Improve Mathematics Education Research Articles

A Mathematics Teacher’s Journey of Identity Construction and Change

Despite some gains, improving mathematics instruction remains an area of concern in the United States. The implementation of the Common Core Standards and the challenge of teaching the 21 st Century student require mathematics teachers to examine their pedagogy to determine if they need to change or improve their practices. This paper provides a personal account of my journey when determining my identity as a mathematics teacher and how constructing my identity helped in changing and improving my practices as a mathematics teacher. The study was done using autoethnography, a burgeoning research method, and identity theory. This study has the goals of giving voice to the classroom teacher and providing a practical method for improving instruction. The findings indicate that my identity is composed of many facets, and my identity is a key factor underlying who I am as a mathematics teacher. The findings also resulted in the development of the Math Madness Model (M 3 ) Instrument, which can facilitate self-studies by other mathematics

Hausa Riddles and Games Pertinent To the Development of Mathematical Thinking: A Reconstruction Focus

The paper examines Hausa riddles and games pertinent for the development of Mathematical thinking as a reconstruction focus. The paper reviewed literature relevant to the topic and the writer interviewed students, lecturers and other members of the society in kano to gather some examples of Hausa riddles and games. The findings revealed that there are so many numbers of Hausa riddles and games very relevant to the development of mathematical thinking which mathematics teachers and students could use to improve mathematics teaching and learning at the same time can be used for recreational activities and psychological tension release. The paper conclude and recommends that: (1) Mathematics teachers should find out more examples of Hausa riddles and games and blend them during their teaching in order to help their students understand mathematics better. (2) Students being mathematics learners closer to community have armful opportunity to know many examples of the riddles and games the challenge and motivation to them is to put more efforts to see how they canrelate them to school mathematics learning. (3) It is equally important to mathematics teachers to examine and develop solution methods of any riddle or game.

E-learning in Saudi Arabia

The effects of teaching mathematics by e‐learning on students' performance in Saudi primary schools are inspiring signs for Saudi educational reforms. Due to the gender segregration in Saudi education, this paper was conducted in schools for girls. A totacl of 48 female students voluntarily participated from two primary schools‐ one public and one private. Students were assigned to experimental groups. They were taught mathematics by elearning over a 13 week period. Interviews were conducted with students. The qualitative results indicated that students supported the new method of teaching mathematics. Several obstacles, advantages and disadvantages were reported as well. This finding supports the value of e‐learning pedagogy as a significant tool for improving mathematics education in Saudi Arabia.

Learners of Mathematics: High School Students' Perspectives of Culturally Relevant Mathematics Pedagogy

Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) has been suggested by researchers as one method for improving mathematics education among African-American students, but very little research take into account the students' perspectives of CRP. This case study examines students' perspectives of CRP and the effect that participating in culturally relevant mathematics instruction has on students' attitude and interest toward mathematics. Five students that participated in a culturally relevant mathematics intervention were interviewed. African-American students in the study held positive views of CRP and preferred the method over traditional mathematics instruction. There were six themes developed from the results of the interviews: (1) home-like classrooms; (2) ethic of caring; (3) participation opportunities; (4) technology use; (5) confidence; and (6) motivation. In addition, all students that participated in the study experienced an improved attitude and/or interest toward mathematics.

A Tale of Three Teachers

Are you interested in taking an active role in improving mathematics education? These stories of informal, semiformal, and formal school leaders at work may suggest a path.

Implications for Developing and Researching Elementary School Mathematics Coaches

In recent years, national organizations, mathematics educators, and policy makers have called for the development of elementary school mathematics coaches to improve mathematics teaching and learning in elementary schools. The literacy field has found success and promise in the work of instructional coaches, and the mathematics education community can benefit from what professionals in literacy have learned and practiced. This article presents a synthesis of empirical research about instructional coaches, in both literacy and mathematics, as well as the neo‐Vygotskian construct of assisted performance. Following the synthesis, implications are presented regarding how to develop the essential skills and knowledge needed for elementary school mathematics coaches as well as how to examine the impact of their efforts in schools.

Developing prospective mathematics teachers in Mexico: a lesson on the relationship between integration and differentiation

Mexican authorities and universities are actively working to improve mathematics teaching and learning across the education system. Thus, efforts are underway to raise the historically low performance in mathematics, which include theoretically grounded pedagogy and curriculum development to raise mathematical knowledge in teacher education programmes. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, I give an overview of the educational system in Mexico by outlining the evolution of the mathematics curriculum and teacher preparation programmes. Secondly, I describe and discuss, from my own practice, a lesson using dynamic tools for helping prospective teachers to understand the relationship between integration and differentiation within the context of the current literature from Mexico and abroad. While Mexico faces distinct issues within its educational system, challenges in how future mathematics teachers understand mathematical content appear universal. Thus, teaching mathematical content while modelling effective mathematical pedagogical practices is of relevance to all of us striving to enhance the quality of future mathematics teachers.

Digital resources inviting changes in mid-adopting teachers’ practices and orchestrations

Digital resources offer opportunities to improve mathematics teaching and learning, but meanwhile may question teachers’ practices. This process of changing teaching practices is challenging for teachers who are not familiar with digital resources. The issue, therefore, is what teaching practices such so-called ‘mid-adopting’ mathematics teachers develop in their teaching with digital resources, and what skills and knowledge they need for this. To address this question, a theoretical framework including notions of instrumental orchestration and the TPACK model for teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge underpins the setting-up of a project with twelve mathematics teachers, novice in the field of integrating technology in teaching. Technology-rich teaching resources are provided, as well as support through face-to-face group meetings and virtual communication. Data include lesson observations and questionnaires. The results include a taxonomy of orchestrations, an inventory of skills and knowledge needed, and an overview of the relationships between them. During the project, teachers do change their orchestrations and acquire skills. On a theoretical level, the articulation of the instrumental orchestration model and the TPACK model seems promising.

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Theory: What are its Implications for Mathematical Teaching?

This article focused on Vygotskian Zone of Proximal Development and its implications to the teaching of Mathematics in the schools. Literature has shown that underachievement and poor performance characterise the learning of Mathematics. Teaching Mathematics in the child’s zone of proximal development is viewed as one way of improving performance in Mathematics. Literature argues that teaching in the Zone of Proximal Development where the child’s learning is mediated and scaffolded by the teacher or expert adult or knowledgeable peer makes learning more meaningful, easier, manageable, effective and efficient. The major challenge that the theory presents to teachers is that it is difficult to identify every learner’s zone of proximal development. Despite this limitation, the ZPD if appropriately applied could improve Mathematics teaching and learning in the schools.

Video resources for supporting learning in mathematics rich disciplines: A teaching perspective

Video capture technology allows video to be readily recorded and edited. The distribution of videos through e-learning systems provides learning support to students. This article discusses our experiences in developing video genre resources. The overview'' video resource is found to be a useful technique for conveying the structure of a topic. Video resources can be combined in a variety of ways using concept maps, learning design maps and/or folder based approaches. We provide our perspective regarding the production of video resources using tablet technology tools. The relative ease and flexibility of the technology is discussed. The aim of this article is to encourage lecturers to learn from our experiences, enabling them to develop their own resources. References E. Aminifar. Technology and Improvement of Mathematics Education at the Tertiary Level . Ph.D. Thesis, School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2007. J. Clark and Q. Kou. Captivate and Camtasia. J Med Libr Assoc , 96(1), 75--78, 2008. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2212324/pdf/i1536-5050-096-01-0075.pdf T. G. Gill. Using the tablet pc for instruction. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education , 5(1), 183--190, 2007. S. Jurich. The Impact of Video Technology in Education: From Here to Where? A Review of the Literature. TechKnowLogia (International Journal of Technologies for the Advancement of Knowledhe and Learning), 1999. http://www.techknowlogia.org/TKL_Articles/PDF/14.pdf J. Keller and K. Suzuki. Learner motivation and E-learning design: A multinationally validated process. Journal of Educational Media , 29(3), 229--239, 2004. C. L. Mason. Concept Mapping: A Tool to Develop Reflective Science Instruction. Science Education , 76(1), 51--63, 1992. A. P. Micolich. Digital video as a resource for teaching physics---a preliminary evaluation of effectiveness and some tips on how to do it better. In UniServe Science Symposium Proceedings: Visualisation and Concept Development , 2008. http://sydney.edu.au/science/uniserve_science/pubs/procs/2008/193.pdf J. D. Novak and D. B. Gowin. Learning how to learn . Cambridge University Press, New York, 1984. J. D. Novak and A. J. Canas. The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, 2006. http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf . S. Steinweg, S. Williams and J. Stapleton. Faculty use of Tablet pcs in teacher education and K--12 Settings. TechTrends , 54(3), 54--60, 2010. http://www.springerlink.com/content/d65q2q6j385554l5/fulltext.pdf L. A. Smith and E. T. Smith. Using Camtasia to develop and enhance online learning: tutorial presentation. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges , 22(5), 121--122, 2007.

Making Explicit the Commonalities of MSP Projects: Learning from Doing

Abstract:The seven projects discussed in the preceding articles are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program (Hamos et al., 2009), which began in 2002. One of the main goals of the MSP program is to build capacity and integrate the work of higher education, especially its STEM disciplinary faculty, with that of K-12 to strengthen and reform mathematics and science education (Hamos et al., 2009). Thus, the MSP program brought together three sets of people (disciplinary faculty, teacher educators, and school system personnel] who do not usually work together to reform the mathematics and science education of teachers. For many of the MSP partnerships this was the first time that members of these groups were purposefully working together to develop mechanisms designed to 1) increase both preservice and inservice teachers' mathematical content knowledge for teaching; 2] provide teachers with the opportunity to learn mathematics in the manner in which their students should learn mathematics in order to develop habits of mind similar to those of mathematicians, such as making conjectures and testing them out, modeling contextual situations with mathematics, and persevering in solving problems; and 3] engage all of the partners in collaborative opportunities focused on student learning and assessment. Accordingly, the seven partnerships discussed throughout this issue and other partnerships chose coursework at universities, some combination of coursework and professional development, and/or study groups as the mechanisms to accomplish the objectives of the MSP program.As principal investigators of a Targeted MSP, we can empathize with the leaders of the seven partnerships discussed in this special issue of the Enthusiast. The project with which we are affiliated is the East Alabama Partnership for the Improvement of Education (also known as Transforming East Alabama or TEAM-Math], which was formed in November 2002 to improve mathematics education in 14 school districts in East Alabama with the support of Auburn University, Tuskegee University and other partners. Together, the districts in this partnership serve roughly 59,000 students. TEAM-Math received major funding from the NSF MSP program in 2003, along with a number of other internal and external grants.The mission for this partnership is: To enable all students to understand, utilize, communicate, and appreciate mathematics as a tool in everyday situations in order to become life-long learners and productive citizens by Transforming East Alabama Mathematics (TEAM-Math, 2003}. A central goal of the partnership is to ensure that all students, including African-American and other historically underserved groups, receive high-quality mathematics education. This requires a comprehensive set of strategies addressing all aspects of the educational system. Thus, the partnership has been working to systemically change what is happening in mathematics education across the east Alabama region. TEAM-Math's design includes five primary components: (1} curriculum alignment, (2} teacher leader development, (3} intensive professional development, (4) outreach to stakeholders, especially parents, and (5} improvement of teacher education. In our 10 years of existence we have impacted over 1700 K-12 teachers of mathematics in the partner schools.We believe that involvement in professional development will lead to change in teacher attitudes toward and use of reform practices (i.e., those consistent with the recommendations of Principles and Standards for School (National Council of Teachers of [NCTM], 2000), which in turn will positively influence student motivation, ultimately leading to improved achievement in mathematics. Previous analyses of TEAM-Math project data (e.g., Woolley, Strutchens, Gilbert, & Martin, 2010) showed that students who reported greater teacher use of reform practices, higher teacher expectations, and higher teacher standards, demonstrated higher levels of confidence and interest in mathematics and lower levels of anxiety as it relates to mathematics. …

SOAL CERITA DENGAN BAHASA KOMUNIKATIF UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KUALITAS PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA SEKOLAH DASAR

: Problem-solving Mathematics Using Communicative Language to Improve Mathematics Teaching and Learning at Elementary Schools. This collaborative classroom action research was car­ried out to improve teachers' competence in developing problem-solving mathematics items using com­municative language and to increase students' competence in solving them. Involving teachers of the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth years of eight elementary schools, the study suggests that teachers' using communicative language in developing problem-solving mathematics items can improve the mathemat­ics teaching and learning. The communicative language employed in this study refers to paraphrasing and making analogies, accompanied with the provision of the story characters, the setting, and the themes which are of students' interests. At the end of the study, the students can deal with mathematics items better.

Assessing Instructional Quality in Mathematics

AbstractAssessments of instructional quality based on classroom observations and artifacts have the potential to measure and improve mathematics instruction and learning. This article describes the Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) Mathematics Toolkit and examines its ability to identify the nature and quality of classroom instruction. The IQA assesses elements of ambitious instruction in mathematics; specifically, the level of instructional tasks and task implementation, opportunities for mathematical discourse, and teachers' expectations. Results are reported from a study of 13 middle school teachers in a mid-sized urban district, following a professional development initiative and the adoption of standards-based mathematics curricula. The IQA identified high-quality assignments and student work, and that teachers who utilized cognitively challenging tasks could maintain the cognitive demands in lesson observations. The IQA also identified that observed instruction lacked high-quality whole-group d...

From designing to implementing mathematical tasks: investigating the changes in the nature of the T-shirt task

IntroductionFrom looking at research literature is possible to see that research on design, implementation and analysis of mathematical tasks is an actual theme: there is special issue of Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (2007) with Anne Watson, John Mason and Orit Zaslavsky as editors (Watson and Mason, 2007), book published by Clarke, Grevholm and Millman (2009) concerning Tasks in primary mathematics teacher education and under ICME 11 in Mexico (2008) title of one of Topic Study Groups was Research and development in task design and analysis. In addition several substantial research projects conducted in United States focus on this issue. For example QUASAR project (Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning), involving group of researchers (Stein, Smith, Henningsen & Silver, 2000), aimed at improving mathematics instruction for students by emphasising thinking, reasoning, problem solving and communication of mathematical ideas. One of central aspects of their research was to focus on use of instructional tasks in project classroom and they proposed elaboration of the mathematical tasks framework where kinds of thinking needed to solve tasks were referred to as demands. They reported on observations concerning change of cognitive demands during lesson where a task that starts out challenging ... might not induce high-level thinking and reasoning that was intended as students actually go about working on it (Stein et al., 2009, p.xviii). This aspect is also address by Artigue (1994) arguing that might be tempting to implement too quickly development products arising from research into products for teaching. She characterises processes related to transmission of products from didactic engineering in terms of distortions and she emphasises distinction between activities of conducting research and of engaging in teaching. My aim, in this article, is to follow Artigue's argumentation and to investigate, trace and characterise distortions of specific mathematical task (the T-shirt task) from its design by group of didacticians at University of Adger (UiA) to its implementation by two different teachers. This research is situated in larger research project conducted at (UiA), Teaching Better Mathematics project (TBM).The structure of article is as follows: First I present central aspects of TBM project and emphasise theoretical constructs of didactical aim and pedagogical means. I also introduce methodological approach adopted in project. Then I turn to an example and explain how T-shirt task was designed by didacticians at UiA and how was implemented by teacher from primary school and by teacher from lower secondary school. Finally, I discuss results and present implications for further collaboration between didacticians and researchers.Central aspects of TBMprojectCo-leaning agreement with teachersThe aims of TBM project are reflected in title: Teaching Better Mathematics. First promotes to develop better understanding and competency in mathematics for pupils in schools (Better Mathematics), and second to explore and develop better teaching approaches (Teaching Better) as means to achieve first aim. The nature of project is developmental research and we collaborate with in-service teachers from 4 kindergarten, 6 primary and lower secondary schools and 3 upper secondary schools. Our collaboration with teachers is organised around workshops, approximately 4-5 per year, and school visits during which didactician get opportunity to observe nature of impact project had on participating schools. In project we see teachers and didacticians as working together as co-learners (Wagner, 1997). This implies that both teachers and didacticians are engaged in action and reflection, and by working together, each has opportunity to develop further understandings of world of other and of his/her own world. …

Mejoramiento del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la matemática en la educación inicial: un desafío para la gestión de la educación

Este artículo es producto de la investigación denominada: Mejoramiento del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la matemática en la educación inicial: vista desde la perspectiva docente, cuyo objetivo general fue analizar la formación del docente de preescolar en ejercicio, en lo relativo a los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la matemática, fortalezas, debilidades y necesidades para generar una propuesta metodológica que pueda fortalecer los procesos de formación docente y autoformación. Se presenta a su vez una reflexión desde la administración de la educación, como un desafío que desde esta disciplina debe asumirse en el mejoramiento de la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la matemática en la educación inicial. Destaca aspectos relacionados con la formación, la metodología aplicada en los cursos para formar a los educadores, los mecanismos de información utilizados de manera más frecuente, así como aspectos de los procesos de capacitación, desarrollo profesional y autoformación en los que participa el personal académico de educación inicial. Se describen brevemente algunas acciones tendientes al cambio en la cultura escolar en torno al proceso educativo en el ámbito de la matemática; siendo precisamente la cultura escolar un campo donde la administración de la educación asume un rol fundamental. Se hace un llamado de atención sobre la necesidad de que las instituciones universitarias brinden una formación más abarcadora, y que el resto de las instituciones dedicadas a procesos de desarrollo profesional de los educadores de las matemáticas mejoren los procesos de divulgación y capacitación, así como que la administración de la educación asuma estos procesos dentro de sus políticas prioritarias.

What students outside Asia value in effective mathematics lessons: a scoping study

This article reports on a scoping study conducted in Australia and Sweden to facilitate the understanding of the values that are associated with effective learning of mathematics in Asian classrooms. Nineteen ‘Western’ values have been identified, of which three (explanation, sharing and fun) were commonly embraced in the two countries. It is also evident that traits that are valued can be and are demonstrated in different forms. The implications for improving mathematics education through the harnessing of values are discussed. The distinction made between what is valued and the forms the value can take should empower classroom teachers to incorporate values flexibly in different classroom contexts.

Mathematics Education and Ethnomathematics. A Connection in Need of Reinforcement.

In this article we analyze Ethnomathematics research in Portugal in the recent past and the way it has been used in Education. We divide our reflection in three main parts. One is about people’s discourse and actions and how to use them to uncover mathematical thinking. The second is about artifacts and how to use them to uncover mathematical thinking. The third is about how to use ethnomathematics research to improve mathematics education. In each of these sections we reflect on some of what has been made and we propose paths we think are worth pursuing.

Improving Mathematics Instruction for Early Childhood Teachers: Professional Development Components That Work

The purpose of this study is to critically investigate the association between preschool teachers’ mathematics instruction and their participation in a preschool mathematics intervention program in terms of 2 perspectives. First, the study examined whether preschool teachers’ participation in the preschool mathematics intervention program had significant effects on implementing mathematical activities more often and with higher quality in their classrooms. Second, within the treatment group, the study examined the effects of exposure to professional development as well as individual contributions of various professional development types on the amount and quality of mathematics activities the teachers provided for their students.

Identifying and describing the knowledge needed by teachers of mathematics

This editorial is my final contribution to the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education as an editor. I have been an associate editor for 5 years and editor for over 3 years. It has been a privilege to contribute to the discipline of mathematics teacher education in this way and to follow the footsteps of the previous editors, Professor Tom Cooney and Professor Barbara Jaworski. I thank them both for their confidence in me and their encouragement. I am also delighted to be handing over to Professor Olive Chapman, who has now been managing the manuscripts and reviewing process for all of this year, knowing that the journal will develop and grow under Olive’s leadership. As Barbara outlined in her final editorial (Jaworski 2007), the discipline of mathematics teacher education is now well established and the recent four volume International Handbook of Mathematics Teacher Education is further evidence of the substantial research and scholarship being conducted into the education of teachers of mathematics. While approaches to mathematics teacher learning differ from context to context and culture to culture, the knowledge that teachers need is at the centre of initiatives to improve mathematics education everywhere. Offering experiences that enhance this knowledge remains the major consideration of those preparing programs for teachers of mathematics, and research on that knowledge is of great interest. It is opportune that the articles in this issue focus particularly on knowledge for teaching mathematics. A useful categorisation that can assist in describing the knowledge that teachers need was proposed by Hill et al. (2008). Building on the well-known work of Shulman (1986), they proposed two categories of knowledge: subject matter knowledge; and pedagogical content knowledge. In their diagrammatic model, subject matter knowledge is made up of three sub-categories: common content knowledge; specialised content knowledge; and knowledge at the horizon. Pedagogical content knowledge is made up of: knowledge of content and teaching; knowledge of content and students; and knowledge of curriculum. In Australia, children from ages 5–11 are grouped in one type of school with teachers who are generalist, meaning they teach every subject. While teacher education programs include some aspects of mathematics and mathematics education, those teachers

Hints on how to improve mathematics instruction

Teaching mathematics to prepare effectively students toward the achievement of their potential requires an understanding of what helps them learn and the adoption of innovative tools that exploit the existing technology in the classroom. The need to account for students’ abilities and weaknesses in designing a lecture and inspire them is at the basis of a proper teaching strategy aimed at acquiring high competency in mathematics tailored to their needs and at recruiting students to scientific disciplines and in engineering. The adoption of mathematical software integrated with the lectures and the use of interactive teaching tools are important modifications needed to reach this objective.