Estrategias comunitarias de resolución de problemas matemáticos en una comunidad maya en Yucatán

Mathematics preservice teachers' Mathematical Content Knowledge ("MCK") includes not only knowledge for mathematics, but also academic knowledge for school mathematics and mathematical process knowledge. We can consider the items in PISA 2012 as suitable tools to assess process knowledge as well as mathematical content knowledge because these items are developed by competent international educational experts. Therefore, the responses to items with the low percentage of correct answers in conjunction with the mathematical contents were analyzed with focus on FMC. The results showed the reasoning competency in responses using the conditions of the problem and of understanding the conditions after reading the complex problems within the context (i.e. the reasoning and argumentation competency, and communication competency) requires improvements. Furthermore the results indicated the errors due to a lack of ability of devising strategies for problem solving. Based on the foregoing results, the implications towards the directions of the education for the preservice mathematics teachers have been derived.

of So Paulo (USP) and aims to investigate the extent to which mathematical knowledge is used in the contemporary society and how it manifests itself throughout power relations; and also to understand how practices of meaning interfere in the organization and construction of the mathematics curriculum of basic education. Methodologically, this study is a theoretical essay and has adopted a qualitative approach to research. It articulates discursive practices that have rarely been confronted with mathematics education, more precisely, with the curriculum of school mathematics. Theoretically, it is based on studies on different curriculum theories seeking to analyze the role that school subjects play in each of these theories: in studies on the centrality of culture to discuss contemporary issues; and, in studies in the area of mathematics education such as ethnomathematics, mathematical enculturation, critical mathematics education and mathematical modeling, because they are articulated, above all, with the cultural, political and social aspects of mathematics education. When we dealt with school subjects, recovering the concepts of legitimate, powerful knowledge, high and not-high status, the mutual relationship between knowledge and power, the curriculum as a practice of meaning; concepts that give meaning to actions and allow us to interpret others' actions and that when understood as a whole, form cultures; we thought about school mathematics and mathematical knowledge whether institutionalized or not. As a social, cultural and political practice, school mathematics should give priority and more attention to the less privileged ones, echoing their voices. It was for such school mathematics, more egalitarian and less representative of the hegemonic thinking, that a proposal was built based on key concepts grounded in educational and curriculum theories in line with: Ethnomathematics, which helps to strengthen the idea that mathematical knowledge is hybridized and is based mainly on restructuring and strengthening the voices that were silenced; with the Critical Mathematics Education, which is largely concerned with the political aspects of mathematics education, that is, issues related to power; with Mathematical Modeling, which is an important part of the discussions involving school mathematics and power relations, and with the Mathematical Enculturation, which proposes a school mathematics curriculum centered on the cultural dimension.

Mathematics and culture are often interconnected, making school mathematics intimately linked to the society in which it is taught. In response to this connection, mathematics educational reform policies indicate that learners should be getting an education which is connected to their cultures. Contexts are seen to be useful insofar as they provide access to school mathematics. This article focuses on the reverse, that is, using school mathematics to deepen our understanding of cultural activities, largely based on the notion that the mathematics content learnt in schools will be transferred by learners to use in their daily lives. We propose that this reverse practice calls for learners who are mathematically, socially and epistemologically empowered through mathematics education. We argue that mathematics classrooms rarely establish mathematics as an essential tool for understanding and changing the world. Critical pedagogy is not being valued as an emerging pedagogic agenda in mathematics education. Also the advanced nature of cultural practices need more advanced mathematical knowledge possibly to respond to the complexity of the practices. The qualitative study from which this article emerges worked with three mathematics teachers and their Grade 9 learners from one rural school (situated very close to a cultural village). An attempt was made to try and connect mathematics concepts to cultural activities. Based on the analysis of data collected over an extended period of ethnographic and participant classroom observation, we argue that school mathematical knowledge can be used to read and understand cultural practices deeper. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n3p146

This chapter is a contribution to an exploration of the culture of the mathematics classroom. It adopts an epistemological perspective, which immediately raises a number of questions. What can be learned from an epistemological perspective on the culture of the mathematics classroom? Given that the central concern of epistemology is knowledge, what role does mathematical knowledge in its various manifestations play in the culture of the classroom? How can the specific character of mathematical knowledge be described? Does it change during the transition from the discipline into the classroom? What is the relationship between personal and public knowledge of mathematics? What is the relationship between the cultures of school mathematics and research mathematics? How does mathematical knowledge give rise to epistemological obstacles? Which specific epistemological structures of, and processes related to, school-mathematical knowledge are generated by the everyday culture of the mathematics classroom? What is the relationship between “structural necessities” and “social conventions” of mathematical knowledge in the educational interaction? These are some of the deep questions raised by an epistemological perspective on the culture of the mathematics classroom. Clearly in this chapter it is not possible to do more than clarify some of the questions, raise some of the issues, and sketch some of the directions from which answers might come. However I do offer the sketch of a theoretical model of mathematical knowledge genesis and warranting that provides a unified position from which such questions can be addressed.

O texto procura compreender as relações entre os conhecimentos matemáticos construídos por jovens e adultos trabalhadores na vida cotidiana e os conhecimentos matemáticos escolares. Para tanto, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa etnográfica no Morro de São Carlos, Rio de Janeiro, acompanhando a rotina local de um curso de educação de jovens e adultos, assim como aspectos da vida diária dos alunos e da vida comunitária na favela. Os resultados indicaram uma estreita associação entre o uso de habilidades matemáticas no cotidiano com a necessidade de garantir formas de sobrevivência, assim como a importância de fatores afetivo-emocionais como impulsionadores de raciocínio matemático. O mundo da escola e o mundo da vida cotidiana apareceram como separados, assim como os conhecimentos matemáticos pertencentes a um ou outro contexto.

The success of learning mathematics in elementary schools is strongly influenced by the level of mathematical disposition, procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge of a teacher. This study follows an explanatory sequential design with the objectives of (1) investigating the effect of mathematical disposition on elementary school teachers' mathematical knowledge; and (2) describing the relationship between mathematical disposition, procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge in the formation of teachers' mathematical knowledge in problem-solving learning in elementary schools. Data collection through tests, questionnaires, and interviews. The test and questionnaire data were analyzed through linear regression statistical tests. Interview data were analyzed descriptively. Test the validity of interview data through triangulation of sources and theories. The results showed an effect of the level of mathematical disposition on mathematical knowledge (procedural and conceptual knowledge). Teachers with a high level of disposition have high procedural and conceptual knowledge. Meanwhile, teachers with low  disposition level have lower procedural and conceptual knowledge. A positive mathematical disposition is a relationship between mathematical disposition procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge. It has implications for the formation of mathematical knowledge (procedural and conceptual knowledge) of a teacher in problem-solving learning.  Also, the mathematical disposition is a prerequisite that supports the formation of mathematical knowledge (procedural and conceptual knowledge).

The knowledge and use of plant resources are constantly evolving. In this work, the socio-cultural and economic factors that influence the ethnobotanical knowledge of a mestizo community in Mexico were analyzed, and the correspondence of two cultural indices (use value vs. practical value) was determined to identify the magnitude of the significance and utility of each of the ethnofloristic resources. The study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with 44 local informants. Free lists were applied, and the indexes of use value and practical value were used to document the most culturally important plants.
 With an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), the differences in botanical knowledge between genera and the effect of socioeconomic covariates on it were evaluated. 223 species were recorded in 54 botanical families and 86 genera, of which 48% were herbs and just over 60% of the total were recorded in homegardens. The Asteraceae family had the highest number of useful species followed by Fabaceae and Rosaceae. Of a total of 10 categories of use, medicinal, food and ornamental plants were the most representative. A weak correspondence was found between the cultural indices at the species level, but there was consistence at the level of use categories. The ANCOVA showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the genders and none of the covariates have a significant influence (p>0.05) on ethnobotanical knowledge. However, there was a consensus between men and women on the importance they give to medicinal and food plants.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the changes that took place in school mathematics knowledge for pupils aged six and seven (first grade of Greek elementary school) and its pedagogical approach, which took shape following the reforms of the mathematics curricula in 1982 and 2003. Our analysis is based on Bernstein’s theoretical framework on pedagogic discourse and Dowling’s theoretical framework on textual domains. The results showed that there are differences between the 1982 and 2003 reforms, in terms both of the content of mathematics knowledge, as well as of the forms of pedagogic interaction between the teacher and the pupil.

This paper reports on a study which investigated how pupils’ notions of measuring and sharing in out-of-school setting reflect their conceptions and practices in school. Two focus group interviews were carried out with 16 primary school pupils, eight each from grade 4 and grade 6 in two average achieving schools (one each from rural and urban schools) in Ghana. Qualitative analysis of pupils’ activities on measuring and division of mixed/decimal fractions showed evidence of cultural influences on the participants’ conceptions and practices in the measurement of capacity and division of a mixed/decimal fraction by a whole number in the real-life situation. It did not appeal to grade four pupils to share/divide a half of an object. Findings from the study appear to confirm the local aspect of mathematical knowledge and recommend the need to help pupils to draw on and integrate every day and school mathematical knowledge in the teaching and learning situation.

This paper analyses the difficulties which Spanish student teachers have in solving the PISA 2003 released items. It studies the role played by the type and organisation of mathematical knowledge in the activation of competencies identified by PISA with particular attention to the function of contextual knowledge. The results of the research lead us to conclude that the assessment of the participant’s mathematical competencies must include an assessment of the extent to which they have school mathematical knowledge (contextual, conceptual and procedural) that can be productively applied to problem situations. In this way, the school knowledge variable becomes a variable associated with the PISA competence variable.

The preservice primary school mathematics teacher needs training that focuses on school mathematics and its didactics. Research has shown the importance of developing mathematical content knowledge as well as adequate didactic knowledge. Teacher education programs must address both to provide an effective teaching-learning process. The present research aims to assess the mathematical content knowledge of 194 prospective teachers about fraction word problems faced by students at the Primary Education stage, based on the Mathematics Teachers′ Specialized Knowledge (MTSK) model. By means of the preservice teachers’ written answers, we explored their knowledge and identified the associated error to fraction word problems (one-step and multistep) in which the fraction has a meaning as an operator. Preservice teachers showed some difficulties when working with this content, difficulties that were intensified when they solved multistep problems. The most common error founded in both types of problems is related to the meaning of fraction as operator. The results show a weak prior mathematical content knowledge and as a consequence, it is necessary to establish preventive actions in the training degrees since an insufficient mathematical content knowledge prevents them having a proper didactic knowledge.

Epilepsy and its Impact on psychosocial outcomes in Canadian children: Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY)

We start from the assumption that school mathematics knowledge could be better explained if social practices were considered to be generators of knowledge. This perspective changes the way we look at what school mathematics knowledge is and what it takes to teach and learn it. In this article, we will present a teaching situation about periodic functions, which was designed with this perspective in mind. The design was based on the assumption that the scientific notion of periodic function is related with the social practice of prediction. In the situation, prediction as a social practice is transformed into a situational line of argument which redefines that which is periodical. The situation brings into play meanings for the repetition of a movement, which takes place in time in the context of graphs of functions. Our analysis of the situation will focus on the prediction tools that participants generated in order to define that which is periodical. We will conclude with some implications of our observations for the teaching of mathematics.

Despite the growing body of research on parents' beliefs and practices, relatively little is known about the relations between parents' knowledge of children's development, home‐based activities, and children's early reading and math skills. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort to examine the differences in Asian, Black, Latino, and White children's early reading and math skills at kindergarten entry and whether parents' knowledge of children's development and home‐based activities mediate the relation. Parents' knowledge of children's development was assessed when children were 9 months. Home‐based activities, including home literacy and enrichment, were assessed when children were preschool age. Asian and White children started kindergarten with significantly higher reading and math scores than Black or Latino children. There also were significant differences across groups in the frequency of engagement in home literacy and enrichment activities. Associations between race/ethnicity and reading/math scores were mediated by parents' knowledge of children's development and home literacy activities. Discussion addresses the importance of parents' knowledge of educationally relevant activities and how to engage in such activities to foster children's reading and math skills and to close racial/ethnic gaps.HighlightsThis paper examined racial/ethnic difference in children's reading and math skills in kindergarten and explores whether parents' knowledge of children's development and home‐based activities mediate the relation between race/ethnicity and children's reading and math skills.By using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort, this study found that there were systematic racial/ethnic differences in parents' knowledge of children's development, home‐based activities, and children's reading and math skills at the start of kindergarten.Parents' knowledge of children's development and home‐based activities were found to mediate the association between race/ethnicity and children's reading and math skills for all groups.

Development of early math skills is linked to future success in mathematics and other academics. Educational video games have been shown to promote academic achievement; however, few rigorous studies have evaluated the use of educational video games in supporting math development, especially in early primary education. In the current study, an open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 134 first grade students to determine, using standardized assessments, the impact of the educational mathematics tablet-based video game, Knowledge Battle, on math scores and self-competency. Overall, Knowledge Battle did improve math skills in participants who played the game. Among those with lower pre-game math skills, the Knowledge Battle group’s mean math score increased more than the control group’s mean math score (9.7 vs. 6.0; p = 0.02). There was no association between perceived sense of self-competency and total math score (p = 0.8141). However, players who had a higher sense of self-competency were more likely to enjoy playing the game. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Knowledge Battle was an acceptable and enjoyable educational mathematical video game for first grade students, and may be most impactful for those with low math skills.