we prove the Berenstein-Zelevinsky conjecture [Berenstein A, Zelevinsky A (2005) Adv Math 195:405-455] for the quantized coordinate rings of double Bruhat cells and construct quantum cluster algebra structures on all quantum unipotent groups, extending the theorem of Geiß et al. [Geiß C, et al. (2013) Selecta Math 19:337-397] for the case of symmetric Kac-Moody groups. Moreover, we prove that the upper cluster algebras of Berenstein et al. [Berenstein A, et al. (2005) Duke Math J 126:1-52] associated with double Bruhat cells coincide with the corresponding cluster algebras.

Quantum cluster algebras and quantum nilpotent algebras

PubMed Central

Goodearl, Kenneth R.; Yakimov, Milen T.

2014-01-01

A major direction in the theory of cluster algebras is to construct (quantum) cluster algebra structures on the (quantized) coordinate rings of various families of varieties arising in Lie theory. We prove that all algebras in a very large axiomatically defined class of noncommutative algebras possess canonical quantum cluster algebra structures. Furthermore, they coincide with the corresponding upper quantum cluster algebras. We also establish analogs of these results for a large class of Poisson nilpotent algebras. Many important families of coordinate rings are subsumed in the class we are covering, which leads to a broad range of applications of the general results to the above-mentioned types of problems. As a consequence, we prove the Berenstein–Zelevinsky conjecture [Berenstein A, Zelevinsky A (2005) Adv Math 195:405–455] for the quantized coordinate rings of double Bruhat cells and construct quantum cluster algebra structures on all quantum unipotent groups, extending the theorem of Geiß et al. [Geiß C, et al. (2013) Selecta Math 19:337–397] for the case of symmetric Kac–Moody groups. Moreover, we prove that the upper cluster algebras of Berenstein et al. [Berenstein A, et al. (2005) Duke Math J 126:1–52] associated with double Bruhat cells coincide with the corresponding cluster algebras. PMID:24982197

Asymptotics of a Class of Solutions to the Cylindrical Toda Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tracy, Craig A.; Widom, Harold

The small t asymptotics of a class of solutions to the 2D cylindrical Toda equations is computed. The solutions, , have the representation where Kk$ are integral operators. This class includes the n-periodic cylindrical Toda equations. For n=2 our results reduce to the previously computed asymptotics of the 2D radial sinh-Gordon equation and for n=3 (and with an additional symmetry constraint) they reduce to earlier results for the radial Bullough-Dodd equation. Both of these special cases are examples of Painlevé III and have arisen in various applications. The asymptotics of are derived by computing the small t asymptotics where explicit formulas are given for the quantities ak and bk. The method consists of showing that the resolvent operator of Kk has an approximation in terms of resolvents of certain Wiener-Hopf operators, for which there are explicit integral formulas.

Math-Science Bills Advance in Congress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoff, David J.; Cavanagh, Sean

2007-01-01

Improving K-12 instruction and student achievement in mathematics and science is at the heart of separate bills intended to bolster America's economic standing that won overwhelming approval in both houses of Congress last week. The House on April 24 approved the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act by a vote of…

Building Interest in Math and Science for Rural and Underserved Elementary School Children Using Robots

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Eric; DeLoach, Scott; Pauly, Robyn

2004-01-01

The "Robot Roadshow Program" is designed to increase the interest of elementary school children in technical disciplines, specifically math and science. The program focuses on children from schools categorized as rural or underserved, which often have limited access to advanced technical resources. We developed the program using robots…

Evaluation of the Rural Math Excel Partnership Project Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagle, Katherine; Pratt-Williams, Jaunelle; Schmidt, Rebecca; Swantek, Cara; Lyulchenko, Marianna; McGhee, Raymond

2016-01-01

This is the final external evaluation report prepared by SRI International for the Rural Math Excel Partnership (RMEP) project, an investing in innovation (i3) development project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Operated by Virginia Advanced Study Strategies, Inc. (VASS), the RMEP project included six rural school districts (LEAs) in…

Magic SEED? A New Approach to Teaching Math Produces Some Eye-Popping Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shore, Debra

1991-01-01

Project SEED is a successful program that teaches elementary school students advanced math. Specialists conduct 45-minute lessons, asking questions designed to help students discover mathematical logic. Students respond with a system of SEED hand signals which allow everyone to participate and be monitored at once. (SM)

Grading A-Level Double Subject Mathematicians and the Implications for Selection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newbould, Charles A.

1981-01-01

Test data were used to compare the grading of two forms of double mathematics: pure and applied math, and regular and advanced math. Results confirm expectations that in the former system, the grading is comparable, and in the latter, it is not necessarily comparable. Implications for student admission are discussed. (MSE)

Assessing learning outcomes in middle-division classical mechanics: The Colorado Classical Mechanics and Math Methods Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caballero, Marcos D.; Doughty, Leanne; Turnbull, Anna M.; Pepper, Rachel E.; Pollock, Steven J.

2017-06-01

Reliable and validated assessments of introductory physics have been instrumental in driving curricular and pedagogical reforms that lead to improved student learning. As part of an effort to systematically improve our sophomore-level classical mechanics and math methods course (CM 1) at CU Boulder, we have developed a tool to assess student learning of CM 1 concepts in the upper division. The Colorado Classical Mechanics and Math Methods Instrument (CCMI) builds on faculty consensus learning goals and systematic observations of student difficulties. The result is a 9-question open-ended post test that probes student learning in the first half of a two-semester classical mechanics and math methods sequence. In this paper, we describe the design and development of this instrument, its validation, and measurements made in classes at CU Boulder and elsewhere.

Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urquhart, Vicki

2009-01-01

Writing is the ability to compose text effectively for different purposes and audiences. When many of us reflect on our own school experiences, we recall writing in English and history classes, but not in mathematics. Math classes previously relied on skill-building and conceptual understanding activities. Today, teachers are realizing that…

Math in the Margins: Writing across Curricula into Community Heritage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sunstein, Bonnie S.; Liu, Rossina Zamora; Hunsicker, Arthur W.; Baker, Deidra F.

2012-01-01

Imagine two classfuls of American high school students, separated by 1,500 miles and profound differences in local cultures (East Coast urban and Midwestern rural) as they correspond and collaborate in writing between their geometry classes. Reading the students' observations, one sees authentic voice, specific detail, precise language, what…

U.S. Math Performance in Global Perspective: How Well Does Each State Do at Producing High-Achieving Students? PEPG Report No.: 10-19

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanushek, Eric A.; Peterson, Paul E.; Woessmann, Ludger

2010-01-01

To see how well U.S. schools do at producing high-achieving math students, the authors compare the percentage of U.S. public and private school students in the graduating Class of 2009 who were highly accomplished in mathematics in each of the 50 states and in 10 urban districts to percentages of high achievers in 56 other countries. Their…

Women's underrepresentation in science: sociocultural and biological considerations.

PubMed

Ceci, Stephen J; Williams, Wendy M; Barnett, Susan M

2009-03-01

The underrepresentation of women at the top of math-intensive fields is controversial, with competing claims of biological and sociocultural causation. The authors develop a framework to delineate possible causal pathways and evaluate evidence for each. Biological evidence is contradictory and inconclusive. Although cross-cultural and cross-cohort differences suggest a powerful effect of sociocultural context, evidence for specific factors is inconsistent and contradictory. Factors unique to underrepresentation in math-intensive fields include the following: (a) Math-proficient women disproportionately prefer careers in non-math-intensive fields and are more likely to leave math-intensive careers as they advance; (b) more men than women score in the extreme math-proficient range on gatekeeper tests, such as the SAT Mathematics and the Graduate Record Examinations Quantitative Reasoning sections; (c) women with high math competence are disproportionately more likely to have high verbal competence, allowing greater choice of professions; and (d) in some math-intensive fields, women with children are penalized in promotion rates. The evidence indicates that women's preferences, potentially representing both free and constrained choices, constitute the most powerful explanatory factor; a secondary factor is performance on gatekeeper tests, most likely resulting from sociocultural rather than biological causes. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Math achievement is important, but task values are critical, too: examining the intellectual and motivational factors leading to gender disparities in STEM careers.

PubMed

Wang, Ming-Te; Degol, Jessica; Ye, Feifei

2015-01-01

Although young women now obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. This study drew on expectancy-value theory to assess (1) which intellectual and motivational factors in high school predict gender differences in career choices and (2) whether students' motivational beliefs mediated the pathway of gender on STEM career via math achievement by using a national longitudinal sample in the United States. We found that math achievement in 12th grade mediated the association between gender and attainment of a STEM career by the early to mid-thirties. However, math achievement was not the only factor distinguishing gender differences in STEM occupations. Even though math achievement explained career differences between men and women, math task value partially explained the gender differences in STEM career attainment that were attributed to math achievement. The identification of potential factors of women's underrepresentation in STEM will enhance our ability to design intervention programs that are optimally tailored to female needs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices.

Math achievement is important, but task values are critical, too: examining the intellectual and motivational factors leading to gender disparities in STEM careers

PubMed Central

Wang, Ming-Te; Degol, Jessica; Ye, Feifei

2015-01-01

Although young women now obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. This study drew on expectancy-value theory to assess (1) which intellectual and motivational factors in high school predict gender differences in career choices and (2) whether students’ motivational beliefs mediated the pathway of gender on STEM career via math achievement by using a national longitudinal sample in the United States. We found that math achievement in 12th grade mediated the association between gender and attainment of a STEM career by the early to mid-thirties. However, math achievement was not the only factor distinguishing gender differences in STEM occupations. Even though math achievement explained career differences between men and women, math task value partially explained the gender differences in STEM career attainment that were attributed to math achievement. The identification of potential factors of women’s underrepresentation in STEM will enhance our ability to design intervention programs that are optimally tailored to female needs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices. PMID:25741292

Crossing the Gender Gap: A Study of Female Participation and Performance in Advanced Maths and Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haseltine, Jessica

2006-10-01

A statistical analysis of enrollment in AP maths and sciences in the Abilene Independent School District, between 2000 and 2005, studied the relationship between gender, enrollment, and performance. Data suggested that mid-scoring females were less likely than their male counterparts to enroll in AP-level courses. AISD showed higher female : male score ratios than national and state averages but no improvement in enrollment comparisons. Several programs are suggested to improve both participation and performance of females in upper-level math and science courses.

Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls' and boys' trait-state discrepancy in math anxiety.

PubMed

Bieg, Madeleine; Goetz, Thomas; Wolter, Ilka; Hall, Nathan C

2015-01-01

Mathematics is associated with anxiety for many students; an emotion linked to lower well-being and poorer learning outcomes. While findings typically show females to report higher trait math anxiety than males, no gender differences have to date been found in state (i.e., momentary) math anxiety. The present diary study aimed to replicate previous findings in investigating whether levels of academic self-concept was related to this discrepancy in trait vs. state anxiety measures. Additionally, mathematics-related gender stereotype endorsement (mathematics is a male domain) was investigated as an additional predictor of the trait-state discrepancy. The sample included 755 German 9th and 10th graders who completed self-report measures of trait math anxiety, math self-concept, and gender stereotype endorsement, in addition to state measures of anxiety after math classes by use of a standardized diary for 2-3 weeks (N within = 6207). As expected, females reported higher trait math anxiety but no gender differences were found for state math anxiety. Also in line with our assumptions, multilevel analyses showed the discrepancy between trait and state anxiety to be negatively related to students' self-concept (i.e., a lower discrepancy for students with higher self-concepts). Furthermore, gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicted the trait-state discrepancy: When controlling for self-concept in mathematics, females who endorsed the gender stereotype of math being a male domain more strongly overestimated their trait math anxiety as compared to their state anxiety whereas this effect was not significant for males. The present findings suggest that gender stereotype endorsement plays an important role in explaining gender differences in math anxiety above and beyond academic self-concept. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed.

Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls' and boys' trait-state discrepancy in math anxiety

PubMed Central

Bieg, Madeleine; Goetz, Thomas; Wolter, Ilka; Hall, Nathan C.

2015-01-01

Mathematics is associated with anxiety for many students; an emotion linked to lower well-being and poorer learning outcomes. While findings typically show females to report higher trait math anxiety than males, no gender differences have to date been found in state (i.e., momentary) math anxiety. The present diary study aimed to replicate previous findings in investigating whether levels of academic self-concept was related to this discrepancy in trait vs. state anxiety measures. Additionally, mathematics-related gender stereotype endorsement (mathematics is a male domain) was investigated as an additional predictor of the trait-state discrepancy. The sample included 755 German 9th and 10th graders who completed self-report measures of trait math anxiety, math self-concept, and gender stereotype endorsement, in addition to state measures of anxiety after math classes by use of a standardized diary for 2–3 weeks (Nwithin = 6207). As expected, females reported higher trait math anxiety but no gender differences were found for state math anxiety. Also in line with our assumptions, multilevel analyses showed the discrepancy between trait and state anxiety to be negatively related to students' self-concept (i.e., a lower discrepancy for students with higher self-concepts). Furthermore, gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicted the trait-state discrepancy: When controlling for self-concept in mathematics, females who endorsed the gender stereotype of math being a male domain more strongly overestimated their trait math anxiety as compared to their state anxiety whereas this effect was not significant for males. The present findings suggest that gender stereotype endorsement plays an important role in explaining gender differences in math anxiety above and beyond academic self-concept. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed. PMID:26441778

The Benefit of Being a Big Fish in a Big Pond: Contrast and Assimilation Effects on Academic Self-Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preckel, Franzis; Brull, Matthias

2010-01-01

This study investigates the effects of class-average ability (intelligence) and class type (gifted vs. regular) on Math academic self-concept. The sample comprised 722 fifth-grade students (376 female) in a setting of full-time ability grouping at the top track of the German secondary high school system. Students came from 34 different classes at…

Beyond adoption status: Post-adoptive parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade.

PubMed

Tan, Tony Xing; Kim, Eun Sook; Baggerly, Jennifer; Mahoney, E Emily; Rice, Jessica

2017-01-01

In this study, we went beyond adoption status to examine the associations between postadoption parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade. Secondary data on a sample of adopted children and nonadopted children were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K). Weighted data on the children's reading performance were available for 13,900 children (181 were adopted); weighted data on the children's math performance were available for 14,128 children (184 were adopted). Descriptive data showed no group difference in reading scores at all 3 Waves but adopted children scored lower than nonadopted children in math at Wave 2 (Spring of kindergarten) and Wave 3 (Spring of first grade). However, controlling for 6 covariates, latent growth modeling showed that adoption status was unrelated to Wave 1 reading and math scores or subsequent growth rate. Rather, parents' beliefs on skills needed to succeed in kindergarten were a significant predictor of reading and math performance at Wave 1 and subsequent growth rates, and parents' educational expectation was a significant predictor of growth rate in reading and math. Our findings highlight the importance of parental involvement in adopted children's learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The Math You Need, When You Need It: Student-Centered Web Resources Designed to Decrease Math Review and Increase Quantitative Geology in the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenner, J. M.; Baer, E. M.

2007-12-01

Introductory geoscience courses are rife with quantitative concepts from graphing to rates to unit conversions. Recent research suggests that supplementary mathematical instruction increases post-secondary students' retention and performance in science courses. Nonetheless, many geoscience faculty feel that they do not have enough time to cover all the geoscience content, let alone covering the math they often feel students should have learned before reaching their classes. We present our NSF-funded effort to create web modules for students that address these concerns. Our web resources focus on both student performance and faculty time issues by building students' quantitative skills through web-based, self-paced modular tutorials. Each module can be assigned to individual students who have demonstrated on a pre-test that they are in need of supplemental instruction. The pre-test involves problems that place mathematical concepts in a geoscience context and determines the students who need the most support with these skills. Students needing support are asked to complete a three-pronged web-based module just before the concept is needed in class. The three parts of each tutorial include: an explanation of the mathematics, a page of practice problems and an on-line quiz that is graded and sent to the instructor. Each of the modules is steeped in best practices in mathematics and geoscience education, drawing on multiple contexts and utilizing technology. The tutorials also provide students with further resources so that they can explore the mathematics in more depth. To assess the rigor of this program, students are given the pre-test again at the end of the course. The uniqueness of this program lies in a rich combination of mathematical concepts placed in multiple geoscience contexts, giving students the opportunity to explore the way that math relates to the physical world. We present several preliminary modules dealing with topics common in introductory geoscience courses. We seek feedback from faculty teaching all levels of geoscience addressing several questions: In what math/geoscience topics do you feel students need supplemental instruction? Where do students come up against quantitative topics that make them drop the class or perform poorly? Would you be willing to review or help us to test these modules in your class?

The Pipeline and Student Perceptions of Schooling: Good News and Bad News.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moses, Michele S.; And Others

The existence of a math/science "ipieline" in public schooling is well documented in which the number of female students, students with lower socioeconomic status, and students of color in proportion to white males in advanced math and science progressively shrinks during high school. As part of an ongoing gender equity project, separate versions…

Earth Observing System (EOS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) Structural Math Model - A1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ely, W.

1996-01-01

This report presents the description for the NASTRAN finite element for the AMSU-A1 module. The purpose of this report is to document the NASTRAN bulk data deck, transmitted under separate cover. The structural Math Model is to be used by the spacecraft contractor for dynamic loads analysis.

The Common Core Math Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wurman, Ze'ev; Wilson, W. Stephen

2012-01-01

More than 40 states have now signed onto the Common Core standards in English language arts and math, which have been both celebrated as a tremendous advance and criticized as misguided and for bearing the heavy thumbprint of the federal government. This article presents an interview with Ze'ev Wurman and W. Stephen Wilson. Wurman, who was a U.S.…

Influence of a Mathematics Teachers' Circle on Elementary Teachers' Use of Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garner, Mary L.; Watson, Virginia; Rogers, Beth; Head, Catherine

2017-01-01

Math teachers' circles are a form of professional development that is recommended by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences in their publication Mathematical Education of Teachers II (2012). However, little research has been published on how effective math teachers' circles are in advancing the mathematical knowledge of teachers and…

Southmoreland Middle School: A Model of True Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Principal Leadership, 2013

2013-01-01

In 2003, Southmoreland was a seventh- and eighth-grade junior high school in the warning category under NCLB for failing to make adequate yearly progress. Scores on state tests were grim--only 39% of the students were proficient or advanced in math and 55% in reading. Two years later, the combined improvement in reading and math scores resulted in…

Racial-Ethnic Differences at the Intersection of Math Course-Taking and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Grodsky, Eric

2010-01-01

Despite increases in the representation of African American and Hispanic youth in advanced math courses in high school over the past two decades, recent national reports indicate that substantial inequality in achievement remains. These inequalities can temper one's optimism about the degree to which the United States has made real progress toward…

Community College Pathways' Program Success: Assessing the First Two Years' Effectiveness of Statway®

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamada, Hiroyuki

2014-01-01

Statway® is one of the Community College Pathways initiatives developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to promote students' progress beginning in developmental math to and through college math credit. Early descriptive results suggested that the Statway program has tripled the success rate for students in half the time…

Advancing the Math Skills of Middle School Students in Technology Education Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bottge, Brian A.; Grant, Timothy S.; Stephens, Ana C.; Rueda, Enrique

2010-01-01

While curriculum specialists and committees often decide how mathematics is taught, it is ultimately principals who influence the extent to which these initiatives are carried out. The overall goal of this article is to provide school leaders with classroom-based research that describes one way of improving the math skills of middle school…

The Relationship between High School Math Courses, High School GPA, and Retention of Honors Scholarships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Megert, Diann Ackerman

2005-01-01

This research examined the high school transcripts of honors scholarship recipients to identify a better criterion for awarding scholarships than high school grade point average (GPA) alone. Specifically, this study compared the honors scholarship retention rate when the scholarship was awarded based on completed advanced high school math classes…

Subgroup Achievement and Gap Trends: Hawaii

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center on Education Policy, 2010

2010-01-01

Hawaii showed improvement in reading and math in grade 8 at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels for Asian and white students, low income students, and boys and girls. Gains in math tended to be larger than in reading. Trends in closing achievement gaps were mixed. Comparable data were available from 2007 through 2009. (Contains 9 tables.)…

Impacts of a Summer Bridge Program in Engineering on Student Retention and Graduation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cançado, Luciana; Reisel, John R.; Walker, Cindy M.

2018-01-01

A summer bridge program was developed in an engineering program to advance the preparation of incoming freshmen students, particularly with respect to their math course placement. The program was intended to raise the initial math course placement of students who otherwise would begin their engineering studies in courses below Calculus I. One…

Videoconferencing in Math and Science Preservice Elementary Teachers' Field Placements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plonczak, Irene

2010-03-01

This study was designed to examine benefits and challenges of teaching through videoconferencing in the context of students’ field placement experiences, particularly as it relates to an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning math and science. In the context of mathematics and science methods courses, preservice teachers, with the supervision of professors, field placement supervisors and cooperating teachers, taught a series of math and science lessons via video conferencing to 5th grade classes in a major urban public school. Two major results of this study indicate that: (1) teaching through videoconferencing highlights strengths and weaknesses in questioning skill techniques that are at the heart of an inquiry-based approach; (2) teaching through videoconferencing raises the intellectual challenge of teaching and allows preservice teachers to look face to face into their limited understanding of the content matter in math and science.

College and Career Readiness: Course Taking Of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Secondary School Students.

PubMed

Nagle, Katherine; Newman, Lynn A; Shaver, Debra M; Marschark, Marc

2016-01-01

Research shows that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students frequently enter college and the workplace relatively unprepared for success in math, science, and reading. Based on data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), the present study focused on DHH students' college and career readiness by investigating their opportunities in secondary school to acquire college and career skills. DHH students earned more credits overall than hearing peers; both groups earned a similar number of credits in academic courses. However, DHH students took more vocational and nonacademic courses and fewer courses in science, social science, and foreign languages. There was evidence that DHH students' academic courses in math lacked the rigor of those taken by hearing peers, as DHH students earned more credits in basic math and fewer credits in midlevel math courses, and even fewer in advanced math courses, than hearing peers.

"Pretty Lights" and Maths! Increasing Student Engagement and Enhancing Learning through the Use of Electronic Voting Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Samuel O.; Robinson, Carol L.

2009-01-01

University classes in Mathematics are traditionally perceived to be uninspiring and devoid of active student-lecturer communication. Large undergraduate classes further compound the difficulty of engaging students and enabling viable student-lecturer feedback. At the Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, some staff members have…

A New Breed of Teacher's Pet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owens, Roxanne; Williams, Nancy

1995-01-01

Describes how a fourth-grade class developed a hands-on, integrated math, science, and literature unit about dogs and brought a dog into class for two weeks. The unit was so successful that the dog stayed for the year. School administration, teachers, parents, and students agreed that the impact of the dog's presence had been beneficial. (ET)

The Effects of Class Size on Students' Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Claire

2011-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to study the relationship between class size and students' academic achievement. Citywide language arts and math test scores for third and fifth grade students in four New York City public schools were examined using a variety of variables including (a) gender, (b) ethnicity, (c) grade…

Whose Community Is This? Mathematics of Neighborhood Displacement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutstein, Eric

2013-01-01

Displacement was part of students' realities--gentrification in North Lawndale (a Chicago community), deportation in Little Village, and foreclosures in both. The author started the unit in his 12th-grade "math for social justice" class by telling the story (with family permission) of Carmen, a student in his class. Her grandmother paid…

Do Increased Levels of Parental Involvement Account for Social Class Differences in Track Placement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Sean

This paper attempts to determine whether increased levels of involvement among socially advantaged parents accounts for children's track placements. Research has shown that students of higher social classes have a greater advantage in attaining placement in elite math sequences. Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (1988) was…

Let's Take a Road Trip

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hildebrandt, Martha E.; Biglan, Barbara; Budd, Lisa

2013-01-01

In this article, the authors describe activities that can keep math and science skills sharp over summer breaks. A fourth-grade class was encouraged to talk about their coming summer break. The class brainstormed about what one might see on the road--"Observing landscapes, vehicles, and highway signage were quick replies." The children…

Writing for Physics Mastery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Stephen W.

A study examined the effectiveness of incorporating writing as a tool to master the concepts of physics. Subjects were students in the three traditional physics classes and one non-math or conceptual physics class at East High School in Rockford, Illinois. The instructor tried a variety of methods--students wrote criticisms of Carl Sagan videos,…

A Comparative Study of Student Math Skills: Perceptions, Validation, and Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Thomas W.; Price, Barbara A.; Randall, Cindy H.

2011-01-01

A study was conducted at a southern university in sophomore level production classes to assess skills such as the order of arithmetic operations, decimal and percent conversion, solving of algebraic expressions, and evaluation of formulas. The study was replicated using business statistics and quantitative analysis classes at a southeastern…

Tried and True: Springing into Linear Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darling, Gerald

2012-01-01

In eighth grade, students usually learn about forces in science class and linear relationships in math class, crucial topics that form the foundation for further study in science and engineering. An activity that links these two fundamental concepts involves measuring the distance a spring stretches as a function of how much weight is suspended…

Advanced Math? Write!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandenburg, Sister M. Luka

2002-01-01

High-school mathematics teacher in Rock Island, Illinois, describes plan for using writing assignment to improve student understanding of advanced mathematics. Plan includes the following elements: Start small, be firm with students, make writing assignments count, and inform colleagues. (PKP)

Comparing Differences in Math Achievement and Attitudes toward Math in a Sixth Grade Mathematics Enrichment Pilot Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tow, Tamara

2011-01-01

High-stakes assessments have encouraged educators to ignore the needs of the top performers. Therefore, the Oakwood School District decided to implement a mathematics pilot enrichment program in order to meet the needs of the advanced mathematics students. As a result, this study used quantitative data to determine if there was a significant…

The Relation between Students' Math and Reading Ability and Their Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry Examination Grades in Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korpershoek, Hanke; Kuyper, Hans; van der Werf, Greetje

2015-01-01

Word problems are math- or science-related problems presented in the context of a story or real-life scenario. Literature suggests that, to solve these problems, advanced reading skills are required, in addition to content-related skills in, for example, mathematics. In the present study, we investigated the relation between students' reading…

Math Readiness and Preparation for Competitive College Majors and Careers: The Case of Black Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Gail E.

This study examines factors that determine the enrollment of black students in the high school math courses (i.e., advanced algebra, trigonometry, calculus) that are necessary for competitive college and major field access. The data are from a local college survey of juniors and seniors who were enrolled in eight (8) local public and private…

Using Automatic Speech Recognition to Dictate Mathematical Expressions: The Development of the "TalkMaths" Application at Kingston University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wigmore, Angela; Hunter, Gordon; Pflugel, Eckhard; Denholm-Price, James; Binelli, Vincent

2009-01-01

Speech technology--especially automatic speech recognition--has now advanced to a level where it can be of great benefit both to able-bodied people and those with various disabilities. In this paper we describe an application "TalkMaths" which, using the output from a commonly-used conventional automatic speech recognition system,…

Use of GeoGebra in Primary Math Education in Lithuania: An Exploratory Study from Teachers' Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Žilinskiene, Inga; Demirbilek, Muhammet

2015-01-01

With the advance of information and communications technologies, new teaching tools are becoming more pervasive. These tools can be utilized in a variety of ways to improve and enhance math teaching. Considering the integration of technology in teaching mathematics, it is clear that the replacement of board and chalk with digital presentation…

The Math–Biology Values Instrument: Development of a Tool to Measure Life Science Majors’ Task Values of Using Math in the Context of Biology

PubMed Central

Andrews, Sarah E.; Runyon, Christopher; Aikens, Melissa L.

2017-01-01

In response to calls to improve the quantitative training of undergraduate biology students, there have been increased efforts to better integrate math into biology curricula. One challenge of such efforts is negative student attitudes toward math, which are thought to be particularly prevalent among biology students. According to theory, students’ personal values toward using math in a biological context will influence their achievement and behavioral outcomes, but a validated instrument is needed to determine this empirically. We developed the Math–Biology Values Instrument (MBVI), an 11-item college-level self-­report instrument grounded in expectancy-value theory, to measure life science students’ interest in using math to understand biology, the perceived usefulness of math to their life science career, and the cost of using math in biology courses. We used a process that integrates multiple forms of validity evidence to show that scores from the MBVI can be used as a valid measure of a student’s value of math in the context of biology. The MBVI can be used by instructors and researchers to help identify instructional strategies that influence math–biology values and understand how math–biology values are related to students’ achievement and decisions to pursue more advanced quantitative-based courses. PMID:28747355

Encouraging Competence in Basic Mathematics in Hydrology using The Math You Need

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fredrick, K. C.

2011-12-01

California University of Pennsylvania has experienced significant growth in interest of its Earth Science programs over the last few years. With the burgeoning shale gas exploration and drilling, along with continued environmental problems, students and parents recognize the potential for jobs in the region in the Geosciences. With this increase in student interest has come an increase in the number of majors including a greater number of first-year students entering the major right from high school. Hydrology, is an important course within the Earth Science department curriculum. It is required by all Geology, Meteorology, and Earth and Space Science Education majors. It also serves majors from the Biology program, but is not required. This mix of students based on major expectations, grade level, and background leads to a varied distribution of math competencies. Many students enter unprepared for the rigors of a physics-based Hydrology course. The pre-requisites for the course are Introduction to Geology, a mostly non-quantitative survey course, and College Algebra. However, some students are more confident in their math skills because they have completed some level of Calculus. Regardless of the students' perceived abilities, nearly all struggle early on in the course because they have never used math within the context of Hydrology (or Science for that matter) , including continuity, conservation, and fluid dynamics. In order to make sure students have the basic skills to understand the science, it has been necessary to dedicate significant class time to such topics as Unit Conversions, Scientific Notation, Significant Figures, and basic Graphing. The Math You Need (TMYN) is an online tool, which requires students to complete instructor-selected questions to assess student competence in fundamental math topics. Using Geology as the context for the questions in the database, TMYN is ideal for introductory-level courses, but can also be effective as a review tool in higher-level courses. For our Hydrology course, we employ a strategy to integrate TMYN assessments throughout the course, to continually encourage students to practice math skills and introduce others that might be unfamiliar. The course begins with a pass/fail pre-assessment to gauge math competencies across the class, to prepare students for the rigors of the course, and to make sure they are technically able to access the website. Beginning the first week, and continuing through the first twelve weeks of the semester, additional assessments are assigned and graded on a pass/fail basis. The assessments include a guided module, followed by a brief quiz. The modules are aligned with the course materials as much as possible. At the end of the course, a post-assessment is assigned to measure student improvement. Most of the students will continue on to courses within Geology or Meteorology, depending on major, for which Hydrology is a pre-requisite. For the students, TMYN will serve to lay the groundwork for improved math competencies throughout their college career. For the faculty, this model allows for more class time to concentrate on science content, lab activities, and data analysis.

Visualisation Ability of Senior High School Students with Using GeoGebra and Transparent Mica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thohirudin, M.; Maryati, TK; Dwirahayu, G.

2017-04-01

Visualisation ability is an ability to process, inform, and transform object which suitable for geometry topic in math. This research aims to describe the influence of using software GeoGebra and transparent mica for student’s visualisation ability. GeoGebra is shortness of geometry and algebra. GeoGebra is an open source program that is created for math. Transparent mica is a tool that is created by the author to transform a geometry object. This research is a quantitative experiment model. The subject of this research were students in grade XII of science program in Annajah Senior High School Rumpin with two classes which one as an experiment class (science one) and another one as a control class (science two). Experiment class use GeoGebra and transparent mica in the study, and control class use powerpoint in the study. Data of student’s visualisation ability is collected from posttest with visual questions which are gifted at the end of the research to both classes with topic “transformation geometry”. This research resulted that studying with GeoGebra and transparent mica had a better influence than studying with powerpoint to student’s visualisation ability. The time of study in class and the habit of the students to use software and tool affected the result of research. Although, GeoGebra and transparent mica can give help to students in transformation geometry topic.

On Darboux's approach to R-separability of variables. Classification of conformally flat 4-dimensional binary metrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szereszewski, A.; Sym, A.

2015-09-01

The standard method of separation of variables in PDEs called the Stäckel-Robertson-Eisenhart (SRE) approach originated in the papers by Robertson (1928 Math. Ann. 98 749-52) and Eisenhart (1934 Ann. Math. 35 284-305) on separability of variables in the Schrödinger equation defined on a pseudo-Riemannian space equipped with orthogonal coordinates, which in turn were based on the purely classical mechanics results by Paul Stäckel (1891, Habilitation Thesis, Halle). These still fundamental results have been further extended in diverse directions by e.g. Havas (1975 J. Math. Phys. 16 1461-8 J. Math. Phys. 16 2476-89) or Koornwinder (1980 Lecture Notes in Mathematics 810 (Berlin: Springer) pp 240-63). The involved separability is always ordinary (factor R = 1) and regular (maximum number of independent parameters in separation equations). A different approach to separation of variables was initiated by Gaston Darboux (1878 Ann. Sci. E.N.S. 7 275-348) which has been almost completely forgotten in today’s research on the subject. Darboux’s paper was devoted to the so-called R-separability of variables in the standard Laplace equation. At the outset he did not make any specific assumption about the separation equations (this is in sharp contrast to the SRE approach). After impressive calculations Darboux obtained a complete solution of the problem. He found not only eleven cases of ordinary separability Eisenhart (1934 Ann. Math. 35 284-305) but also Darboux-Moutard-cyclidic metrics (Bôcher 1894 Ueber die Reihenentwickelungen der Potentialtheorie (Leipzig: Teubner)) and non-regularly separable Dupin-cyclidic metrics as well. In our previous paper Darboux’s approach was extended to the case of the stationary Schrödinger equation on Riemannian spaces admitting orthogonal coordinates. In particular the class of isothermic metrics was defined (isothermicity of the metric is a necessary condition for its R-separability). An important sub-class of isothermic metrics are binary metrics. In this paper we solve the following problem: to classify all conformally flat (of arbitrary signature) 4-dimensional binary metrics. Among them there are 1) those that are separable in the sense of SRE metrics Kalnins-Miller (1978 Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 244 241-61 1982 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 15 2699-709 1984 Adv. Math. 51 91-106 1983 SIAM J. Math. Anal. 14 126-37) and 2) new examples of non-Stäckel R-separability in 4 dimensions.

The Math-Biology Values Instrument: Development of a Tool to Measure Life Science Majors' Task Values of Using Math in the Context of Biology.

PubMed

Andrews, Sarah E; Runyon, Christopher; Aikens, Melissa L

2017-01-01

In response to calls to improve the quantitative training of undergraduate biology students, there have been increased efforts to better integrate math into biology curricula. One challenge of such efforts is negative student attitudes toward math, which are thought to be particularly prevalent among biology students. According to theory, students' personal values toward using math in a biological context will influence their achievement and behavioral outcomes, but a validated instrument is needed to determine this empirically. We developed the Math-Biology Values Instrument (MBVI), an 11-item college-level self--report instrument grounded in expectancy-value theory, to measure life science students' interest in using math to understand biology, the perceived usefulness of math to their life science career, and the cost of using math in biology courses. We used a process that integrates multiple forms of validity evidence to show that scores from the MBVI can be used as a valid measure of a student's value of math in the context of biology. The MBVI can be used by instructors and researchers to help identify instructional strategies that influence math-biology values and understand how math-biology values are related to students' achievement and decisions to pursue more advanced quantitative-based courses. © 2017 S. E. Andrews et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Reviews

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2002-11-01

CD-ROM REVIEW (551) Essential Physics BOOK REVIEWS (551) Collins Advanced Science: Physics, 2nd edition Quarks, Leptons and the Big Bang, 2nd edition Do Brilliantly: A2 Physics IGCSE Physics Geophysics in the UK Synoptic Skills in Advanced Physics Flash! The hunt for the biggest explosions in the universe Materials Maths for Advanced Physics

How to Make a Math Modeling Class from Scratch in Six (Not-So) Easy Steps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerhardt, Ira

2017-01-01

The recent introduction of a new course in mathematical modeling at Manhattan College has provided students with a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience utilizing tools in applying their mathematical abilities to a real-world problem. This paper describes the steps taken to create this class, from obtaining a real-world partner…

Developing an Early-Alert System to Promote Student Visits to Tutor Center

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Qijie; Lewis, Carrie L.; Higdon, Jude

2015-01-01

An early-alert system (MavCLASS) was developed and piloted in a large gateway math class with 611 freshman students to identify academically at-risk students and provide alert messages. It was found that there was significant association between the alert messages students received and their visits to the university's tutor center. Further, the…

"It's Hard Getting Kids to Talk about Math": Helping New Teachers Improve Mathematical Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Cory A.

2010-01-01

This article examines how two new teachers, with varied content knowledge and preparation as teachers in mathematics education, improved their use of whole-class discourse in their mathematics classes with a mentor's assistance. Discourse has long been shown to be influential in supporting students' learning of mathematics, but the implementation…

Designing Studies to Test Causal Questions About Early Math: The Development of Making Pre-K Count.

PubMed

Mattera, Shira K; Morris, Pamela A; Jacob, Robin; Maier, Michelle; Rojas, Natalia

2017-01-01

A growing literature has demonstrated that early math skills are associated with later outcomes for children. This research has generated interest in improving children's early math competencies as a pathway to improved outcomes for children in elementary school. The Making Pre-K Count study was designed to test the effects of an early math intervention for preschoolers. Its design was unique in that, in addition to causally testing the effects of early math skills, it also allowed for the examination of a number of additional questions about scale-up, the influence of contextual factors and the counterfactual environment, the mechanism of long-term fade-out, and the role of measurement in early childhood intervention findings. This chapter outlines some of the design considerations and decisions put in place to create a rigorous test of the causal effects of early math skills that is also able to answer these questions in early childhood mathematics and intervention. The study serves as a potential model for how to advance science in the fields of preschool intervention and early mathematics. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Student Perceptions of a Mathematics Major for Prospective Elementary Teachers with an Inquiry-Based Philosophy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Samuel A.; Borkovitz, Debra K.

2017-01-01

In this paper we present data from one-on-one interviews conducted with students who have taken intermediate and advanced inquiry-based mathematics courses in a program that prepares future preK-8 teachers. Many of these students entered college with a fear of math, but then gained confidence from a required introductory math course and chose to…

Seeking an African Einstein

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durrani, Matin

2008-07-01

A new postgraduate centre for maths and computer science is set to open in the Nigerian capital of Abuja this month as part of an ambitious plan to find the "next Einstein" in Africa. The centre will provide advanced training to graduate students from across Africa in maths and related fields. It will seek to attract the best young African scientists and nurture their talents as problem-solvers and teachers.

Middle School A/B Block and Traditional Scheduling: An Analysis of Math and Reading Performance by Race

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gill, Willie Wallicia Allen

2011-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether a difference existed in the percentage performance of students earning a pass/advanced score on the Standards of Learning (SOL) Test in math and reading in Virginia's Region IV for schools using an A/B block schedule and those using a traditional schedule. The research also examined if…

Multidimensional assessment of self-regulated learning with middle school math students.

PubMed

Callan, Gregory L; Cleary, Timothy J

2018-03-01

This study examined the convergent and predictive validity of self-regulated learning (SRL) measures situated in mathematics. The sample included 100 eighth graders from a diverse, urban school district. Four measurement formats were examined including, 2 broad-based (i.e., self-report questionnaire and teacher ratings) and 2 task-specific measures (i.e., SRL microanalysis and behavioral traces). Convergent validity was examined across task-difficulty, and the predictive validity was examined across 3 mathematics outcomes: 2 measures of mathematical problem solving skill (i.e., practice session math problems, posttest math problems) and a global measure of mathematical skill (i.e., standardized math test). Correlation analyses were used to examine convergent validity and revealed medium correlations between measures within the same category (i.e., broad-based or task-specific). Relations between measurement classes were not statistically significant. Separate regressions examined the predictive validity of the SRL measures. While controlling all other predictors, a SRL microanalysis metacognitive-monitoring measure emerged as a significant predictor of all 3 outcomes and teacher ratings accounted for unique variance on 2 of the outcomes (i.e., posttest math problems and standardized math test). Results suggest that a multidimensional assessment approach should be considered by school psychologists interested in measuring SRL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving quantitative skills in introductory geoscience courses at a four-year public institution using online math modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, E. S.

2011-12-01

Fitchburg State University has a diverse student population comprised largely of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education, including first-generation, low-income, and/or students with disabilities. Approximately half of our incoming students require developmental math coursework, but often enroll in science classes prior to completing those courses. Since our introductory geoscience courses (Oceanography, Meteorology, Geology, Earth Systems Science) do not have prerequisites, many students who take them lack basic math skills, but are taking these courses alongside science majors. In order to provide supplemental math instruction without sacrificing time for content, "The Math You Need, When You Need It (TMYN), a set of online math tutorials placed in a geoscience context, will be implemented in three of our introductory courses (Oceanography, Meteorology, and Earth Systems Science) during Fall, 2011. Students will complete 5-6 modules asynchronously, the topics of which include graphing skills, calculating rates, unit conversions, and rearranging equations. Assessment of quantitative skills will be tracked with students' pre- and post-test results, as well as individual module quiz scores. In addition, student assessment results from Oceanography will be compared to student data from Academic Year 2010-11, during which quantitative skills were evaluated with pre- and post-test questions, but students did not receive online supplemental instruction.

77 FR 64217 - Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-18

... opportunities for students to achieve in math and science classes, the Department of Education is promoting... playing field is level, people with disabilities are equally capable of excelling in these economically...

A Touch of...Class!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tweedie, Karen, Ed.

1987-01-01

Games for use in the second-language classroom are suggested, including variations on tic-tac-toe and snakes and ladders, races, board games based on American television programs, math activities, and a classroom mystery. (MSE)

Effect of a supportive-educative program in the math class for stress, anxiety, and depression in female students in the third level of junior high school: An action research

PubMed Central

Emamjomeh, Seyedeh Mahtab; Bahrami, Masoud

2015-01-01

Background and Aim: Students in junior high school, particularly in the third level, are prone to a variety of stressors. This in turn might lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and other health-related problems. There are a very limited number of action research studies to identify the effect of stress management techniques among students. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the effect of a program used in the math class to decrease the student's level of stress, anxiety, and depression. Material and Methods: This was an action research study, which was conducted in region three of the Education and Training Office of Isfahan, in the year 2012. Fifty-one students in a junior high school were selected and underwent a comprehensive stress management program. This program was prepared in collaboration with the students, their parents, teachers, and managers of the school, and was implemented approximately during a four-month period. The student's stress, anxiety, and depression were measured before and after the program using the DASS-21 questionnaire. Findings: The t-test identified that the mean scores of stress, anxiety, and depression after the intervention were significantly lower than the corresponding scores before the program. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) also showed that the students from the veterans (Janbaz) families had higher levels of stress compared to their classmates, who belonged to the non-veteran families (P< 0.05). Results: Education and implementation of stress management techniques including cognitive and behavioral interventions along with active and collaborative methods of learning in the math class might be useful both inside and outside the class, for better management of stress and other health-related problems of students. PMID:25767821

Effect of a supportive-educative program in the math class for stress, anxiety, and depression in female students in the third level of junior high school: An action research.

PubMed

Emamjomeh, Seyedeh Mahtab; Bahrami, Masoud

2015-01-01

Students in junior high school, particularly in the third level, are prone to a variety of stressors. This in turn might lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and other health-related problems. There are a very limited number of action research studies to identify the effect of stress management techniques among students. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the effect of a program used in the math class to decrease the student's level of stress, anxiety, and depression. This was an action research study, which was conducted in region three of the Education and Training Office of Isfahan, in the year 2012. Fifty-one students in a junior high school were selected and underwent a comprehensive stress management program. This program was prepared in collaboration with the students, their parents, teachers, and managers of the school, and was implemented approximately during a four-month period. The student's stress, anxiety, and depression were measured before and after the program using the DASS-21 questionnaire. The t-test identified that the mean scores of stress, anxiety, and depression after the intervention were significantly lower than the corresponding scores before the program. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) also showed that the students from the veterans (Janbaz) families had higher levels of stress compared to their classmates, who belonged to the non-veteran families (P< 0.05). Education and implementation of stress management techniques including cognitive and behavioral interventions along with active and collaborative methods of learning in the math class might be useful both inside and outside the class, for better management of stress and other health-related problems of students.

Helping the Environment Helps the Human Race: Differentiated Instruction across the Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Karen

2010-01-01

This set of lessons is designed to be carried out in all of the subject-area classes. Science lessons are expanded and taught in social studies, math, and language arts classes. This highlights the far-reaching impact that science has on other worldviews. To complete this objective, you and your team of teachers must work together using the…

Computers and Cranberries: A Reflection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apodaca, Jason Patrick

2006-01-01

In this article, the author reflects back to when he was in fifth grade, when his teacher taught the class to bake bread in school. It was November, and baking bread tied into the lesson. His teacher and some open-minded parents and students knew that to bake, sew, paint, sing, play an instrument, or dance as part of a lesson for a math class,…

A Technology Leader's Role in Initiating a Flipped Classroom in a High School Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caverly, Gregg

2017-01-01

A mixed methods study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of a flipped classroom in a high school discrete mathematics course. In the flipped classroom, students watched videos of the teacher's lesson for homework while completing problems during class. Two sections of the course were involved in the study, with one group receiving the…

Students' Agency in an In-Class Computer-Centered Developmental Mathematics Classroom: The Best Laid Plans of Math and (Wo)men

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aly, Geillan Dahab

2016-01-01

Community colleges are tasked with helping all students regardless of their academic background to receive a degree, certificate, or other form of education. Many of these students need support in learning the mathematical content necessary to take college-level courses. Since a large proportion of students in these developmental classes are…

Effect of Strategy Teaching for the Solution of Ratio Problems on Students' Proportional Reasoning Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sen, Ceylan; Güler, Gürsel

2017-01-01

The study was conducted to reveal the effects of the instruction of different problem-solving strategies on the proportional reasoning skills of students in solving proportional problems in the 6th grade math's class. Quasi-experimental research model with pretest-posttest control group was employed in the study. For eight class hours, the…

Title IX at 40

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilman, Carrie

2012-01-01

When Kristen Galles was a 7th grader in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she wanted to enroll in shop class. But there was a problem. At Harding Junior High School, only boys could do that. It is just how things were in 1976, which might sound absurd to 7th graders today. It was a time when girls were discouraged from taking math and science classes, when…

Translating Success: How Careful Planning within a Problems-Based Curriculum Can Prepare Students to Enter College-Level Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fillmore, Jessica

2007-01-01

Amy Biehl High School (ABHS) is a charter high school located in downtown Albuquerque that serves students from Albuquerque and the surrounding communities. Despite its population's differences in skills, special needs, socioeconomic class, race, culture, and English proficiency, it has one common goal for all its students: that they are able to…

Use of a Survival Analysis Technique in Understanding Game Performance in Instructional Games. CRESST Report 812

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jinok; Chung, Gregory K. W. K.

2012-01-01

In this study we compared the effects of two math game designs on math and game performance, using discrete-time survival analysis (DTSA) to model players' risk of not advancing to the next level in the game. 137 students were randomly assigned to two game conditions. The game covered the concept of a unit and the addition of like-sized fractional…

TECHcitement: Advances in Technological Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of Community Colleges, Washington, DC.

This publication includes seven articles. "ATE Grants Generate Life-Changing Experiences" discusses the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grants, which provide seed money and other support that community college educators use to enhance technical training and improve math and science instruction. "Phone…

The Role of Gender and Friendship in Advanced Course Taking

PubMed Central

Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Farkas, George; Muller, Chandra

2010-01-01

This article examines the role of friends in girls' and boys' advanced course taking and explores whether friends' characteristics are particularly important for girls' math and science attainment. With the use of data from Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Heath, the results indicate that same-sex friends' academic performance significantly predicts course taking in all subjects for girls, but not for boys. Furthermore, for math and science only, the effects of friends' performance are greater in the context of a predominantly female friendship group, which suggests that such groups provide a counterpoint to the gendered stereotypes and identities of those subjects. PMID:20333274

Ice Cream Stick Math.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paddock, Cynthia

1992-01-01

Described is a teaching technique which uses the collection of ice cream sticks as a means of increasing awareness of quantity in a self-contained elementary special class for students with learning disabilities and mild mental retardation. (DB)

Go Fly a Tetrahedron!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowens, John

1995-01-01

Describes a science unit used in a fourth-grade class to teach students about Bernoulli's law of flight, the similarity of tetrahedrons to birds, and the construction of tetrahedron kites. Also includes thought-provoking math questions for students. (MDM)

Cartooning in Algebra and Calculus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moseley, L. Jeneva

2014-01-01

This article discusses how teachers can create cartoons for undergraduate math classes, such as college algebra and basic calculus. The practice of cartooning for teaching can be helpful for communication with students and for students' conceptual understanding.

"You Get Lost When You Gotta Blimmin Watch the Damn Words." Another Look at Reading in the Junior Secondary School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicholson, Tom

A New Zealand study revealed that many secondary school reading tasks are both complex and potentially confusing for pupils. Researchers joined two classes at the junior high and high school levels, and followed the students to their major content area classes--English, math, science, and social studies--for two terms. Conversations with the 60…

What's in Your Back Pack? Three Essential Items for Survival in the Tough and Changing World of Campus Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

del Monte, Rick

2009-01-01

As students know, the tools in their backpacks can influence success. If they are off to math class, a good calculator is essential. When on their way to English class, a laptop is fundamental. Building facility executives too have tools in their backpacks to assure the successful creation of educational buildings. Only their tools are…

Gender and Computer Education: An Observation of At Risk Girls in Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pikula, Karen

This paper presents results of a 23-day observation of 36 girls in all-girl math and computer classes at a public school's enrichment summer session for at-risk girls. Ages of the students observed ranged from 12 to 18. The students observed came to school with a long history of truancy, from homes where they suffered neglect and abuse. School was…

77 FR 12823 - Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-02

... Exascale ARRA projects--Magellan final report, Advanced Networking update Status from Computer Science COV Early Career technical talks Summary of Applied Math and Computer Science Workshops ASCR's new SBIR..., Office of Science. ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the...

Family science: What is it?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitlow, B.

Family science is an informal science education program designed to teach science skills by having children and parents learn and enjoy science together. Aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of women and ethnic and racial minorities in science-based careers, FAMILY SCIENCE involves parents and children in kindergarten through eighth grade in science activities that demonstrate the role science plays in their daily life and future. Family involvement is the key to the program`s effectiveness. Family classes are usually offered in a series of one- to two-hour class meetings for parents and their children after school, evenings, and weekends. During classes, parentsmore » and children work in pairs and small groups to solve problems, work cooperatively, and talk science. The activities provide experiences for the entire family that build skills, confidence, and interest in science. In addition, guest speakers and career activities illustrate for parents in the workforce the significance of math and science in their own jobs, and for kids, it highlights the diversity of jobs and the relevance of math and science.« less

Maths to Make Things Happen.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haylock, Derek; Morgans, Helen

1986-01-01

A class of 20 children eight to nine years old with low mathematic attainments assumed responsibility for planning the school's Easter Parade. Real life problems of purchasing prizes, timing the parade, and taking photographs provided opportunities for mathematics learning. (CL)

Tikekar superdense stars in electric fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komathiraj, K.; Maharaj, S. D.

2007-04-01

We present exact solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell system of equations with a specified form of the electric field intensity by assuming that the hypersurface {t=constant} are spheroidal. The solution of the Einstein-Maxwell system is reduced to a recurrence relation with variable rational coefficients which can be solved in general using mathematical induction. New classes of solutions of linearly independent functions are obtained by restricting the spheroidal parameter K and the electric field intensity parameter α. Consequently, it is possible to find exact solutions in terms of elementary functions, namely, polynomials and algebraic functions. Our result contains models found previously including the superdense Tikekar neutron star model [J. Math. Phys. 31, 2454 (1990)] when K=-7 and α=0. Our class of charged spheroidal models generalize the uncharged isotropic Maharaj and Leach solutions [J. Math. Phys. 37, 430 (1996)]. In particular, we find an explicit relationship directly relating the spheroidal parameter K to the electromagnetic field.

Progressing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in North Dakota with near-space ballooning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saad, Marissa Elizabeth

The United States must provide quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in order to maintain a leading role in the global economy. Numerous initiatives have been established across the United States that promote and encourage STEM education within the middle school curriculum. Integrating active learning pedagogy into instructors' lesson plans will prepare the students to think critically - a necessary skill for the twenty first century. This study integrated a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into six eighth grade Earth Science classes from Valley Middle School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was hypothesized that after the students designed, constructed, launched, and analyzed their payload experiments, they would have an increased affinity for high school science and math classes. A pre- and post-survey was distributed to the students (n=124), before and after the project to analyze how effective this engineering and space mission was regarding high school STEM interests. The surveys were statistically analyzed, comparing means by the Student's t-Test, specifically the Welch-Satterthwaite test. Female students displayed a 57.1% increase in math and a 63.6% increase in science; male students displayed a 46.6% increase in science and 0% increase in math. Most Likert-scale survey questions experienced no statistically significant change, supporting the null hypothesis. The only survey question that supported the hypothesis was, "I Think Engineers Work Alone," which experienced a 0.24% decrease in student understanding. The results suggest that integrating a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into middle school curricula will not directly influence the students' excitement to pursue STEM subjects and careers. An extensive, yearlong ballooning mission is recommended so that it can be integrated with multiple core subjects. Using such an innovative pedagogy method as with this balloon launch will help students master the scientific process and experience real team collaboration, as they did in this successful mission.

STS129 Visit to Howard University

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-12

STS-129 Mission Specialist Leland Melvin speaks to a class room of students at the Howard University Middle School of Math and Science, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Enhancing Math through Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Banion, Carie

1997-01-01

Provides a bibliography of children's literature exploring mathematical concepts: classification; place value and numeration systems; counting, addition, and subtraction; multiplication and division; fractions; estimation; big numbers; geometry; measurement; and games and puzzles. Highlights one book for each concept, suggests class activities,…

Have Basic Mathematical Skills Grown Obsolete in the Computer Age: Assessing Basic Mathematical Skills and Forecasting Performance in a Business Statistics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noser, Thomas C.; Tanner, John R.; Shah, Situl

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to measure the comprehension of basic mathematical skills of students enrolled in statistics classes at a large regional university, and to determine if the scores earned on a basic math skills test are useful in forecasting student performance in these statistics classes, and to determine if students' basic math…

Deterministic Intracellular Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-03-01

eukaryotes encompass all plants, animal, fungi and protists [6:71]. Structures in this class are more defined. For example, cells in this class possess a...affect cells. 5.3 Recommendations Further research into the construction and evaluation of intracellular models would benefit Air Force toxicology studies...manual220/indexE.html. 16. MathWorks, “The Benefits of MATLAB.” Internet, 2003. http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/description1.jsp. 17. Mendes

Discarded Minds: How Gender, Race and Class Biases Prevent Young Women from Obtaining an Adequate Math and Science Education in New York City Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Syron, Lisa

This study is a systematic investigation of female participation in mathematics and science classes in New York City schools. Six major findings reported include: (1) young women's low levels of participation in mathematics and science reflect the overall low levels of participation and reveal lack of attention to excellence in mathematics and…

Making STEM Accessible and Effective through NASA Robotics Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Jonathan; Vadiee, Nader; Sutherland, Emery; Kaye, Bradley; Baker, Kyle

2018-01-01

There is no question that Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology (STEM) education is critical to the future of our students and workforce. As technology advances, computer programming skills are becoming a necessity in almost all fields. However, teaching programming and other advanced technologies is very difficult, especially in…

The Effectiveness of Practical Work in Lower Secondary School Mathematics: A Cultural Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Triadafillidis, T. A.

1996-01-01

Discusses reasons why practical work is used only sporadically in lower secondary school math classes. Presents results of a comparative study between Greece and Scotland, focusing on culture as a differentiating factor of students' performance. (AIM)

Advanced Course Offerings and Completion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Texas Public High Schools. REL 2018-276

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garland, Marshall; Rapaport, Amie

2017-01-01

Taking advanced high school courses predicts such postsecondary outcomes as enrolling in college, persisting in college courses, and completing a degree. In Texas, where Hispanic students make up 51 percent of the student population, their access to and enrollment in advanced courses is an ongoing concern despite recent gains. In particular,…

Pedagogical Reform and College WOMEN’S Persistence in Mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strand, Kerry J. Strand; Mayfield, M. Elizabeth

Significant gender differences persist in the election of mathematics courses and math-related majors in college. Recent research suggests that part of the blame lies with conventional pedagogical approaches and that alternative approaches emphasizing practical applications, collaborative problem solving, and group work make mathematics more understandable and appealing to all students, particularly women. Using questionnaires administered to 355 traditional-age female college students, the authors examined the relationship between alternative teaching strategies in high school mathematics classes and two categories of outcome variables: mathematics-related attitudes and mathematics persistence in college. Multivariate analysis showed that experience with this so-called female-friendly pedagogy is positively related to students’ math-related attitudes and that these attitudes predict math persistence in college. However, the authors’ data also indicate that alternative teaching strategies have no discernible direct effect on students’ choices of mathematics courses or mathrelated

Gatekeepers of the American Dream: How Teachers' Perceptions Shape the Academic Outcomes of Immigrant and Language-Minority Students

PubMed Central

Blanchard, Sarah; Muller, Chandra

2014-01-01

High school teachers evaluate and offer guidance to students as they approach the transition to college based in part on their perceptions of the students' hard work and potential to succeed in college. Their perceptions may be especially crucial for immigrant and language-minority students navigating the U.S. educational system. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we consider how the intersection of nativity and language-minority status may (1) inform teachers' perceptions of students' effort and college potential, and (2) shape the link between teachers' perceptions and students' academic progress towards college (grades and likelihood of advancing to more demanding math courses). We find that teachers perceive immigrant language-minority students as hard workers, and that their grades reflect that perception. However, these same students are less likely than others to advance in math between the sophomore and junior years, a critical point for preparing for college. Language-minority students born in the U.S. are more likely to be negatively perceived. Yet, when their teachers see them as hard workers, they advance in math at the same rates as nonimmigrant native English speaking peers. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering both language-minority and immigrant status as social dimensions of students' background that moderate the way that high school teachers' perceptions shape students' preparation for college. PMID:25769866

Improving students’ creative mathematical reasoning ability students through adversity quotient and argument driven inquiry learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayat, W.; Wahyudin; Prabawanto, S.

2018-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the role factors of Adversity Quotient (AQ) and Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instruction in improving mathematical creative reasoning ability from students’ who is a candidate for a math teacher. The study was designed in the form of experiments with a pretest-posttest control group design that aims to examine the role of Adversity Quotient (AQ) and Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) learning on improving students’ mathematical creative reasoning abilities. The population in this research was the student of mathematics teacher candidate in Cimahi City, while the sample of this research was 90 students of the candidate of the teacher of mathematics specified purposively then determined randomly which belong to experiment class and control class. Based on the results and discussion, it was concluded that: (1) Improvement the ability of mathematical creative reasoning of students’ who was a candidate for a math teacher who received Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instruction is better than those who received direct instruction is reviewed based on the whole; (2) There was no different improvement the ability of mathematical creative reasoning of students’ who is a candidate for a math teacher who received Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instruction and direct instruction was reviewed based on the type of Adversity Quotient (Quitter / AQ Low, Champer / AQ Medium, and the Climber / AQ High); (3) Learning factors and type of Adversity Quotient (AQ) affected the improvement of students’ mathematical creative reasoning ability. In addition, there was no interaction effect between learning and AQ together in developing of students’ mathematical creative reasoning ability; (4) mathematical creative reasoning ability of students’ who is a candidate for math teacher had not been achieved optimally on the indicators novelty.

Effects of the Copy, Cover, and Compare Procedure on the Math and Spelling Performance of a High School Student with Behavioral Disorder: A Case Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cieslar, Whitney; McLaughlin, T. F.; Derby, K. Mark

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the copy, cover, and compare (CCC) procedure on improving the mathematics and spelling performance of a freshman attending a high school special education class. The participant was a 16-year-old high school student enrolled in special education classes for 3 periods of the school day. Math…

Do High School STEM Courses Prepare Non-College Bound Youth for Jobs in the STEM Economy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozick, Robert; Srinivasan, Sinduja; Gottfried, Michael

2017-01-01

Our study assesses whether high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses provide non-college bound youth with the skills and training necessary to successfully transition from high school into the STEM economy. Specifically, our study estimates the effects that advanced math, advanced science, engineering, and…

Bonus Activity Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Learning, 1992

1992-01-01

Provides on-task activities to fill in unexpected extra moments in elementary classes. The activities require little preparation and take 5-15 minutes to complete. There are activities for math, language arts, social science, science, critical thinking, and computer. An outer space board game is also included. (SM)

Cooperative Science Lesson Plans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooperative Learning, 1991

1991-01-01

Offers several elementary level cooperative science lesson plans. The article includes a recipe for cooperative class learning, instructions for making a compost pile, directions for finding evidence of energy, experiments in math and science using oranges to test density, and discussions of buoyancy using eggs. (SM)

Class Trips in Cyberspace: No Passports Required.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holzberg, Carol S.

1996-01-01

Describes examples of electronic field trips for elementary and secondary school students taking place during the 1996-97 school year. Topics include Mayan civilization, wildlife migration, geothermal hot spots, Antarctica, sailboat voyages, baseball and math, viruses, Hong Kong, and offerings from National Geographic. (LRW)

78 FR 56871 - Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-16

... Germantown Update on Exascale Update from Exascale technical approaches subcommittee Facilities update Report from Applied Math Committee of Visitors Exascale technical talks Public Comment (10-minute rule) Public...

Using a flipped classroom in an algebra-based physics course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Leigh

2013-03-01

The algebra-based physics course is taken by Biology students, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Medical, and other health related majors such as medical imaging, physical therapy, and so on. Nearly 500 students take the course each Semester. Student learning is adversely impacted by poor math backgrounds as well as extensive work schedules outside of the classroom. We have been researching the use of an intensive flipped-classroom approach where students spend one to two hours each week preparing for class by reading the book, completing a series of conceptual problems, and viewing videos which describe the material. In class, the new response system Learning Catalytics is used which allows much richer problems to be posed in class and includes sketching figures, numerical or symbolic entries, short answers, highlighting text, etc in addition to the standard multiple choice questions. We make direct comparison of student learning for 1200 sudents who have taken the same tests, 25% of which used the flipped classroom approach, and 75% who took a more standard lecture. There is significant evidence of improvements in student learning for students taking the flipped classroom approach over standard lectures. These benefits appear to impact students at all math backgrounds.

Integration of a CAS/DGS as a CAD system in the mathematics curriculum for architecture students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falcón, R. M.

2011-09-01

Students of Architecture and Building Engineering Degrees work with Computer Aided Design systems daily in order to design and model architectonic constructions. Since this kind of software is based on the creation and transformation of geometrical objects, it seems to be a useful tool in Maths classes in order to capture the attention of the students. However, users of these systems cannot display the set of formulas and equations which constitute the basis of their studio. Moreover, if they want to represent curves or surfaces starting from its corresponding equations, they have to define specific macros which require the knowledge of some computer language or they have to create a table of points in order to convert a set of nodes into polylines, polysolids or splines. More specific concepts, like, for instance, those related to differential geometry, are not implemented in this kind of software, although they are taught in our Maths classes. In a very similar virtual environment, Computer Algebra and Dynamic Geometry Systems offer the possibility of implementing several concepts which can be found in the usual mathematics curriculum for Building Engineering: curves, surfaces and calculus. Specifically, the use of sliders related to the Euler's angles and the generation of tools which project 3D into 2D, facilitate the design and model of curves and rigid objects in space, by starting from their parametric equations. In this article, we show the experience carried out in an experimental and control group in the context of the Maths classes of the Building Engineering Degree of the University of Seville, where students have created their own building models by understanding and testing the usefulness of the mathematical concepts.

Using a Math Pre-Test in a Large General Education Geoscience Course: How Effective?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardson, R. M.

2006-12-01

Teaching large (150 or more students) General Education Geoscience courses presents many challenges, but one of the most important is how to effectively incorporate quantitative literacy. Many students are math phobic, and will run to General Education courses that minimize quantitative aspects. I will present results from one approach that we have used successfully for at least two years: a math pre-test. Our General Education Geoscience course has no prerequisites other than admission to the University, and is designed for first and second year non-science students. Fortunately, with limited exceptions, all entering students at the University of Arizona take a Math Readiness Test (MRT) for math placement. With the cooperation of the Mathematics Department, we have used old MRT exams to selectively use questions that are of the highest utility for the course material `understanding graphs, linear equations and extrapolations, scientific notation and large numbers, word problems, and scaling/unit conversions. We administer the exam in the first discussion section. Students receive full credit for a `serious effort', and we score the exam. In recent semesters the percentage of correct answers has varied from just under 50% to nearly 90% on individual questions. The pre-test has several important benefits. First, it lets students know clearly up front that there will be mathematics in the class. Second, it lets students know the range of skills expected to be successful. Third, because the average score is between 70-80% it gives students confidence that they can do the math in the course. Fourth, we contact all students who score less than 50%, and offer help, including referral to tutoring service in Mathematics. Feedback from students has been positive. Unfortunately, when we compared scores on the math pre-test to final grades in the course, we found essentially no correlation. We are exploring a number of possible explanations. We are also seeing if our math pre-test scores correlate with the initial MRT score, and overall student success.

Establishing Astronomy in the Curriculum at a Teacher Preparation College: Some Successes and Some Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, L. M.; Borkovitz, D.

1999-12-01

At Wheelock College, a liberal arts college in Boston which prepares students for careers in elementary and early childhood teaching and social work, we are developing science and mathematics courses designed to prepare our students for their work with children while teaching them adult-level math and science. Our students arrive with varying skill levels and, often, a great deal of math and science anxiety. We must address the anxiety in order for the students to make progress as learners and, eventually, teachers of math and science. Two courses have been notable successes. A one-semester course entitled The Solar System has become a staple in the curriculum. Major topics covered include finding our way around the sky, the nature of light and color, the size and scale of the solar system, and the causes of the Earth’s seasons and the phases of the moon. Students report that it changes their minds about how science can be taught by modeling a style of teaching which is more interactive than the way they were taught. In the graduate school, astronomy is the focus for a course entitled Teaching and Learning. Co-taught by an education faculty member and an astronomer, the course immerses students in learning a new content area and asks them to consider their own learning process. Observations play an important role here, with students keeping journals of their own sky observations. We also describe two challenges. One is the establishment of more advanced courses; although an astrophysics class has been offered twice to overwhelmingly positive student reviews, it is not easy to “sell”. The other challenge is the establishment of an introductory level course in stars and galaxies for non-science majors. This work has been supported in part by a grant from the DUE of the National Science Foundation.

Learning for Change in World Society: Reflections, Activities and Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

One World Trust, London (England).

The resource booklet contains readings and activities for British secondary school world affairs classes. The material lends itself toward incorporation into various curricula, including history, geography, social studies, humanities, environmental studies, language and literature, home economics, math, and science. Subject matter focuses on…

History Repeats Itself at Yorktown Middle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haskin, Teresa T.

1999-01-01

Describes two interdisciplinary units that can be used in most middle school classrooms, one on the sinking of the "Titanic" and one on Pickett's charge at Gettysburg during the Civil War. Describes how each unit involves English, math, social studies, and science classes and activities. (SR)

Response to Intervention and Math Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinton, Vanessa; Flores, Margaret M.; Shippen, Margaret

2013-01-01

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework in which interventions are implemented mostly in general education classes to resolve academic difficulties and help to mitigate contextual variables (i.e., lack of instruction, socio economic status, cultural differences, etc.) as an explanation for academic failure. The implementation of…

Unisex Math: Narrowing the Gender Gap.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tapia, Martha; Marsh, George E., II

This study examined gender differences in attitudes toward mathematics of undergraduate students. The Attitudes Toward Mathematics Instrument (ATMI) was administered to students enrolled in introductory mathematics classes (Pre-Calculus, Calculus, and Business Calculus) at two Southeast universities, one a large state university and the other one…

Riding the RAFT

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunter, Melissa D.

2016-01-01

Writing about mathematics holds a wealth of benefits for students. When students are given opportunities to write in math class, it helps develop mathematical thinking and language, encourages self-reflection, and provides a better way to organize ideas. Many teachers incorporate journaling and other types of reflective writing into their…

Cost-Effectiveness of Four Educational Interventions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Henry M.; And Others

This study employs meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness instruments to evaluate and compare cross-age tutoring, computer assistance, class size reductions, and instructional time increases for their utility in improving elementary school reading and math scores. Using intervention effect studies as replication models, researchers first estimate…

Contractive type non-self mappings on metric spaces of hyperbolic type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciric, Ljubomir B.

2006-05-01

Let (X,d) be a metric space of hyperbolic type and K a nonempty closed subset of X. In this paper we study a class of mappings from K into X (not necessarily self-mappings on K), which are defined by the contractive condition (2.1) below, and a class of pairs of mappings from K into X which satisfy the condition (2.28) below. We present fixed point and common fixed point theorems which are generalizations of the corresponding fixed point theorems of Ciric [L.B. Ciric, Quasi-contraction non-self mappings on Banach spaces, Bull. Acad. Serbe Sci. Arts 23 (1998) 25-31; L.B. Ciric, J.S. Ume, M.S. Khan, H.K.T. Pathak, On some non-self mappings, Math. Nachr. 251 (2003) 28-33], Rhoades [B.E. Rhoades, A fixed point theorem for some non-self mappings, Math. Japon. 23 (1978) 457-459] and many other authors. Some examples are presented to show that our results are genuine generalizations of known results from this area.

Log-Gamma Polymer Free Energy Fluctuations via a Fredholm Determinant Identity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borodin, Alexei; Corwin, Ivan; Remenik, Daniel

2013-11-01

We prove that under n 1/3 scaling, the limiting distribution as n → ∞ of the free energy of Seppäläinen’s log-Gamma discrete directed polymer is GUE Tracy-Widom. The main technical innovation we provide is a general identity between a class of n-fold contour integrals and a class of Fredholm determinants. Applying this identity to the integral formula proved in Corwin et al. (Tropical combinatorics and Whittaker functions. http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.3489v3 [math.PR], 2012) for the Laplace transform of the log-Gamma polymer partition function, we arrive at a Fredholm determinant which lends itself to asymptotic analysis (and thus yields the free energy limit theorem). The Fredholm determinant was anticipated in Borodin and Corwin (Macdonald processes. http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.4408v3 [math.PR], 2012) via the formalism of Macdonald processes yet its rigorous proof was so far lacking because of the nontriviality of certain decay estimates required by that approach.

Climate change in the classroom: Reaching out to middle school students through science and math suitcase lessons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobo, A. C.; Collay, R.; Harris, R. N.; de Silva, L.

2011-12-01

We have formed a link between the Increasing Diversity in Earth Sciences (IDES) program with the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program, both at Oregon State University. The IDES mission is to strengthen the understanding of Earth Sciences and their relevance to society among broad and diverse segments of the population and the SMILE mission is to provide science and math enrichment for underrepresented and other educationally underserved students in grades 4-12. Traditionally, underserved schools do not have enough time or resources to spend on science and mathematics. Furthermore, numerous budget cuts in many Oregon school districts have negatively impacted math and science cirriculum. To combat this trend we have designed suitcase lessons in climate change that can be carried to a number of classrooms. These lesson plans are scientifically rich and economically attractive. These lessons are designed to engage students in math and science through climate change presentations, group discussions, and hands-on activities. Over the past year we have familiarized ourselves with the academic ability of sixth and seventh graders through in-class observation in Salem Oregon. One of the suit case lessons we developed focuses on climate change by exploring the plight of polar bears in the face of diminishing sea ice. Our presentation will report the results of this activity.

The Effects of Motivation on Student Performance on Science Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glenn, Tina Heard

Academic achievement of public school students in the United States has significantly fallen behind other countries. Students' lack of knowledge of, or interest in, basic science and math has led to fewer graduates of science, technology, engineering, and math-related fields (STEM), a factor that may affect their career success and will certainly affect the numbers in the workforce who are prepared for some STEM jobs. Drawing from self-determination theory and achievement theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether there were significant relationships between high school academic performance in science classes, motivations (self-efficacy, self-regulation, and intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation), and academic performance in an introductory online college biology class. Data were obtained at 2 points in time from a convenience multiethnic sample of adult male ( n =16) and female (n = 49) community college students in the southeast United States. Correlational analyses indicated no statistically significant relationships for intrinsic or extrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy, or self-regulation with high school science mean-GPA nor college biology final course grade. However, high school academic performance in science classes significantly predicted college performance in an entry-level online biology class. The implications of positive social change include knowledge useful for educational institutions to explore additional factors that may motivate students to enroll in science courses, potentially leading to an increase in scientific knowledge and STEM careers.

Fingers Make a Comeback in Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Andree

1978-01-01

Describes a new idea in finger-counting developed by 31 year old Hang Young Pai, a Korean teacher living in New York. It is called Chisanbop and it comes from a more advanced hand-calculation system used in the Orient in conjunction with the abacus. It is applicable for both elementary students and for more advanced mathematical applications, such…

Updating Algebra for All?: Evidence of a Middle-Grades Math Acceleration Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, Shaun M.; Goodman, Joshua; Hill, Darryl; Litke, Erica; Page, Lindsay

2014-01-01

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in North Carolina recently addressed the issue of advancement in and equitable access to advanced mathematics. Under a recent policy, WCPSS uses a SAS-generated predicted probabilities of students' success in obtaining a passing score on the NC Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) exam, to determine…

Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc. Advanced Technical Preparation. Statistical Process Control (SPC). PRE-SPC I. Instructor Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Averitt, Sallie D.

This instructor guide, which was developed for use in a manufacturing firm's advanced technical preparation program, contains the materials required to present a learning module that is designed to prepare trainees for the program's statistical process control module by improving their basic math skills and instructing them in basic calculator…

Advancing STEM Learning across the Educational Pipeline: Statewide Efforts in Ohio. Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Youth Policy Forum, 2009

2009-01-01

This issue brief is focused on state efforts to improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math--collectively known as the "STEM" disciplines. The brief is largely based on a March, 2009 American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) field trip to Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, and describes Ohio's success in advancing STEM education…

Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program: Building a Pipeline of Skilled Workers. Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Youth Policy Forum, 2010

2010-01-01

In the Fall of 2008, the American Youth Policy Forum hosted a series of three Capitol Hill forums showcasing the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of these forums was to educate national policymakers about the importance of: (1) improving the science and math competencies of…

Effectiveness of Selected Advanced Placement Programs on the Academic Performance and College Readiness of High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Traschell S.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of selected Advanced Placement (AP) programs on the academic performance and college readiness of high school students. Specifically, the researcher was concerned with ascertaining the effectiveness of social science, math, science, English, music/art and language AP programs on the…

How Well Are American Students Learning? With Sections on Reading and Math in the Common Core Era, Tracking and Advanced Placement (AP), and Principals as Instructional Leaders. The 2016 Brown Center Report on American Education. Volume 3, Number 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loveless, Tom

2016-01-01

The 2016 edition of the Brown Center Report (BCR) is number five in the third volume and the 15th issue overall. As is customary, this year's BCR contains three studies. Part one is on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and instruction in math and reading. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data indicate that nonfiction is…

A study of the factors affecting advancement and graduation for engineering students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fletcher, John Thomas

The purpose of this study was, first, to determine whether a set of predictor variables could be identified from pre-enrollment and post-enrollment data that would differentiate students who advance to a major in engineering from non-advancers and, further, to determine if the predictor variables would differentiate students who graduate from the College of Engineering from non-graduates and graduates of other colleges at Auburn University. A second purpose was to determine if the predictor variables would correctly identify male and female students with the same degree of accuracy. The third purpose was to determine if there were significant relationships between the predictor variables studied and grades earned in a set of 15 courses that have enrollments over 100 students and are part of the pre-engineering curriculum. The population for this study was the 868 students who entered the pre-engineering program at Auburn University as freshmen during the Summer and Fall Quarters of 1991. The variables selected to differentiate the different groups were ACT scores, high school grade indices, and first quarter college grade point average. Two sets of classification matrices were developed using analysis and holdout samples that were divided based on sex. With respect to the question about advancement to the professional engineering program, structure coefficients derived from discriminant analysis procedures performed on all the cases combined indicated that first quarter college grade point average, high school math index, ACT math score, and high school science grade index were important predictor variables in classifying students who advanced to the professional engineering program and those who did not. Further, important structure coefficients with respect to graduation with a degree from the College of Engineering were first quarter college grade point average, high school math index, ACT math score, and high school science grade index. The results of this study indicated that significant differences existed in the model's ability to predict advancement and graduation for male and female students. This difference was not unexpected based on the male-dominated population. However, the models identified predicted at a high rate for both male and female students. Finally, many significant relationships were found to exist between the predictor variables and the 15 pre-engineering courses that were selected. The strength of the relationships ranged from a high of .82, p < .001 (Chemistry 103 grade with total high school grade index) to a low of .07, p > .05 (Chemistry 102 with ACT science score).

The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cupp, Garth Meichel

An underrepresentation of females exists in the STEM fields. In order to tackle this issue, work begins early in the education of young women to ensure they are interested and have the confidence to gain a career in the STEM fields. It is important to engage girls in STEM opportunities in and out of school to ignite their interest and build their confidence. Brigid Barron's learning ecology perspective shows that girls pursuing STEM outside of the classroom is critical to their achievement in the STEM pipeline. This study investigated the impact after-school STEM learning opportunities have on middle school girls by investigating (a) how the length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the confidence of female students in their science and math abilities; (b) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the interest of female students in attaining a career in STEM; (c) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect interest in science and math classes; and (d) how length of engagement can affect how female students' view gender parity in the STEM workforce. The major findings revealed no statistical significance when comparing confidence in math or science abilities or the perception that gender plays a role in attaining a career in STEM. The findings revealed statistical significance in the areas when comparing length of engagement in the girls' interest in their math class and attaining a career in three of the four STEM fields: science, technology, and engineering. The findings showed that multiple terms of engagement in the after-school STEM programs appear to be an effective catalyst to maintain the interest of girls pursuing STEM-related careers, in addition to allowing their interest in a topic to provide a new lens for the way they see their math work during the school day. The implications of this study show that schools must engage middle school girls who are interested in STEM in a multitude of settings, including outside of the classroom in order to maintain engagement in the STEM pipeline.

The effects of using diagramming as a representational technique on high school students' achievement in solving math word problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Banmali

Methods and procedures for successfully solving math word problems have been, and continue to be a mystery to many U.S. high school students. Previous studies suggest that the contextual and mathematical understanding of a word problem, along with the development of schemas and their related external representations, positively contribute to students' accomplishments when solving word problems. Some studies have examined the effects of diagramming on students' abilities to solve word problems that only involved basic arithmetic operations. Other studies have investigated how instructional models that used technology influenced students' problem solving achievements. Still other studies have used schema-based instruction involving students with learning disabilities. No study has evaluated regular high school students' achievements in solving standard math word problems using a diagramming technique without technological aid. This study evaluated students' achievement in solving math word problems using a diagramming technique. Using a quasi-experimental experimental pretest-posttest research design, quantitative data were collected from 172 grade 11 Hispanic English language learners (ELLS) and African American learners whose first language is English (EFLLs) in 18 classes at an inner city high school in Northern New Jersey. There were 88 control and 84 experimental students. The pretest and posttest of each participating student and samples of the experimental students' class assignments provided the qualitative data for the study. The data from this study exhibited that the diagramming method of solving math word problems significantly improved student achievement in the experimental group (p<.01) compared to the control group. The study demonstrated that urban, high school, ELLs benefited from instruction that placed emphasis on the mathematical vocabulary and symbols used in word problems and that both ELLs and EFLLs improved their problem solving success through careful attention to the creation and labeling of diagrams to represent the mathematics involved in standard word problems. Although Learnertype (ELL, EFLL), Classtype (Bilingual and Mixed), and Gender (Female, Male) were not significant indicators of student achievement, there was significant interaction between Treatment and Classtype at the level of the Bilingual students ( p<.01) and between Treatment and Learnertype at the level of the ELLs (p<.01).

Math Machines: Using Actuators in Physics Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Frederick J.; Chaney, Robert A.; Gruesbeck, Marta

2018-01-01

Probeware (sensors combined with data-analysis software) is a well-established part of physics education. In engineering and technology, sensors are frequently paired with actuators--motors, heaters, buzzers, valves, color displays, medical dosing systems, and other devices that are activated by electrical signals to produce intentional physical…

Math in a Can

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cupillari, Antonella

2015-01-01

Practical problems that use mathematical concepts are among the highlights of any mathematics class, for better and for worse. Teachers are thrilled to show applications of new theoretical ideas, whereas most students dread "word problems." This article presents a sequence of three activities designed to get students to think about…

Is There a Problem?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Triplett, Kimberly

2012-01-01

This is a narrative article, highlighting effective teaching strategies for teacher candidates at a four-year university in the South. The author examined preconceived negative notions teacher candidates expressed about being enrolled in a Math Block class and having to teach children about mathematics. After involving the teacher candidates in a…

Teaching Mathematics Using Steplets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bringslid, Odd; Norstein, Anne

2008-01-01

This article evaluates online mathematical content used for teaching mathematics in engineering classes and in distance education for teacher training students. In the EU projects Xmath and dMath online computer algebra modules (Steplets) for undergraduate students assembled in the Xmath eBook have been designed. Two questionnaires, a compulsory…

Fostering Sex Equity in Math.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moody, Charles D.; Linn, Eleanor

1986-01-01

The role of mathematics as a critical determiner of employment is noted, and the "significant absence of women and minority students in mathematics classes" is given attention. The need to gain competence in mathematics skills and confidence in mathematical abilities calls for programs to increase student participation, motivation, and…

Gatekeepers of the American Dream: how teachers' perceptions shape the academic outcomes of immigrant and language-minority students.

PubMed

Blanchard, Sarah; Muller, Chandra

2015-05-01

High school teachers evaluate and offer guidance to students as they approach the transition to college based in part on their perceptions of the student's hard work and potential to succeed in college. Their perceptions may be especially crucial for immigrant and language-minority students navigating the U.S. educational system. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we consider how the intersection of nativity and language-minority status may (1) inform teachers' perceptions of students' effort and college potential, and (2) shape the link between teachers' perceptions and students' academic progress towards college (grades and likelihood of advancing to more demanding math courses). We find that teachers perceive immigrant language-minority students as hard workers, and that their grades reflect that perception. However, these same students are less likely than others to advance in math between the sophomore and junior years, a critical point for preparing for college. Language-minority students born in the U.S. are more likely to be negatively perceived. Yet, when their teachers see them as hard workers, they advance in math at the same rates as nonimmigrant native English speaking peers. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering both language-minority and immigrant status as social dimensions of students' background that moderate the way that high school teachers' perceptions shape students' preparation for college. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program on increasing enrollment and performance on Advanced Placement science exams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramsey, Susan Brady

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the National Math and Science Initiative's Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) on the number of students taking AP science courses and their performance. The study evaluated 39 schools over a six-year period in six states that participate in the APTIP. The National Math and Science Initiative provided data for cohort I. A general linear model for repeated measures was used to evaluate the data. Data was evaluated three years prior to the intervention and three years during the intervention, which will actually continue for two more years (2012 and 2013) since cohort I schools were awarded five years of support. Students in APTIP schools enrolled in more AP science exams (AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics-B) over the course of the intervention. The quantity of students earning qualifying scores increased during the intervention years. APTIP is a multi-tiered program that includes seven days of teacher training, three six-hour student prep sessions, school equipment, reduced exam fees, and monetary incentives for students and teachers. This program positively impacted the quantity of enrollment and qualifying scores during the three years evaluated in this study. Increases in the number of female and African American students' test takers their and qualifying scores were seen in all three years of the APTIP intervention. This study supports the premise that the first step to increasing the Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline is giving access to advanced courses to more students in high schools.

STEMujeres: A case study of the life stories of first-generation Latina engineers and scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vielma, Karina I.

Research points to the many obstacles that first-generation, Latina students face when attempting to enter fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM. This qualitative, case study examined the personal and educational experiences of first-generation Latina women who successfully navigated the STEM educational pipeline earning bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in various fields of engineering. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How does a first-generation Latina engineer and scientist describe her life experiences as she became interested in STEM? (2) How does she describe her educational experiences as she navigated the educational pipeline in the physics, mathematics, and/or engineering field(s)? (3) How did she respond to challenges, obstacles and microaggressions, if any, while navigating the STEM educational pipeline? The study was designed using a combination of Critical Race Theory frameworks---Chicana feminist theory and racial microaggressions. Through a life history case study approach, the women shared their stories of success. With the participants' help, influential persons in their educational paths were identified and interviewed. Data were analyzed using crystallization and thematic results indicated that all women in this study identified their parents as planting the seed of interest through the introduction of mathematics. The women unknowingly prepared to enter the STEM fields by taking math and science coursework. They were guided to apply to STEM universities and academic programs by others who knew about their interest in math and science including teachers, counselors, and level-up peers---students close in age who were just a step more advanced in the educational pipeline. The women also drew from previous familial struggles to guide their perseverance and motivation toward educational degree completion. The lives of the women where complex and intersected with various forms of racism including gender, race, class, legality and power. In many instances, the women used their knowledge to help other STEMujeres advance.

Class-A mode-locked lasers: Fundamental solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, Anton V.; Viktorov, Evgeny A.

2017-11-01

We consider a delay differential equation (DDE) model for mode-locked operation in class-A semiconductor lasers containing both gain and absorber sections. The material processes are adiabatically eliminated as these are considered fast in comparison to the delay time for a long cavity device. We determine the steady states and analyze their bifurcations using DDE-BIFTOOL [Engelborghs et al., ACM Trans. Math. Software 28, 1 (2002)]. Multiple forms of coexistence, transformation, and hysteretic behavior of stable steady states and fundamental periodic regimes are discussed in bifurcation diagrams.

Symmetry and singularity properties of second-order ordinary differential equations of Lie's type III

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andriopoulos, K.; Leach, P. G. L.

2007-04-01

We extend the work of Abraham-Shrauner [B. Abraham-Shrauner, Hidden symmetries and linearization of the modified Painleve-Ince equation, J. Math. Phys. 34 (1993) 4809-4816] on the linearization of the modified Painleve-Ince equation to a wider class of nonlinear second-order ordinary differential equations invariant under the symmetries of time translation and self-similarity. In the process we demonstrate a remarkable connection with the parameters obtained in the singularity analysis of this class of equations.

Differential invariants and exact solutions of the Einstein equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lychagin, Valentin; Yumaguzhin, Valeriy

2017-06-01

In this paper (cf. Lychagin and Yumaguzhin, in Anal Math Phys, 2016) a class of totally geodesics solutions for the vacuum Einstein equations is introduced. It consists of Einstein metrics of signature (1,3) such that 2-dimensional distributions, defined by the Weyl tensor, are completely integrable and totally geodesic. The complete and explicit description of metrics from these class is given. It is shown that these metrics depend on two functions in one variable and one harmonic function.

More than Math: On the Affective Domain in Developmental Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guy, G. Michael; Cornick, Jonathan; Beckford, Ian

2015-01-01

Students at a large urban community college enrolled in fourteen sections of a developmental algebra class. While cognitive variables are often used to place students, affective characteristics may also influence their success. To explore the impact of affective variables, students took ACT's Engage survey measuring motivation, academic-related…

Co-Teaching to Reach Every Learner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murdock, Linda; Finneran, David; Theve, Kristin

2016-01-01

When an elementary school learns that its upcoming 4th grade class will include 10 students with special needs, six of whom have significant disabilities, it decides to include these students in a large team-taught classroom. There, everyone belongs--students with disabilities, English language learners, gifted math students, and avid and…

Problem Solving Software for Math Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troutner, Joanne

1987-01-01

Described are 10 computer software programs for problem solving related to mathematics. Programs described are: (1) Box Solves Story Problems; (2) Safari Search; (3) Puzzle Tanks; (4) The King's Rule; (5) The Factory; (6) The Royal Rules; (7) The Enchanted Forest; (8) Gears; (9) The Super Factory; and (10) Creativity Unlimited. (RH)

Make Your Own Digital Thermometer!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sorey, Timothy; Willard, Teri; Kim, Bom

2010-01-01

In the hands-on, guided-inquiry lesson presented in this article, high school students create, calibrate, and apply an affordable scientific-grade instrument (Lapp and Cyrus 2000). In just four class periods, they build a homemade integrated circuit (IC) digital thermometer, apply a math model to calibrate their instrument, and ask a researchable…

STEM and Career Exploratory Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chase, Darrell

2010-01-01

Districts face increasing pressure to improve students' mastery of curriculum in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Yet the number of students enrolling in science and math courses drops dramatically in middle and high school. At Sylvester Middle School, Chinook Middle School and Cascade Middle School of the…

Renew! Take a Break in Kindergarten

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charlesworth, Rosalind

2005-01-01

A university child development/early childhood education professor renews her relationship with young children and with current public school teaching by spending 5 weeks in kindergarten. This article describes some highlights of her experience: the children's daily journal writing, an in-class and take-home math activity, and teaching the…

AIDS Elementary/Intermediate Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellogg, Nancy Rader

This Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Curriculum was developed for intermediate elementary (5th, 6th, and 7th grade) students. It is an integrated unit that encompasses health, science, social studies, math, and language arts. The curriculum is comprised of nine class activities designed to meet the following objectives: (1) to determine…

Release the Prisoners Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Hecke, Tanja

2011-01-01

This article presents the mathematical approach of the optimal strategy to win the "Release the prisoners" game and the integration of this analysis in a math class. Outline lesson plans at three different levels are given, where simulations are suggested as well as theoretical findings about the probability distribution function and its mean…

The Impact of Brain-Based Strategies: One School's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodges, Jane Allen

2013-01-01

Research has shown student inattention, off-task behaviors, and lack of listening skills in the classroom can impact progress in reading, math, and language development. Lack of verbal interaction in home environments, variations in learning and teaching modalities, and larger class sizes contribute to the difficulties students have in developing…

The Numbered Forest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kissner, Emily

2000-01-01

Describes the activity of numbering trees in which students number trees or find the numbered trees and observe other features according to class time. This activity aims to increase student tracking, mapping, and writing skills and integrate them with math skills. Suggests follow up activities that focus on reading, writing, and language skills.…

Choral Counting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turrou, Angela Chan; Franke, Megan L.; Johnson, Nicholas

2017-01-01

The students in Ms. Moscoso's second-grade class gather on the rug after recess, ready for one of their favorite math warm-ups: Choral Counting. Counting is an important part of doing mathematics throughout the school; students count collections (Schwerdtfeger and Chan 2007) and solve problems using a variety of strategies, many of which are…

The Engineering Process in Construction & Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoner, Melissa A.; Stuby, Kristin T.; Szczepanski, Susan

2013-01-01

Recent research suggests that high-impact activities in science and math classes promote positive attitudinal shifts in students. By implementing high-impact activities, such as designing a school and a skate park, mathematical thinking can be linked to the engineering design process. This hands-on approach, when possible, to demonstrate or…

Serving Young Gifted Math Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corazza, Luciano; And Others

1995-01-01

The Diagnostic Testing and Prescription model, developed by the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University (MD), was implemented in seven sixth-grade classes at three Brooklyn schools. The selected 165 students were provided an accelerated curriculum (covering arithmetic, prealgebra, and in some cases, algebra) and completed from 1-2.5…

Math Activities for Teaching about Aging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Roberta E.; Pappas, Anthony A.

By participating in these class activities, students will acquire mathematical skills and at the same time learn about aging. Topics related to aging are often quantitative, and therefore, subject to mathematical analysis and procedures. The activities, which contain teacher suggestions and all student handouts, deal with seven topics. In the…

RtI in Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gresham, Gina; Little, Mary

2012-01-01

One of the most difficult tasks that classroom teachers face is finding ways to reach all their students and match each student's level of mathematical readiness and performance to the skills they are required to teach. In classrooms and schools, current federal and state requirements have increased the emphasis on accountability for improved…

Preservice Teacher Beliefs about Proofs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mingus, Tabitha T. Y.; Grassl, Richard M.

1999-01-01

Describes the study of backgrounds, beliefs, and attitudes of teachers (n=51) about proofs. Explores four issues: (1) preservice teachers' experiences/exposure to proof; (2) their beliefs about what constitutes proof; (3) the role of proof in mathematics; and (4) their beliefs about when proof should be introduced in K-12 math classes. Discusses…

Girls and Computer Technology: Barrier or Key?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gipson, Joella

1997-01-01

Discusses the disparity in numbers of girls and boys taking math, science, and computer classes in elementary and secondary schools, and examines steps being taken to better prepare girls, especially minority girls, for an increasingly technical society. A program in Michigan is described that involved a school and business partnership. (LRW)

3 CFR 8889 - Proclamation 8889 of October 15, 2012. Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... enriched every part of our national life. Today, we celebrate their innumerable contributions, and we... careers in all fields, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To provide more opportunities for students to achieve in math and science classes, the Department of Education is promoting...

Writing in Maths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 2009

2009-01-01

Students write definitions or explanations of mathematical words or symbols in their own words. These can be collated and added to as the year progresses to form a class dictionary that all students can access as required, or students could create their own personal dictionaries. This article presents a collection of ideas for incorporating…

Mathematics Placement at Cottey College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callahan, Susan

In response to the large numbers of students who were failing or dropping out of basic algebra and calculus classes, Cottey College, in Missouri, developed a math placement program in 1982 using Basic Algebra (BA) and Calculus Readiness (CR) tests from the Mathematical Association of America's Placement Testing Program. Cut off scores for the…

Is GAISE Evident? College Students' Perceptions of Statistics Classes as "Almost Not Math"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedges, Sarai; Harkness, Shelly Sheats

2017-01-01

The connection between mathematics and statistics is an important aspect in understanding college students' learning of statistics because studies have shown relationships among mathematics attitudes and performance and statistics attitudes. Statistics attitudes, in turn, are related to performance in statistics courses. Little research has been…

Transforming Tech Ed: The Advanced Technological Education Community Leads in Developing and Implementing Teaching Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patton, Madeline

2015-01-01

After years of working in the background to build the capacity of two-year college science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) faculty and the skills of technicians, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is gaining recognition as a source of STEM workforce expertise. The ATE program's effective mentoring of STEM educators and its…

Exploring How Teacher-Related Factors Relate to Student Achievement in Learning Advanced Algebra in Technology-Enhanced Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hegedus, Stephen J.; Tapper, John; Dalton, Sara

2016-01-01

In this study, we examine the relationship between contextual variables related to teachers and student performance in Advanced Algebra classrooms in the USA. The data were gathered from a cluster-randomized study on the effects of SimCalc MathWorlds®, a curricular and technological intervention as a replacement for Algebra 2 curriculum, on…

Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc. Advanced Technical Preparation. Statistical Process Control (SPC). PRE-SPC 11: SPC & Graphs. Instructor Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Averitt, Sallie D.

This instructor guide, which was developed for use in a manufacturing firm's advanced technical preparation program, contains the materials required to present a learning module that is designed to prepare trainees for the program's statistical process control module by improving their basic math skills in working with line graphs and teaching…

The Psychosocial Factors Contributing to the Underrepresentation of African American Males in Advanced High School Mathematics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowlett, Joel Everett

2013-01-01

This case study examined the beliefs of African American males on the psychosocial and pedagogical factors contributing to the underrepresentation of African American males in advanced high school math courses. Six 11th grade African American male juniors from a large, comprehensive, Southeastern high school served as individual cases. Within- and…

The effects of anxious responding on mental arithmetic and lexical decision task performance.

PubMed

Hopko, Derek R; McNeil, Daniel W; Lejuez, C W; Ashcraft, Mark H; Eifert, Georg H; Riel, Jim

2003-01-01

Anxiety-related responding and skill deficits historically are associated with performance-based problems such as mathematics anxiety, yet the relative contribution of these variables to substandard performance remains poorly understood. Utilizing a 7% carbon dioxide (CO2) gas to induce anxiety, the present study examined the impact of anxious responding on two performance tasks, mental arithmetic and lexical decision. Independent variables included math anxiety group, gender, and gas condition. Dependent variables included task performance and physiological and self-report indices of anxiety. A total of 64 university undergraduate students participated. Physiological and verbal-report measures of anxiety supported the utility of 7% carbon dioxide-enriched air as an anxiety-inducing stimulus. Behavioral disruption on performance tasks, however, did not differ as a function of carbon dioxide inhalation. Performance did differ as a function of math anxiety. High math anxious individuals generally exhibited higher error rates on mathematical tasks, particularly on tasks designed to measure advanced math skill and those requiring working memory resources. These findings are discussed with reference to processing efficiency theory, discordance among anxiety response systems, and the intricacies associated with skill measurement.

Putting the spark into physical science and algebra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pill, Bruce; Dagenais, Andre

2007-06-01

The presenters will describe a number of laboratory activities developed in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Delaware as part of their outreach program to help make math and science more authentic on the pre-college level. Lessons relating to electrical topics are often abstract and appropriate only for advanced students in math and science. We have devised lessons that rely on simple equipment. They promote skills that are included in National and State Standards. They emphasize the connections between math and science; they are appropriate for an algebra course, a physical science course, a PhysicsFirst course or a traditional physics course. Students benefit from seeing that what they learn in math and science courses can lead to cutting-edge work in areas such as passive wave imaging, photonics, wireless communication and high performance computing. The collaboration has been meaningful because it has motivated us to tailor our lessons to reflect what is happening in the research lab of our local university. Written materials for use in teacher training workshops will also be available.

Relationship Between Career Aspirations and Measures of Motivation Toward Biology and Physics, and the Influence of Gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koul, Ravinder; Lerdpornkulrat, Thanita; Chantara, Soontornpathai

2011-12-01

A student's motivational orientation is considered to be a predictor of a range of related education decisions, from attending classes to choosing a particular course or a profession. This survey study conducted with student volunteers (males = 519; females = 904) enrolled in secondary school science-math academic stream in Thailand investigated the relationship between measures of motivation (achievement goal orientation and physics and biology classroom anxiety) and aspirations for high earning science and math related careers. Results of multiple discriminant analyses showed gender differences in the motivational factors that influence career aspirations. Our interpretation of the findings highlights the significance of cultural beliefs about gender in decision making for careers.

A bispectral q-hypergeometric basis for a class of quantum integrable models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baseilhac, Pascal; Martin, Xavier

2018-01-01

For the class of quantum integrable models generated from the q-Onsager algebra, a basis of bispectral multivariable q-orthogonal polynomials is exhibited. In the first part, it is shown that the multivariable Askey-Wilson polynomials with N variables and N + 3 parameters introduced by Gasper and Rahman [Dev. Math. 13, 209 (2005)] generate a family of infinite dimensional modules for the q-Onsager algebra, whose fundamental generators are realized in terms of the multivariable q-difference and difference operators proposed by Iliev [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 363, 1577 (2011)]. Raising and lowering operators extending those of Sahi [SIGMA 3, 002 (2007)] are also constructed. In the second part, finite dimensional modules are constructed and studied for a certain class of parameters and if the N variables belong to a discrete support. In this case, the bispectral property finds a natural interpretation within the framework of tridiagonal pairs. In the third part, eigenfunctions of the q-Dolan-Grady hierarchy are considered in the polynomial basis. In particular, invariant subspaces are identified for certain conditions generalizing Nepomechie's relations. In the fourth part, the analysis is extended to the special case q = 1. This framework provides a q-hypergeometric formulation of quantum integrable models such as the open XXZ spin chain with generic integrable boundary conditions (q ≠ 1).

Teaching Quality in Math Class: The Development of a Scale and the Analysis of Its Relationship with Engagement and Achievement

PubMed Central

Leon, Jaime; Medina-Garrido, Elena; Núñez, Juan L.

2017-01-01

Math achievement and engagement declines in secondary education; therefore, educators are faced with the challenge of engaging students to avoid school failure. Within self-determination theory, we address the need to assess comprehensively student perceptions of teaching quality that predict engagement and achievement. In study one we tested, in a sample of 548 high school students, a preliminary version of a scale to assess nine factors: teaching for relevance, acknowledge negative feelings, participation encouragement, controlling language, optimal challenge, focus on the process, class structure, positive feedback, and caring. In the second study, we analyzed the scale’s reliability and validity in a sample of 1555 high school students. The scale showed evidence of reliability, and with regard to criterion validity, at the classroom level, teaching quality was a predictor of behavioral engagement, and higher grades were observed in classes where students, as a whole, displayed more behavioral engagement. At the within level, behavioral engagement was associated with achievement. We not only provide a reliable and valid method to assess teaching quality, but also a method to design interventions, these could be designed based on the scale items to encourage students to persist and display more engagement on school duties, which in turn bolsters student achievement. PMID:28701964

Teaching Quality in Math Class: The Development of a Scale and the Analysis of Its Relationship with Engagement and Achievement.

PubMed

Leon, Jaime; Medina-Garrido, Elena; Núñez, Juan L

2017-01-01

Math achievement and engagement declines in secondary education; therefore, educators are faced with the challenge of engaging students to avoid school failure. Within self-determination theory, we address the need to assess comprehensively student perceptions of teaching quality that predict engagement and achievement. In study one we tested, in a sample of 548 high school students, a preliminary version of a scale to assess nine factors: teaching for relevance, acknowledge negative feelings, participation encouragement, controlling language, optimal challenge, focus on the process, class structure, positive feedback, and caring. In the second study, we analyzed the scale's reliability and validity in a sample of 1555 high school students. The scale showed evidence of reliability, and with regard to criterion validity, at the classroom level, teaching quality was a predictor of behavioral engagement, and higher grades were observed in classes where students, as a whole, displayed more behavioral engagement. At the within level, behavioral engagement was associated with achievement. We not only provide a reliable and valid method to assess teaching quality, but also a method to design interventions, these could be designed based on the scale items to encourage students to persist and display more engagement on school duties, which in turn bolsters student achievement.

PUMAS: The On-line journal of Math and Science Examples for Pre-College Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trainer, Melissa G.; Kahn, Ralph A.

2015-11-01

PUMAS - “Practical Uses of Math And Science” - is an on-line collection of brief examples showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including every day life. The examples are written primarily by scientists, engineers, and other content experts having practical experience with the material. They are aimed mainly at classroom teachers to enrich their presentation of math and science topics. The goal of PUMAS is to capture, for the benefit of pre-college education, the flavor of the vast experience that working scientists have with interesting and practical uses of math and science. There are currently over 80 examples in the PUMAS collection, and they are organized by curriculum topics and tagged with relevant grade levels and curriculum topic benchmarks. The published examples cover a wide range of subject matter: from demonstrating why summer is hot, to describing the fluid dynamics of a lava lamp, to calculating the best age to collect Social Security Benefits. The examples are available to all interested parties via the PUMAS web site: http://pumas.nasa.gov/.We invite the community to participate in the PUMAS collection. We seek scientists and scientific thinkers to provide innovative examples of practical uses for teachers to use to enrich the classroom experience, and content experts to participate in peer-review. We also seek teachers to review examples for originality, accuracy of content, clarity of presentation, and grade-level appropriateness. Finally, we encourage teachers to mine this rich repository for real-world examples to demonstrate the value of math in science in everyday life.

Robin Hood effects on motivation in math: Family interest moderates the effects of relevance interventions.

PubMed

Häfner, Isabelle; Flunger, Barbara; Dicke, Anna-Lena; Gaspard, Hanna; Brisson, Brigitte M; Nagengast, Benjamin; Trautwein, Ulrich

2017-08-01

Using a cluster randomized field trial, the present study tested whether 2 relevance interventions affected students' value beliefs, self-concept, and effort in math differently depending on family background (socioeconomic status, family interest (FI), and parental utility value). Eighty-two classrooms were randomly assigned to either 1 of 2 intervention conditions or a control group. Data from 1,916 students (M age = 14.62, SD age = 0.47) and their predominantly Caucasian middle-class parents were obtained via separate questionnaires. Multilevel regression analyses with cross-level interactions were used to investigate differential intervention effects on students' motivational beliefs 6 weeks and 5 months after the intervention. Socioeconomic status, FI, and parental utility values were investigated as moderators of the intervention effects. The intervention conditions were especially effective in promoting students' utility, attainment, intrinsic value beliefs, and effort 5 months after the intervention for students whose parents reported lower levels of math interest. Furthermore, students whose parents reported low math utility values especially profited in terms of their utility and attainment math values 5 months after the intervention. No systematic differential intervention effects were found for socioeconomic status. These results highlight the effectiveness of relevance interventions in decreasing motivational gaps between students from families with fewer or more motivational resources. Findings point to the substantial importance of motivational family resources, which have been neglected in previous research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting the math/science career goals of low-income prospective first-generation college students.

PubMed

Garriott, Patton O; Flores, Lisa Y; Martens, Matthew P

2013-04-01

The present study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to predict the math/science goal intentions of a sample of low-income prospective first-generation college students (N = 305). Structural equation modeling was used to test a model depicting relationships between contextual (i.e., social class, learning experiences, proximal supports and barriers) and person-cognitive (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals) variables as hypothesized in SCCT and based on previous literature on low-income first-generation college students. Results indicated that the hypothesized model provided the best representation of the data. All paths in the model were statistically significant, with the exceptions of paths from self-efficacy to goals, outcome expectations to interests, and perceived barriers to self-efficacy. Bootstrapping procedures revealed that the relationships between social class, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations were mediated through learning experiences. Furthermore, the relationship between social supports and goals was mediated by self-efficacy and interests and the relationships between self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals were mediated by interests. Contrary to hypotheses, the relationship between barriers and goals was not mediated by self-efficacy and interests. The hypothesis that proximal contextual supports and barriers would moderate the relationship between interests and goals was not supported. The final model explained 66% and 55% of the variance in math/science interests and goals, respectively. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The achievement impact of the inclusion model on the standardized test scores of general education students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrett-Rainey, Syrena

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of general education students within regular education classes to the achievement of general education students in inclusion/co-teach classes to determine whether there was a significant difference in the achievement between the two groups. The school district's inclusion/co-teach model included ongoing professional development support for teachers and administrators. General education teachers, special education teachers, and teacher assistants collaborated to develop instructional strategies to provide additional remediation to help students to acquire the skills needed to master course content. This quantitative study reviewed the end-of course test (EoCT) scores of Grade 10 physical science and math students within an urban school district. It is not known whether general education students in an inclusive/co-teach science or math course will demonstrate a higher achievement on the EoCT in math or science than students not in an inclusive/co-teach classroom setting. In addition, this study sought to determine if students classified as low socioeconomic status benefited from participating in co-teaching classrooms as evidenced by standardized tests. Inferential statistics were used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the achievements of the treatment group (inclusion/co-teach) and the control group (non-inclusion/co-teach). The findings can be used to provide school districts with optional instructional strategies to implement in the diverse classroom setting in the modern classroom to increase academic performance on state standardized tests.

Virus replication as a phenotypic version of polynucleotide evolution.

PubMed

Antoneli, Fernando; Bosco, Francisco; Castro, Diogo; Janini, Luiz Mario

2013-04-01

In this paper, we revisit and adapt to viral evolution an approach based on the theory of branching process advanced by Demetrius et al. (Bull. Math. Biol. 46:239-262, 1985), in their study of polynucleotide evolution. By taking into account beneficial effects, we obtain a non-trivial multivariate generalization of their single-type branching process model. Perturbative techniques allows us to obtain analytical asymptotic expressions for the main global parameters of the model, which lead to the following rigorous results: (i) a new criterion for "no sure extinction", (ii) a generalization and proof, for this particular class of models, of the lethal mutagenesis criterion proposed by Bull et al. (J. Virol. 18:2930-2939, 2007), (iii) a new proposal for the notion of relaxation time with a quantitative prescription for its evaluation, (iv) the quantitative description of the evolution of the expected values in four distinct "stages": extinction threshold, lethal mutagenesis, stationary "equilibrium", and transient. Finally, based on these quantitative results, we are able to draw some qualitative conclusions.

Writing-Intensive Astronomy Classes in a Liberal Arts Setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidtke, P. C.

2013-04-01

The Integrative Studies Program at Arizona State University is a modern adaptation of a traditional liberal arts degree. An important component of the curriculum is the requirement for a course in the area of “math and science perspectives.” Among the options are two classes on Life in the Universe and Black Holes and Beyond. These classes present contemporary astronomy topics in a format designed for humanities-oriented students. Course material is developed via class discussion of readings, augmented by a wide range of hands-on activities, and organized within the BlackBoard course management system. Almost all assignments are writing intensive: daily journals, formal papers, and an essay-type exam. The design of these courses makes them highly interactive between the instructor and students.

Factors that encourage females to pursue physical science careers: Testing five common hypotheses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hazari, Zahra; Potvin, Geoff; Lock, Robynne M.; Lung, Florin; Sadler, Philip M.; Sonnert, Gerhard

2012-03-01

There are many hypotheses regarding factors that may encourage female students to pursue careers in the physical sciences. Using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) on national data (n=7505) drawn from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project, we test five commonly held beliefs including having a single-sex physics class, having a female physics teacher, having female scientist guest speakers in physics class, discussing the work of women scientists in physics class, and discussing the under-representation of women in physics class. The effect of these experiences is compared for female students who are matched on several factors, including parental education, prior science/math interests, and academic background, thereby controlling for the effect of many confounding variables.

Development of advanced fermentor control applications for use in an industrial automation environment.

PubMed

Hamilton, Ryan; Tamminana, Krishna; Boyd, John; Sasaki, Gen; Toda, Alex; Haskell, Sid; Danbe, Elizabeth

2013-04-01

We present a software platform developed by Genentech and MathWorks Consulting Group that allows arbitrary MATLAB (MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.) functions to perform supervisory control of process equipment (in this case, fermentors) via the OLE for process control (OPC) communication protocol, under the direction of an industrial automation layer. The software features automated synchronization and deployment of server control code and has been proven to be tolerant of OPC communication interruptions. Since deployment in the spring of 2010, this software has successfully performed supervisory control of more than 700 microbial fermentations in the Genentech pilot plant and has enabled significant reductions in the time required to develop and implement novel control strategies (months reduced to days). The software is available for download at the MathWorks File Exchange Web site at http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/36866.

Building on the foundation for an engineering career

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Susan; White, Ruth

1994-01-01

A predictable and preventable hurdle stops a majority of young women from entering the scientific and technical fields. This cuts down the individual's career possibilities and cuts in half the pool of potential U.S. engineers later available to industry. The waste of talent does not advance our country's competitive position. The typical American adolescent girl has acquired all the basic mathematical skills needed to pursue science and math, but, from adolescence on, she does not build the foundation of science and math courses that she would need later in life to work in engineering. Several questions are addressed: Why are some young women stopped cold in their mathematical tracks during adolescence? What is the influence of psychology, including discussion of the personality traits quantifiably shared by women in technical fields? and How should the school system adapt to keep their female charges learning math and science?

The Effects of Participation in an Accelerated Academic Math Course on the Academic Performance of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pond, Jeff G.

2017-01-01

Acceleration refers to placing students in advanced courses to meet their individual learning ability. The problem of focus in this study was that the increased placement of students in advanced courses was often associated with negative impacts, including a lack of readiness, as well as emotional and social immaturity. As such, the purpose of…

As Budgets Swell, Spending Choices Get New Scrutiny

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeil, Michele

2007-01-01

When lawmakers in Arkansas increased school funding by more than $700 million over the past three years to improve student achievement, they wanted the money to be spent on instructional coaches for teachers, tutors for struggling students, and smaller class sizes in reading, math, and science. However--in what could prove a cautionary tale for…

Creating a Third Space for Authentic Biculturalism: Examples from Math in a Cultural Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipka, Jerry; Sharp, Nancy; Adams, Barbara; Sharp, Ferdinand

2007-01-01

"Tumaqcat" in the Yupiaq language literally means putting the pieces together. This case demonstrates how Ms. Nancy Sharp, a Yupiaq immersion teacher, seamlessly creates a classroom space that honors and adapts her home culture while she simultaneously meets school-based mathematical standards. Ms. Sharp's Yupiaq immersion class makes patterns…

Integrating Learner-Driven and Organization-Driven Agendas: A Workplace Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lessard, Richard

For the past 4 years, Alpena Community College (ACC) in Michigan has been involved in the Workplace Partnership Project (WPP), a federally funded program which brings basic skills classes into the worksite to help upgrade employees' math, reading, writing, problem-solving, and science knowledge. The college works with partner companies to help…

Is Learning in Developmental Math Associated with Community College Outcomes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quarles, Christopher L.; Davis, Mickey

2017-01-01

Objective: Remedial mathematics courses are widely considered a barrier to student success in community college, and there has been a significant amount of work recently to reform them. Yet, there is little research that explicitly examines whether increasing learning in remedial classes improves grades or completion rates. This study examines the…

Meandering toward Graduation: Transcript Outcomes of High School Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bromberg, Marni; Theokas, Christina

2016-01-01

Graduation rates have reached an all-time high and postsecondary enrollment rates are steadily rising in this country. However, thousands of those new college students are testing into remedial reading, writing, or math courses because they don't have the foundation to perform at the levels demanded in college classes. Employers, too, report that…

Examining the Role of College Student's Approach to Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maure, Luisa Morales; Marimón, Orlando Garcia

2014-01-01

Many educators posed in class why students lack interest in learning mathematics. Regularly this lack of interest in learning is accompanied with difficulties and is perceived by teachers, in general, from the basic stage until the adult stage process. The study seeks to explain the strength of association or correlation between social psychology,…

Urban Elementary Single-Sex Math Classrooms: Mitigating Stereotype Threat for African American Girls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowe, Anica G.; Desjardins, Christopher D.; Covington Clarkson, Lesa M.; Lawrenz, Frances

2017-01-01

This study utilized a mixed-methods approach to holistically examine single-sex and coeducational urban elementary mathematics classes through situated cognitive theory. Participants came from two urban low-income Midwestern elementary schools with a high representation of minority students (n = 77 sixth graders, n = 4 teachers, n = 2 principals).…

International Teaching Assistants at Universities: A Research Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorsuch, Greta

2016-01-01

International teaching assistants (ITAs) are Indian, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, etc. international students who have been admitted to graduate study at universities in the U.S.A. and Canada, and are being supported as instructors of undergraduate-level classes and labs in biology, chemistry, physics, and math. For the past 30 years, the number of…

Characteristics of Exemplary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)-Related Experiential Learning Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Jamie Munn

2017-01-01

Experiential opportunities at the secondary level give students the "intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education" (Dewey, 1938, p. 19-20). Career and Technical Education classes (CTE) and co-curricular experiences, one type of experiential learning, underpin and cultivate student curiosity and…

Questions to Consider before Flipping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Clarice M.; Young, Carl A.

2015-01-01

Flipping the classroom is one of the hottest new educational ideas that promises to increase student engagement. However, recent research suggests that not all content areas are equal when it comes to flipping. English language arts and humanities-based subjects may not benefit as much as math and science classes and, in fact, decrease student…

Students' Strategies Can Take Us off Guard

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keiser, Jane M.

2012-01-01

An interesting change has been occurring in the author's middle school mathematics classes. Some students have become creative, free-thinking inventors. If they have had little experience with an operation, they invent strategies of their own. Sometimes these strategies have been well informed and supported by strong mental math skills and a good…

Project SEED. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2012

2012-01-01

"Project SEED" is a supplemental mathematics program for low-achieving students in grades 3 through 8 and is intended to prepare students to be successful in high school and college math. Based on the Socratic method, instruction is delivered through a series of questions to the class. In addition to individual responses, the instructor…

Weighing the Benefits of Anchored Math Instruction for Students with Disabilities in General Education Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bottge, Brian A.; Heinrichs, Mary; Mehta, Zara Dee; Hung, Ya-Hui

2002-01-01

A study examined the effectiveness of enhanced anchor instruction and traditional problem instruction in improving the problem-solving performance of 42 seventh-graders with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Students without disabilities profited from contextualized instruction, but benefits for the students with disabilities were…

All in This Together

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Dennis

2016-01-01

As recently as seven or eight years ago, three quarters of the high school graduates in Florida's Seminole County had to take a remedial math class when they got to college, says Seminole County Public Schools Superintendent Griffin. Thanks to a partnership between the school district and Seminole State College of Florida, however, that figure is…

Salting the Oats: Using Inquiry-based Science To Engage Learners at Risk.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Paddy

2001-01-01

Considers how due to the emphasis of reading, writing, and math, low-performing students are pulled from their regular classes for one-on-one tutorial sessions, restricting their exposure to group discussions and activities that encourage higher-order thinking skills. Suggests a reshaping of remedial curricula based on six guidelines. (SG)

Understanding Middle School Students' Motivation in Math Class: The Expectancy-Value Model Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yurt, Eyup

2015-01-01

One of the most important variables affecting middle school students' mathematics performance is motivation. Motivation is closely related with expectancy belief regarding the task and value attached to the task. Identification of which one or ones of the factors constituting motivation is more closely related to mathematics performance may help…

Using E-mail in a Math/Computer Core Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurwitz, Chaya

This paper notes the advantages of using e-mail in computer literacy classes, and discusses the results of incorporating an e-mail assignment in the "Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning and Computer Programming" core course at Brooklyn College (New York). The assignment consisted of several steps. The students first read and responded…

Playing Games in Class Helps Students Grasp Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavanagh, Sean

2008-01-01

This article highlights the study which illustrates how an age-old board games that incorporate numbers and counting have led to better understanding of numbers by young students. Few family rituals have as fixed a place in the American household, and in the popular imagination, as board games, those impromptu or regularly scheduled contests…

Does Manipulating Stereotype Threat Condition Change Performance Goal State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Cecil Max

2010-01-01

This study tested whether the Stereotype Threat effect is mediated by achievement goals, in particular performance-avoidance goals. Threat level was altered before a difficult math test to observe how the endorsement by females of various achievement goal dimensions was affected. 222 people (96 females) in a pre-calculus class at a Mid-Western…

Understanding Co-Development of Conceptual and Epistemic Understanding through Modeling Practices with Mobile Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryu, Suna; Han, Yuhwha; Paik, Seoung-Hey

2015-01-01

The present study explores how engaging in modeling practice, along with argumentation, leverages students' epistemic and conceptual understanding in an afterschool science/math class of 16 tenth graders. The study also explores how students used mobile Internet phones (smart phones) productively to support modeling practices. As the modeling…

Girls, Girls, Girls: Gender Composition and Female School Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneeweis, Nicole; Zweimuller, Martina

2012-01-01

Gender segregation in employment may be explained by women's reluctance to choose technical occupations. However, the foundations for career choices are laid much earlier. Educational experts claim that female students are doing better in math and science and are more likely to choose these subjects if they are in single-sex classes. One possible…

The Underrepresentation of African American Female Students in STEM Fields: Implications for Classroom Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farinde, Abiola A.; Lewis, Chance W.

2012-01-01

African American women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields (Catsambis, 1994). The socialization and "under-education" of African American female students engenders ideas of inferiority, while the presence of an inferior race, sex and class, in one body, may produce an ideology of mediocrity.…

A Comparison of Traditional Homework to Computer-Supported Homework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendicino, Michael; Razzaq, Leena; Heffernan, Neil T.

2009-01-01

This study compared learning for fifth grade students in two math homework conditions. The paper-and-pencil condition represented traditional homework, with review of problems in class the following day. The Web-based homework condition provided immediate feedback in the form of hints on demand and step-by-step scaffolding. We analyzed the results…

Closing Achievement Gaps with a Utility-Value Intervention: Disentangling Race and Social Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harackiewicz, Judith M.; Canning, Elizabeth A.; Tibbetts, Yoi; Priniski, Stacy J.; Hyde, Janet S.

2015-01-01

Many college students abandon their goal of completing a degree in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) when confronted with challenging introductory-level science courses. In the U.S., this trend is more pronounced for underrepresented minority (URM) and first-generation (FG) students, and contributes to persisting racial and…

Longitudinal Changes in College Math Students' Implicit Theories of Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shively, Rebecca L.; Ryan, Carey S.

2013-01-01

This study examined changes over time in implicit theories of intelligence and their relationships to help-seeking and academic performance. College algebra students completed questionnaires during the second week of classes and 2 weeks before the end of the semester (ns = 159 and 145, respectively; 61 students completed questionnaires at both…

An Analysis of Grade 4 Teachers' Mathematical Instructional Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson-Patrick, Dedra

2016-01-01

The standardized math test scores of approximately 48 African American and Hispanic students from 4 different classes at a rural Title I elementary school located in the southern United States decreased by 10 points on the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards Test. For this qualitative case study, purposive sampling was used to recruit four…

Math Madness: Coloring, Reasoning, and Celebrating

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wasserman, Nicholas H.

2017-01-01

As a parent, the author stepped into his child's class on a Friday morning to a room buzzing with activity. Parents walked around the room, coffee and bagel in hand, reading stories that their child (and others) had drafted, revised, written, and illustrated. Students eagerly shared their stories and drawings, cherishing the comments and praise…

Predicting Success for Actuarial Students in Undergraduate Mathematics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Richard Manning; Schumacher, Phyllis A.

2005-01-01

A study of undergraduate actuarial graduates found that math SAT scores, verbal SAT scores, percentile rank in high school graduating class, and percentage score on a college mathematics placement exam had some relevance to forecasting the students' grade point averages in their major. For both males and females, percentile rank in high school…

Improving Student Outcomes with mCLASS: Math, a Technology-Enhanced CBM and Diagnostic Interview Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ye; Gushta, Matthew

2013-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act resulted in increased school-level implementation of assessment-based school interventions that aim to improve student performance. Diagnostic assessments are included among these interventions, designed to help teachers use evidence about student performance to modify and differentiate instruction and improve student…

Idea Bank: Duct Tape Note Twister

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHenry, Molly

2008-01-01

In this article, the author relates how she observed a middle school math teacher deliver a miserable class. She realized that she did the same thing to her music students. To engage her students, she developed "Note Twister," a music reading game using duct tape to form musical notes and the basic premise behind the game,…

Something That Works for Me. 100 Teaching Practices Used in Our Schools. Grades K-12. No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Div. of Curriculum and Instruction.

The teaching practices presented in this manual address the following curriculum areas: language arts, art, music, guidance, physical education, special education, human relations, library skills, social studies, science, class management, math, reading, spelling, English as a second language, typing, foreign languages, humanities, English,…

Gum chewing improves adolescents’ math performance in an SAT preparatory course

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effect of gum chewing on students’ performance in a preparatory course for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). A total of 182 adolescents enrolled in an SAT preparatory class were randomized into one of two treatments: 1) gum chewing condition (G...

Fun & Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Amy; Kohl, Julie

2007-01-01

This article discusses how math skills, teamwork and higher-level thinking come together when students create strategic board games. In this article, the authors provide a glimpse of what it was like to be part of "To the Sun!," a game designed by students in the fifth-grade class at Olive Martin School in Lake Villa, IL. Students combined a math…

Multimedia Transformation: A Special Report on Multimedia in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Week, 2011

2011-01-01

In science and math classes across the country, digital tools are being used to conduct experiments, analyze data, and run 3-D simulations to explain complex concepts. Language arts teachers are now pushing the definition of literacy to include the ability to express ideas through media. This report, "Multimedia Transformation," examines the many…

Mathematically gifted adolescents use more extensive and more bilateral areas of the fronto-parietal network than controls during executive functioning and fluid reasoning tasks.

PubMed

Desco, Manuel; Navas-Sanchez, Francisco J; Sanchez-González, Javier; Reig, Santiago; Robles, Olalla; Franco, Carolina; Guzmán-De-Villoria, Juan A; García-Barreno, Pedro; Arango, Celso

2011-07-01

The main goal of this study was to investigate the neural substrates of fluid reasoning and visuospatial working memory in adolescents with precocious mathematical ability. The study population comprised two groups of adolescents: 13 math-gifted adolescents and 14 controls with average mathematical skills. Patterns of activation specific to reasoning tasks in math-gifted subjects were examined using functional magnetic resonance images acquired while the subjects were performing Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and the Tower of London (TOL) tasks. During the tasks, both groups showed significant activations in the frontoparietal network. In the math-gifted group, clusters of activation were always bilateral and more regions were recruited, especially in the right hemisphere. In the TOL task, math-gifted adolescents showed significant hyper-activations relative to controls in the precuneus, superior occipital lobe (BA 19), and medial temporal lobe (BA 39). The maximum differences between the groups were detected during RAPM tasks at the highest level of difficulty, where math-gifted subjects showed significant activations relative to controls in the right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), anterior cingulated gyrus (BA 32), and frontal (BA 9, and BA 6) areas. Our results support the hypothesis that greater ability for complex mathematical reasoning may be related to more bilateral patterns of activation and that increased activation in the parietal and frontal regions of math-gifted adolescents is associated with enhanced skills in visuospatial processing and logical reasoning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An investigation of the impact of science course sequencing on student performance in high school science and math

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mary, Michael Todd

High school students in the United States for the past century have typically taken science courses in a sequence of biology followed by chemistry and concluding with physics. An alternative sequence, typically referred to as "physics first" inverts the traditional sequence by having students begin with physics and end with biology. Proponents of physics first cite advances in biological sciences that have dramatically changed the nature of high school biology and the potential benefit to student learning in math that would accompany taking an algebra-based physics course in the early years of high school to support changing the sequence. Using a quasi-experimental, quantitative research design, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of science course sequencing on student achievement in math and science at a school district that offered both course sequences. The Texas state end-of-course exams in biology, chemistry, physics, algebra I and geometry were used as the instruments measuring student achievement in math and science at the end of each academic year. Various statistical models were used to analyze these achievement data. The conclusion was, for students in this study, the sequence in which students took biology, chemistry, and physics had little or no impact on performance on the end-of-course assessments in each of these courses. Additionally there was only a minimal effect found with respect to math performance, leading to the conclusion that neither the traditional or "physics first" science course sequence presented an advantage for student achievement in math or science.

Non-CMC Solutions of the Einstein Constraint Equations on Compact Manifolds with Apparent Horizon Boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holst, Michael; Meier, Caleb; Tsogtgerel, G.

2018-01-01

In this article we continue our effort to do a systematic development of the solution theory for conformal formulations of the Einstein constraint equations on compact manifolds with boundary. By building in a natural way on our recent work in Holst and Tsogtgerel (Class Quantum Gravity 30:205011, 2013), and Holst et al. (Phys Rev Lett 100(16):161101, 2008, Commun Math Phys 288(2):547-613, 2009), and also on the work of Maxwell (J Hyperbolic Differ Eqs 2(2):521-546, 2005a, Commun Math Phys 253(3):561-583, 2005b, Math Res Lett 16(4):627-645, 2009) and Dain (Class Quantum Gravity 21(2):555-573, 2004), under reasonable assumptions on the data we prove existence of both near- and far-from-constant mean curvature (CMC) solutions for a class of Robin boundary conditions commonly used in the literature for modeling black holes, with a third existence result for CMC appearing as a special case. Dain and Maxwell addressed initial data engineering for space-times that evolve to contain black holes, determining solutions to the conformal formulation on an asymptotically Euclidean manifold in the CMC setting, with interior boundary conditions representing excised interior black hole regions. Holst and Tsogtgerel compiled the interior boundary results covered by Dain and Maxwell, and then developed general interior conditions to model the apparent horizon boundary conditions of Dainand Maxwell for compact manifolds with boundary, and subsequently proved existence of solutions to the Lichnerowicz equation on compact manifolds with such boundary conditions. This paper picks up where Holst and Tsogtgerel left off, addressing the general non-CMC case for compact manifolds with boundary. As in our previous articles, our focus here is again on low regularity data and on the interaction between different types of boundary conditions. While our work here serves primarily to extend the solution theory for the compact with boundary case, we also develop several technical tools that have potential for use for other cases.

Modular invariant representations of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras and superalgebras

PubMed Central

Kac, Victor G.; Wakimoto, Minoru

1988-01-01

In this paper, we launch a program to describe and classify modular invariant representations of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras and superalgebras. We prove a character formula for a large class of highest weight representations L(λ) of a Kac-Moody algebra [unk] with a symmetrizable Cartan matrix, generalizing the Weyl-Kac character formula [Kac, V. G. (1974) Funct. Anal. Appl. 8, 68-70]. In the case of an affine [unk], this class includes modular invariant representations of arbitrary rational level m = t/u, where t [unk] Z and u [unk] N are relatively prime and m + g ≥ g/u (g is the dual Coxeter number). We write the characters of these representations in terms of theta functions and calculate their asymptotics, generalizing the results of Kac and Peterson [Kac, V. G. & Peterson, D. H. (1984) Adv. Math. 53, 125-264] and of Kac and Wakimoto [Kac, V. G. & Wakimoto, M. (1988) Adv. Math. 70, 156-234] for the u = 1 (integrable) case. We work out in detail the case [unk] = A1(1), in particular classifying all its modular invariant representations. Furthermore, we show that the modular invariant representations of the Virasoro algebra Vir are precisely the “minimal series” of Belavin et al. [Belavin, A. A., Polyakov, A. M. & Zamolodchikov, A. B. (1984) Nucl. Phys. B 241, 333-380] using the character formulas of Feigin and Fuchs [Feigin, B. L. & Fuchs, D. B. (1984) Lect. Notes Math. 1060, 230-245]. We show that tensoring the basic representation and modular invariant representations of A1(1) produces all modular invariant representations of Vir generalizing the results of Goddard et al. [Goddard P., Kent, A. & Olive, D. (1986) Commun. Math. Phys. 103, 105-119] and of Kac and Wakimoto [Kac, V. G. & Wakimoto, M. (1986) Lect. Notes Phys. 261, 345-371] in the unitary case. We study the general branching functions as well. All these results are generalized to the Kac-Moody superalgebras introduced by Kac [Kac, V. G. (1978) Adv. Math. 30, 85-136] and to N = 1 super Virasoro algebras. We work out in detail the case of the superalgebra B(0, 1)(1), showing, in particular, that restricting to its even part produces again all modular invariant representations of Vir. These results lead to general conjectures about asymptotic behavior of positive energy representations and classification of modular invariant representations. PMID:16593954

Exploring Bias in Math Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’ Ability by Gender and Race/Ethnicity

PubMed Central

Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Humphries, Melissa

2013-01-01

This study explores whether gender stereotypes about math ability shape high school teachers’ assessments of the students with whom they interact daily, resulting in the presence of conditional bias. It builds on theories of intersectionality by exploring teachers’ perceptions of students in different gender and racial/ethnic subgroups, and advances the literature on the salience of gender across contexts by considering variation across levels of math course-taking in the academic hierarchy. Utilizing nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), analyses reveal that disparities in teachers’ perceptions of ability that favored white males over minority students of both genders are explained away by student achievement in the form of test scores and grades. However, we find evidence of a consistent bias against white females which, although relatively small in magnitude, suggests that teachers hold the belief that math is easier for white males than it is for white females. We also find some evidence of variation across course level contexts with regard to bias. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for research on the construction of gender inequality. PMID:24187437

Individual differences in nonverbal number skills predict math anxiety.

PubMed

Lindskog, Marcus; Winman, Anders; Poom, Leo

2017-02-01

Math anxiety (MA) involves negative affect and tension when solving mathematical problems, with potentially life-long consequences. MA has been hypothesized to be a consequence of negative learning experiences and cognitive predispositions. Recent research indicates genetic and neurophysiological links, suggesting that MA stems from a basic level deficiency in symbolic numerical processing. However, the contribution of evolutionary ancient purely nonverbal processes is not fully understood. Here we show that the roots of MA may go beyond symbolic numbers. We demonstrate that MA is correlated with precision of the Approximate Number System (ANS). Individuals high in MA have poorer ANS functioning than those low in MA. This correlation remains significant when controlling for other forms of anxiety and for cognitive variables. We show that MA mediates the documented correlation between ANS precision and math performance, both with ANS and with math performance as independent variable in the mediation model. In light of our results, we discuss the possibility that MA has deep roots, stemming from a non-verbal number processing deficiency. The findings provide new evidence advancing the theoretical understanding of the developmental etiology of MA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Putting the “Spark” into Physical Science and Algebra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dagenais, Andre; Pill, B.

2006-12-01

The presenters will describe a number of laboratory activities developed in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Delaware as part of their outreach program to help make math and science more authentic on the pre-college level. Lessons relating to electrical topics are often abstract and appropriate only for advanced students in math and science. We have devised lessons that rely on simple equipment. They promote skills that are included in National and State Standards. They emphasize the connections between math and science; they are appropriate for an algebra course, a physical science course, a PhysicsFirst course or a traditional physics course. Students benefit from seeing that what they learn in math and science courses can lead to cutting-edge work in areas such as passive wave imaging, photonics, wireless communication and high performance computing. The collaboration has been meaningful because it has motivated us to tailor our lessons to reflect what is happening in the research lab of our local university. Written materials for use in teacher training workshops will also be available. Funded by NSF Research Experience for Teachers(RET #0322633) program under the direction of Dr. Dennis Prather, University of Delaware Electrical Engineering

Physically Active Math and Language Lessons Improve Academic Achievement: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Mullender-Wijnsma, Marijke J; Hartman, Esther; de Greeff, Johannes W; Doolaard, Simone; Bosker, Roel J; Visscher, Chris

2016-03-01

Using physical activity in the teaching of academic lessons is a new way of learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an innovative physically active academic intervention ("Fit & Vaardig op School" [F&V]) on academic achievement of children. Using physical activity to teach math and spelling lessons was studied in a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Participants were 499 children (mean age 8.1 years) from second- and third-grade classes of 12 elementary schools. At each school, a second- and third-grade class were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group participated in F&V lessons for 2 years, 22 weeks per year, 3 times a week. The control group participated in regular classroom lessons. Children's academic achievement was measured before the intervention started and after the first and second intervention years. Academic achievement was measured by 2 mathematics tests (speed and general math skills) and 2 language tests (reading and spelling). After 2 years, multilevel analysis showed that children in the intervention group had significantly greater gains in mathematics speed test (P < .001; effect size [ES] 0.51), general mathematics (P < .001; ES 0.42), and spelling (P < .001; ES 0.45) scores. This equates to 4 months more learning gains in comparison with the control group. No differences were found on the reading test. Physically active academic lessons significantly improved mathematics and spelling performance of elementary school children and are therefore a promising new way of teaching. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Impact of Single-Gender Classrooms on Student Achievement in Seventh Grade Math Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Antwon M.

2009-01-01

A mathematics achievement gap exists between males and females. The measurement of achievement was compared between single-gender and traditional classroom students in the 7th grade to assess whether or not a single-gender environment affected their scores. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) state assessment served as the data collection…

Exploring Latino(a) High School Students' Experience in a Technology-Integrated Math College Placement Exam Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orozco, Socorro

2017-01-01

Although the struggles of Latino students across the educational pipeline have been well studied, sociohistorical changes brought about by the introduction of digital technology and policy changes have created new layers of inquiry that demand further investigation of this phenomenon. This case study examined Latino(a) high school students'…

Math Anxiety--Contributing School and Individual Level Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radišic, Jelena; Videnovic, Marina; Baucal, Aleksander

2015-01-01

PISA 2003 survey data indicate high levels of mathematics anxiety among students in Serbia. More than a half of Serbian students are concerned with whether they will have difficulties in a mathematics class or earn poor marks. At the same time, the achievement on the mathematical literacy scale is very poor. Building on control-value theory, the…

Hawaiian Language and Culture in the Middle Level Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terai, Kim E.

2010-01-01

The Kamehameha Schools (KS) is a private co-educational institution that was established under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1887. KS operates three campuses Kapalama (O'ahu), Pukalani (Maui), and Kea'au (Hawai'i island) that serves over 6,500 students from preschool through twelfth grade. KS recently adopted a…

American River College Beacon Project: Student Catalyst Program - Peer Assisted Learning. First Semester Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American River Coll., Sacramento, CA.

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Project at American River College (ARC) in Sacramento, California, was developed to improve retention rates among underrepresented students in math and science classes with high dropout rates. The project involved a group of 24 paid student Learning Assistants (LA's) who successfully completed the targeted courses…

Sitting at the Back: Noticing "Math Noticing"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparrow, Len

2004-01-01

Recently, the author has been fortunate to be a visitor in a number of classrooms in the United States, England and Europe. On one such visit to an Elementary School in Columbia, Missouri, the teachers accepted him into their normal classrooms for their normal lessons. He moved between three classes: Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 4. A snapshot…

The Social Basis of Math Teaching and Learning. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orvik, James M.; Van Veldhuizen, Philip A.

This study was designed to identify a set of research questions and testable hypothesis to aid in planning long-range research. Five mathematics teachers were selected. These instructors enrolled in a special project-related seminar, video-taped sessions of their own mathematics classes, and kept field journals. The group met once a week to…

A Case Study of Student and Instructor Reactions to a Calculus E-Book

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bode, Martina; Khorami, Mehdi; Visscher, Daniel

2014-01-01

This article details the results of testing an e-book in two differential calculus classes. Although we, as math instructors, were drawn to the components of the e-book that promote conceptual understanding--such as the interactive figures--the students reported liking the assessment support most. We found that students were initially excited…

American High School Students from Different Ethnic Backgrounds: The Role of Parents and the Classroom in Achievement Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jung-In

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between ethnically diverse US high school students' (N = 331) perceptions of their parents' or classroom's motivating factors and their achievement motivation in their math class, connecting achievement goal orientation and self-determination theories. Two hypothesized path models were…

Research and Teaching: From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Improving Student Success in an Introductory Biology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Amy N.; McNair, Delores E.; Lucas, Jonathan C.; Land, Kirkwood M.

2017-01-01

Introductory science, math, and engineering courses often have problems related to student engagement, achievement, and course completion. To begin examining these issues in greater depth, this pilot study compared student engagement, achievement, and course completion in a small and large section of an introductory biology class. Results based on…

In Their Shoes: Teachers Experience the Needs of English Language Learners through a Math Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Oliveira, Luciana C.

2011-01-01

Given the increase in the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in American schools, it is vital for teacher education programs to address the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) in their courses. Mainstream, general education teachers who did not previously experience this student population in their classes are now…

Interactions between Language and Mathematics with Deaf Students: Defining the "Language-Mathematics" Equation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillegeist, Eleanor; Epstein, Kenneth

The study examined the relationship between language and mathematics with 11 classes of deaf students taking Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 at the Gallaudet University School of Preparatory Studies. Specifically, the study attempted to predict the difficulty of a variety of relatively simple algebra problems based on the abstractness of the math and the…

The Quick Quiz: An Unplugged Assessment for the Math Educator's Toolbox

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Julie P.; Bradley, Gary; Love, Sarah

2018-01-01

When implemented correctly, feedback from assessments can result in students reflecting and rethinking their mathematics, while increasing their effort and motivation. This article explores a formative assessment technique for use in the first few minutes of each class. Readers will find out how they can use the QuickQuiz (QQ) to drive…

Relationship between Career Aspirations and Measures of Motivation toward Biology and Physics, and the Influence of Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koul, Ravinder; Lerdpornkulrat, Thanita; Chantara, Soontornpathai

2011-01-01

A student's motivational orientation is considered to be a predictor of a range of related education decisions, from attending classes to choosing a particular course or a profession. This survey study conducted with student volunteers (males = 519; females = 904) enrolled in secondary school science-math academic stream in Thailand investigated…

Random Variation in Student Performance by Class Size: Implications of NCLB in Rural Pennsylvania

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goetz, Stephan J.

2005-01-01

Schools that fail to make "adequate yearly progress" under NCLB face sanctions and may lose students to other schools. In smaller schools, random yearly variation in innate student ability and behavior can cause changes in scores that are beyond the influence of teachers. This study examines changes in reading and math scores across…

Minecraft Comes to Math Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Kimberly

2018-01-01

Minecraft is an open world survival computer game that was originally created in Sweden in 2011 and later purchased by Microsoft® in 2014. It is among the most popular computer games with students of all ages because it gives players a sense of ownership and opportunities for creative exploration. The game has three unique features: (1) no clear…

The Use of Educational Platforms as Teaching Resource in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gómez-Zermeño, Marcela; Franco-Gutiérrez, Héctor

2018-01-01

Dropping out from the school system at High School level has been a problem for several years; high levels of mathematics' failing have been a recurring situation. This paper discusses how academic virtual counseling might be a tool to help students in math class. The methodological approach is based in the non-experimental, longitudinal model…

Authoritative Parenting, Parental Scaffolding of Long-Division Mathematics, and Children's Academic Competence in Fourth Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattanah, J.F.; Pratt, M.W.; Cowan, P.A.; Cowan, C.P.

2005-01-01

The current study examined the relationships among authoritative parenting, parental scaffolding of long-division math problems, and children's academic competence. In a sample of 70 two-parent middle class families participating in a longitudinal study on the transition to school, authoritative parenting was assessed globally at the beginning of…

Anticipating Mathematics Performance: A Cross-Validation Comparison of AID3 and Regression. AIR 1988 Annual Forum Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloom, Allan M.; And Others

In response to the increasing importance of student performance in required classes, research was conducted to compare two prediction procedures, linear modeling using multiple regression and nonlinear modeling using AID3. Performance in the first college math course (College Mathematics, Calculus, or Business Calculus Matrices) was the dependent…

Seven Windows to a Child's World: 100 Ideas for the Multiple Intelligences Classroom. Pre K-3. First Printing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connor, Anna T.; Callahan-Young, Sheila

While traditional schooling has focused mainly on math and linguistic skills, psychologist Howard Gardner suggests that there are at least five additional ways of learning. This curriculum guide applies Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences to the kindergarten class, providing teachers with a practical, thematic approach that will challenge…

Application of Interactive Multimedia Tools in Teaching Mathematics--Examples of Lessons from Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milovanovic, Marina; Obradovic, Jasmina; Milajic, Aleksandar

2013-01-01

This article presents the benefits and importance of using multimedia in the math classes by the selected examples of multimedia lessons from geometry (isometric transformations and regular polyhedra). The research included two groups of 50 first year students of the Faculty of the Architecture and the Faculty of Civil Construction Management.…

Outcome Trajectories of Developmental Students in Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bremer, Christine D.; Center, Bruce A.; Opsal, Christen L.; Medhanie, Amanuel; Jang, Yoo Jeong; Geise, Aaron C.

2013-01-01

This analysis explores student outcomes related to taking developmental English (i.e., reading and/or writing) and math classes in three community colleges in three different states, using institutional data from 7,898 students who began college in the fall of 2009 (Cohort 1) or fall 2010 (Cohort 2). We examine the outcome trajectories of students…

Social Class and the STEM Career Pipeline an Ethnographic Investigation of Opportunity Structures in a High-Poverty versus Affluent High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nikischer, Andrea B.

2013-01-01

This research investigates science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) high school opportunity structures, including student experiences with math and science course sequences and progress, college guidance and counseling, and STEM extracurricular activities (Weis and Eisenhart, 2009), specifically related to STEM fields and career and…

Flip or Flop: Are Math Teachers Using Khan Academy as Envisioned by Sal Khan?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cargile, Lori A.; Harkness, Shelly Sheats

2014-01-01

Khan Academy (KA) is a free web-based intelligent tutor, which has been featured in countless media outlets for its potential to change mathematics instruction. The founder and executive director, Salman Khan, recommends that KA be used to personalize instruction, freeing up class time for engaging high yield activities like student discourse and…

Addressing Negative Math Attitudes with Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henrich, Allison; Sloughter, J. McLean; Anderson, Jeffrey; Bahuaud, Eric

2016-01-01

In this paper, we share the results of our recent study of a quantitative literacy course with a service-learning component. Our study aims to answer the question: How did student attitudes shift as a result of participating in this course? We present and analyze statistics from pre- and post-surveys in five classes (N = 78) taught by two…

Cognitive Computer Tools in the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Calculus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borchelt, Nathan

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of a cognitive computer tool by undergraduate calculus students as they worked cooperatively on mathematical tasks. Specific attention was given to levels of cognitive demand in which the students were engaged as they completed in-class labs with the assistance of MathCAD. Participants were assigned…

Academic Attributes of College Freshmen that Lead to Success in Actuarial Studies in a Business College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Richard Manning; Schumacher, Phyllis

2006-01-01

The authors studied beginning undergraduate actuarial concentrators in a business college. They identified four variables (math Scholastic Aptitude Test [SAT] score, verbal SAT score, percentile rank in high school graduating class, and percentage score on a college mathematics placement exam) that were available for entering college students that…

The Use of Video Self-Modeling to Increase On-Task Behavior in Children with High-Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schatz, Rochelle B.; Peterson, Rachel K.; Bellini, Scott

2016-01-01

In the present study, the researchers implemented a video self-modeling intervention for increasing on-task classroom behavior for three elementary school students diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The researchers observed the students' on-task engagement three times a week during their respective math classes. A multiple baseline design…

"A Bad Head for Maths"? Constructions of Educability and Mathematics in Adult Students' Narrative Life Histories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siivonen, Päivi

2013-01-01

The article focuses on the social differences of educability constructed in Finnish general upper secondary school adult graduates' narratives on mathematics. Social class, gender, and age intertwine in the narratives that express the adult students' worries about their ability and competence to study and learn mathematics. Social differences of…

Supporting the Development of Intrinsic Motivation in the Middle School Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oginsky, Terri

This study took place in a sixth grade math class at Webber Middle School in Saginaw, Michigan. A literature review indicated that a classroom that students perceive as safe, supportive of their autonomy, and of their learning increases intrinsic motivation. With this in mind, the author created a study, which would look for connections between…

Nine Ways to Catch Kids up

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Marilyn

2007-01-01

Through her work as a consultant, Burns has found that a handful of students in all classes lack an adequate foundation in basic math concepts and lag far behind their peers in both understanding and skills. Students who lack a foundation on which to build new learning are generally not well served even by well-planned, differentiated instruction;…

Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery Scores and Aviation Electrician's Mate Class "A" School Attrition Rate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Hershel M.

A study investigated the use of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) subtests and combinations of subtest composites as placement qualifiers for the Aviation Electrician's Mate AEA(A1) school. It examined the relationship of the independent variables Arithmetic Reasoning; Math Knowledge; General Science; and Composite ASVAB score…

Clock Buddies: An Accessible, Engaging Problem-Solving Activity with Rich Mathematical Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borkovitz, Debra K.; Haferd, Thomas

2017-01-01

Clock Buddies is our favorite first-day-of-class activity. It starts as a nonthreatening icebreaker activity that helps students learn one another's names, but it soon asks students to find their own strategies for solving a real-world scheduling problem. Even highly math phobic students work with others and succeed. Students gain insight from…

The Synergy of Poetry and Content Areas: Reading Poetry across the Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salas, Laura Purdie; Wong, Janet; Bentley-Flannery, Paige; Hahn, Mary Lee; Jules, Jacqueline; Mordhorst, Heidi; Vardell, Sylvia

2015-01-01

Poetry can enhance all content areas. This article shares highlights from the 2014 CLA Master Class focused on using poetry in math, science, social studies, the arts, and physical education/movement. Presenters and participants read poems, asked questions, and engaged in lively discussions about using poetry to enhance all content areas. Chair…

The Math of Khan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffhauser, Dian

2013-01-01

It's like a dream come true for educators: free resources available wherever a web browser can operate and with nary an iota of advertising. What's not to like? What is it about this organization, whose mission is "to provide a free, world-class education for anyone anywhere," that has provoked such vitriol? Part of it is that when its videos have…

Bringing Language to Life: Quest's TheatreBridge Enhances Learning in Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarty, Tim; Delk, Linda

2012-01-01

In math, students and teachers toss tennis balls. In science, students become rain, hail, sleet, and snow. In language arts, students maneuver their bodies into related positions and hold into a frieze they call "tableau." The students and teachers are part of TheatreBridge, a four-year model demonstration and dissemination program lead…

Instructional Strategies and Course Design for Teaching Statistics Online: Perspectives from Online Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Dazhi

2017-01-01

Background: Teaching online is a different experience from that of teaching in a face-to-face setting. Knowledge and skills developed for teaching face-to-face classes are not adequate preparation for teaching online. It is even more challenging to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses completely online because these…

Instructional and Career Guidance in STEM: An Improvement Initiative to Create Opportunities for Female High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belcher, Aaron Heath

2017-01-01

The purpose of this disquisition is to disseminate an improvement initiative in a public high school that addressed female Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disparity in STEM classes. In this high school current instructional and career guidance practices were inadequate in providing female STEM students opportunities to experience…

Implementation and Initial Validation of the MDTP Tests at Golden West College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isonio, Steven

In 1992, a study was conducted at Golden West College (California) to determine the predictive validity of the Math Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP) tests. A total of 1,137 students were tested in-class; 601 took the Algebra Readiness test, 376 took the Elementary Algebra test, and 160 took the Intermediate Algebra test. Two correlation…

How Do Student and Classroom Characteristics Affect Attitude toward Mathematics? A Multivariate Multilevel Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiwanuka, Henry Nsubuga; Van Damme, Jan; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Anumendem, Dickson Nkafu; Vanlaar, Gudrun; Reynolds, Chandra; Namusisi, Speranza

2017-01-01

This study investigated the effects of student and classroom characteristics on math self-confidence, perceived usefulness, and enjoyment of mathematics as multiple outcomes. A sample of 7th-grade students from 78 classes of 49 schools was studied. The data were collected using, among other instruments, an attitude questionnaire. The results of…

The relationship between selected standardized test scores and performance in advanced placement math and science exams: Analyzing the differential effectiveness of scores for course identification and placement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urbina, Josue N.

There is a national need to increase the STEM-related workforce. Among factors leading towards STEM careers include the number of advanced high school mathematics and science courses students complete. Florida's enrollment patterns in STEM-related Advanced Placement (AP) courses, however, reveal that only a small percentage of students enroll into these classes. Therefore, screening tools are needed to find more students for these courses, who are academically ready, yet have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which scores from a national standardized test, Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/ National Merit Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), in conjunction with and compared to a state-mandated standardized test, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), are related to selected AP exam performance in Seminole County Public Schools. An ex post facto correlational study was conducted using 6,189 student records from the 2010 - 2012 academic years. Multiple regression analyses using simultaneous Full Model testing showed differential moderate to strong relationships between scores in eight of the nine AP courses (i.e., Biology, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C Electrical, Physics C Mechanical, Statistics, Calculus AB and BC) examined. For example, the significant unique contribution to overall variance in AP scores was a linear combination of PSAT Math (M), Critical Reading (CR) and FCAT Reading (R) for Biology and Environmental Science. Moderate relationships for Chemistry included a linear combination of PSAT M, W (Writing) and FCAT M; a combination of FCAT M and PSAT M was most significantly associated with Calculus AB performance. These findings have implications for both research and practice. FCAT scores, in conjunction with PSAT scores, can potentially be used for specific STEM-related AP courses, as part of a systematic approach towards AP course identification and placement. For courses with moderate to strong relationships, validation studies and development of expectancy tables, which estimate the probability of successful performance on these AP exams, are recommended. Also, findings established a need to examine other related research issues including, but not limited to, extensive longitudinal studies and analyses of other available or prospective standardized test scores.

Mean field limit for bosons with compact kernels interactions by Wigner measures transportation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liard, Quentin, E-mail: quentin.liard@univ-rennes1.fr; Pawilowski, Boris, E-mail: boris.pawilowski@univ-rennes1.fr

2014-09-15

We consider a class of many-body Hamiltonians composed of a free (kinetic) part and a multi-particle (potential) interaction with a compactness assumption on the latter part. We investigate the mean field limit of such quantum systems following the Wigner measures approach. We prove in particular the propagation of these measures along the flow of a nonlinear (Hartree) field equation. This enhances and complements some previous results of the same type shown in Z. Ammari and F. Nier and Fröhlich et al. [“Mean field limit for bosons and propagation of Wigner measures,” J. Math. Phys. 50(4), 042107 (2009); Z. Ammari andmore » F. Nier and Fröhlich et al., “Mean field propagation of Wigner measures and BBGKY hierarchies for general bosonic states,” J. Math. Pures Appl. 95(6), 585–626 (2011); Z. Ammari and F. Nier and Fröhlich et al., “Mean-field- and classical limit of many-body Schrödinger dynamics for bosons,” Commun. Math. Phys. 271(3), 681–697 (2007)].« less

Education Matters, February 2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckner, Gary, Ed.

2007-01-01

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Making a Game of Math: AAE Affiliate Motivates…

76 FR 64330 - Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-18

... talks on HPC Reliability, Diffusion on Complex Networks, and Reversible Software Execution Systems Report from Applied Math Workshop on Mathematics for the Analysis, Simulation, and Optimization of Complex Systems Report from ASCR-BES Workshop on Data Challenges from Next Generation Facilities Public...

Education Matters, October 2007

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckner, Gary, Ed.

2007-01-01

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Some Math Programs are Out of Tune (Niki…

Reaching the Students: A New Approach to Enhancing Science Literacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNamara, B. J.; Burnham, C. C.

2002-05-01

Most NSF supported programs directed at improving science literacy among university students who are not majoring in SMET normally target instruction in introductory science or math classes. Unfortunately these efforts seldom reach the vast majority of students at a university because students can fulfil their science requirement by taking several other classes or class sections that are not impacted by the NSF program. Ideally it would be desirable to address the issues of science literacy and science anxiety among non-science majors in a single class that is required of essentially all undergraduates. We describe such a program which is being tested at NMSU. The targeted class is the university's freshman level English class. The idea behind this effort is to provide students with the skills they will need to be successful in their science classes in a less threatening humanities environment. We describe the problems that this approach raises, suggest solutions to these problems, and then discuss the overall status of this effort.

Attitudes about high school physics in relationship to gender and ethnicity: A mixed method analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafza, Rabieh Jamal

There is an achievement gap and lack of participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by minority females. The number of minority females majoring in STEM related fields and earning advanced degrees in these fields has not significantly increased over the past 40 years. Previous research has evaluated the relationship between self-identity concept and factors that promote the academic achievement as well the motivation of students to study different subject areas. This study examined the interaction between gender and ethnicity in terms of physics attitudes in the context of real world connections, personal interest, sense making/effort, problem solving confidence, and problem solving sophistication. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) was given to 131 students enrolled in physics classes. There was a statistically significant Gender*Ethnicity interaction for attitude in the context of Real World Connections, Personal Interest, Sense Making/Effort, Problem Solving Confidence, and Problem Solving Sophistication as a whole. There was also a statistically significant Gender*Ethnicity interaction for attitude in the context of Real World Connections, Personal Interest, and Sense Making/Effort individually. Five Black females were interviewed to triangulate the quantitative results and to describe the experiences of minority females taking physics classes. There were four themes that emerged from the interviews and supported the findings from the quantitative results. The data supported previous research done on attitudes about STEM. The results reported that Real World Connections and Personal Interest could be possible factors that explain the lack of participation and achievement gaps that exists among minority females.

High-Stakes and Non-Stakes Testing States and the Transfer of Knowledge to Students' Advanced Placement Test, Advanced Placement U.S. History Test, and SAT Exam Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lessler, Karen Jean

2010-01-01

The Federal education policy No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has initiated high-stakes testing among U.S. public schools. The premise of the NCLB initiative is that all students reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014. Under NCLB, individual state education departments were required to implement annual assessments in grades two through eight…

Development of early mathematical skills with a tablet intervention: a randomized control trial in Malawi.

PubMed

Pitchford, Nicola J

2015-01-01

Evaluation of educational interventions is necessary prior to wide-scale rollout. Yet very few rigorous studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of tablet-based interventions, especially in the early years and in developing countries. This study reports a randomized control trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a tablet intervention for supporting the development of early mathematical skills in primary school children in Malawi. A total sample of 318 children, spanning Standards 1-3, attending a medium-sized urban primary school, were randomized to one of three groups: maths tablet intervention, non-maths tablet control, and standard face-to-face practice. Children were pre-tested using tablets at the start of the school year on two tests of mathematical knowledge and a range of basic skills related to scholastic progression. Class teachers then delivered the intervention over an 8-weeks period, for the equivalent of 30-min per day. Technical support was provided from the local Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Children were then post-tested on the same assessments as given at pre-test. A final sample of 283 children, from Standards 1-3, present at both pre- and post-test, was analyzed to investigate the effectiveness of the maths tablet intervention. Significant effects of the maths tablet intervention over and above standard face-to-face practice or using tablets without the maths software were found in Standards 2 and 3. In Standard 3 the greater learning gains shown by the maths tablet intervention group compared to both of the control groups on the tablet-based assessments transferred to paper and pencil format, illustrating generalization of knowledge gained. Thus, tablet technology can effectively support early years mathematical skills in developing countries if the software is carefully designed to engage the child in the learning process and the content is grounded in a solid well-constructed curriculum appropriate for the child's developmental stage.

Development of early mathematical skills with a tablet intervention: a randomized control trial in Malawi

PubMed Central

Pitchford, Nicola J.

2015-01-01

Evaluation of educational interventions is necessary prior to wide-scale rollout. Yet very few rigorous studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of tablet-based interventions, especially in the early years and in developing countries. This study reports a randomized control trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a tablet intervention for supporting the development of early mathematical skills in primary school children in Malawi. A total sample of 318 children, spanning Standards 1–3, attending a medium-sized urban primary school, were randomized to one of three groups: maths tablet intervention, non-maths tablet control, and standard face-to-face practice. Children were pre-tested using tablets at the start of the school year on two tests of mathematical knowledge and a range of basic skills related to scholastic progression. Class teachers then delivered the intervention over an 8-weeks period, for the equivalent of 30-min per day. Technical support was provided from the local Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Children were then post-tested on the same assessments as given at pre-test. A final sample of 283 children, from Standards 1–3, present at both pre- and post-test, was analyzed to investigate the effectiveness of the maths tablet intervention. Significant effects of the maths tablet intervention over and above standard face-to-face practice or using tablets without the maths software were found in Standards 2 and 3. In Standard 3 the greater learning gains shown by the maths tablet intervention group compared to both of the control groups on the tablet-based assessments transferred to paper and pencil format, illustrating generalization of knowledge gained. Thus, tablet technology can effectively support early years mathematical skills in developing countries if the software is carefully designed to engage the child in the learning process and the content is grounded in a solid well-constructed curriculum appropriate for the child’s developmental stage. PMID:25954236

Doing the Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulley, John

2009-01-01

Coordinating advancement functions of units and divisions accustomed to independent operation and discretionary budgets isn't easy. Market research can help bridge those divides. And at a time of limited financial resources, institutions are eager to make smart choices with their marketing dollars. Market research can cut through misperceptions…

The Role of Crop Systems Simulation in Agriculture and Environment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over the past 30 to 40 years, simulation of crop systems has advanced from a neophyte science with inadequate computing power into a robust and increasingly accepted science supported by improved software, languages, development tools, and computer capabilities. Crop system simulators contain mathe...

A Worked Example for Creating Worked Examples

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGinn, Kelly M.; Lange, Karin E.; Booth, Julie L.

2015-01-01

Researchers have extensively documented, and math teachers know from experience, that algebra is a "gatekeeper" to more advanced mathematical topics. Students must have a strong understanding of fundamental algebraic concepts to be successful in later mathematics courses. Unfortunately, algebraic misconceptions that students may form or…

Methodology of Spread-Spectrum Image Steganography

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-06-01

the message was literally uncovered. Modern times have yielded more advanced techniques, such as the use of invisible inks, where certain chemical ...MILITARY ACADEMY MATH SCI CTR OF EXCELLENCE DEPT OF MATHEMATICAL SCI MDN A MAJ DON ENGEN THAYERHALL WEST POINT NY 10996-1786 1 DIRECTOR

This Rock 'n' Roll Video Teaches Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niess, Margaret L.; Walker, Janet M.

2009-01-01

Mathematics is a discipline that has significantly advanced through the use of digital technologies with improved computational, graphical, and symbolic capabilities. Digital videos can be used to present challenging mathematical questions for students. Video clips offer instructional possibilities for moving students from a passive mode of…

A Lie-theoretic Description of the Solution Space of the tt*-Toda Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guest, Martin A.; Ho, Nan-Kuo

2017-12-01

We give a Lie-theoretic explanation for the convex polytope which parametrizes the globally smooth solutions of the topological-antitopological fusion equations of Toda type (tt ∗-Toda equations) which were introduced by Cecotti and Vafa. It is known from Guest and Lin (J. Reine Angew. Math. 689, 1-32 2014) Guest et al. (It. Math. Res. Notices 2015, 11745-11784 2015) and Mochizuki (2013, 2014) that these solutions can be parametrized by monodromy data of a certain flat S L n+ 1 ℝ-connection. Using Boalch's Lie-theoretic description of Stokes data, and Steinberg's description of regular conjugacy classes of a linear algebraic group, we express this monodromy data as a convex subset of a Weyl alcove of S U n+ 1.

In Brief: Revitalizing Earth science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2008-12-01

A 5-year, $3.9-million U.S. National Science Foundation Math Science Partnership grant to Michigan Technological University (MTU), in Houghton, aims to improve instruction in middle-school Earth and space science courses. The program will enable geoscience and education researchers to work with middle-school science teachers to test strategies designed to reform science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Project lead researcher Bill Rose said the project could be a template for improvement in STEM throughout the United States. Rose, one of seven MTU faculty members involved with the Michigan Institute for Teaching Excellence Program (MITEP), said the project is ``trying to do something constructive to attract more talented young people to advanced science, math, and technology.'' The project includes data collection and analysis overseen by an evaluation team from the Colorado School of Mines. Also participating in the project are scientists from Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Mich.; the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Area Pre-College Engineering Program; the American Geological Institute; and the U.S. National Park Service.

Examining the Impact of Chess Instruction for the Visual Impairment on Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Mensure

2015-01-01

The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of chess instruction for visually impaired children on math achievement. The study group consists of a total of 26 visually impaired students from inclusion classes in inclusive secondary schools of MoNE (Ministry of National Education), 9 male and 5 female students in the experiment group and 8…

Big Fish in Big Ponds: Contrast and Assimilation Effects on Math and Verbal Self-Concepts of Students in Within-School Gifted Tracks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrmann, Julia; Schmidt, Isabelle; Kessels, Ursula; Preckel, Franzis

2016-01-01

Background: Ability grouping can lower students' academic self-perceptions through reference group effects of class-average achievement on academic self-concept (ASC)--the "Big-fish-little-Pond"-effect (BFLPE; Marsh & Parker, 1984, J. "Pers. Soc. Psychol.," 47, 213). Although the effect itself is well documented, many open…

Coming from Behind: A "Catch-up" Philosophy in Education. The Story of Carver Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markham, Robert M.; Shelly, Paul

Because of the high number of at-risk students at Carver Middle School (Meridian, Mississippi), the principal developed several programs to bring student achievement to the level commensurate with other students around the nation. The Early Bird Program is a Chapter One program of individualized work in math, reading, and language arts classes to…

Teaching Leadership to All: The Educational Challenge of Our Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fish, Ted

2011-01-01

A hundred years ago, if people had asked a group of competent and talented educators whether any child--regardless of race, class, or gender--could one day learn to read Shakespeare, write scientific papers, or do algebraic math, all but the most visionary would have answered, "No." Only a small segment of the population was deemed capable of…

Students as Teachers: Effectiveness of a Peer-Led STEM Learning Programme over 10 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drane, Denise; Micari, Marina; Light, Gregory

2014-01-01

Peer-led small-group learning has been used quite extensively in the US to enhance performance and retention of undergraduate students in science, math, and engineering classes. This study presents the results from an evaluation of a peer-led small-group programme at a research university in the US over a 10-year period across five disciplines…

Connecting the Dots between Math and Reality: A Study of Critical Thinking in High School Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loper, Timothy K.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this mixed method study was to discover whether training in understanding relationships between variables would help students read and interpret equations for the purposes of problem solving in physics. Twenty students from two physics classes at a private Catholic high school participated in a one group pretest-posttest unit with…

Statistical Analysis of a Class: Monte Carlo and Multiple Imputation Spreadsheet Methods for Estimation and Extrapolation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fish, Laurel J.; Halcoussis, Dennis; Phillips, G. Michael

2017-01-01

The Monte Carlo method and related multiple imputation methods are traditionally used in math, physics and science to estimate and analyze data and are now becoming standard tools in analyzing business and financial problems. However, few sources explain the application of the Monte Carlo method for individuals and business professionals who are…

The Need for More Teachers of Color

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vilson, José Luis

2015-01-01

José Luis Vilson is a blogger, speaker, and math teacher in New York City, where he has taught for 10 years. Parts of this article are drawn from his book "This Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education." In this article he shares his concern for the lack of representation of black and Latino people, especially males,…

The Attitudes of First Year Senior Secondary School Students toward Their Science Classes in the Sudan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lado, Longun Moses

2011-01-01

This study examined the influence of a set of relevant independent variables on students' decision to major in math or science disciplines, on the one hand, or arts or humanities disciplines, on the other. The independent variables of interest in the study were students' attitudes toward science, their gender, their socioeconomic status, their…