Math Classes Research Articles

The mathematical flexibility of college students: The role of cognitive and affective factors.

Traditional math instruction that emphasizes procedures and rote memorization is common in math classes, particularly within the United States. Students may be able to perform steps and recite information, but flexible thinking in math is also an important ability. Lay theories assume that extensive experience in math would lead to increased flexibility, but some research has posited a change-resistant account, which argues that experience with traditional instruction may make it difficult to think flexibly about even simple concepts. The current study explored the mathematical flexibility of college students who completed their K-12 education in the United States, and investigated how affective and cognitive factors contributed to flexible thinking. Participants were 128 undergraduate students at a competitive U.S. public university. Mathematical flexibility was measured through a novel task that asked participants to generate as many strategies as they could for a simple arithmetic problem. These strategies were coded to create scores of fluency (number of strategies) and flexibility (number of unique strategies). On average, participants were only able to provide little more than three unique strategies beyond the primary strategy taught in K-12 classrooms. Measures of math anxiety, math identity, need for cognition, and working memory were all unrelated to flexibility. However, student perceptions of how many possible solutions exist were significantly related to flexibility. These results provide evidence for a change-resistance account and provide further evidence that math flexibility is a unique construct.

Community College Faculty Perspectives Regarding Quantway

ABSTRACT Community colleges have been under increasing pressure to devise alternate math pathways to the traditional sequence of developmental math classes. Considering the important role faculty play in student success, this qualitative study focuses on faculty perspectives regarding Quantway, a novel alternate pathway for community college students who are not majoring in a math-related field. The following research question guided this study: Based on their experiences, both positive and challenging, what are the faculty perspectives regarding teaching Quantway? Data were gathered, using structured interviews, from 10 community college instructors at four community colleges. Positive aspects of teaching Quantway are improved student attitude and motivation, student engagement and support, sustainability, certain aspects of the single-semester quantitative reasoning [QR] course with the co-requisite, and faculty fulfillment. Challenges that faculty reported were mandated pedagogy and certain facets (other than those experienced as positive) of the single-semester QR course with the co-requisite. There were other aspects on which faculty perspectives were mixed, including the support system for faculty when teaching Quantway as well as the appropriate level of academic rigor in a QR course. The pedagogical approach of Quantway courses should be less prescriptive and more flexible. Continued communication among Quantway faculty is also imperative. Future research should focus on effective pedagogical practices as well as incoming skill level for the single-semester QR course with the pre-requisite. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that Quantway positively impacts faculty and students.

„Niebieskoocy” w naszej szkole – przezwyciężanie stereotypów drogą do tworzenia uczniom lepszych warunków rozwoju w klasie szkolnej

The article outlines a universal and selective prevention program aiming at weakening the risk factors – child peer rejection and the emergence and prevalence of a low skills stereotype. It is based on the cooperation of researchers with pairs of faculty members teaching in the same 4th grade: the class host and a Polish, math or a foreign language teacher. The goal of this cooperation is to create better psychosocial development conditions in interactions with teachers and peers, diminishing the sense of helplessness during Polish and math classes, the risk of stereotypes and the school– and learning-re-lated stress. The results of the seven-month cooperation will be assessed through research conducted in 18 classes randomly assigned to the trial group (9 classes) and the control group (9 classes). The pretest, after-test and the measurement of results extended for a year after the conclusion of the program will include students with the after-test covering also teachers. The socio-economic status of students’ families will be the variable controlled for.

External Evaluation of the Educational Process and Learning Evaluation in Mathematics Classes: Notes from an Investigative Practice

Anchored in an evaluation perspective in the service of learning, this article brings a discussion of the relationship of external evaluation of the educational process and evaluation of learning in the classroom context from an analysis of written productions of students in dealing with routine issues of written math class exams and external evaluation questions. This is a qualitative research of an interpretative nature, in which, through an investigative practice in a 2nd grade high school class of a public school in which the students solved four questions about the study of sequences - Arithmetic Progression (A.P.). We sought to highlight the potential of using external evaluation questions to feed pedagogical actions that favor reflection on the curriculum developed in the classroom, and vice versa. In this research, it was possible to show that the difficulty of the students to understand the statement of the questions and the fact that they cannot relate the content to the daily practices can be aspects that influence the Brazilian students' performance in external mathematical evaluations; as can be presumed that students have shown poor performance in external tests not because they are unaware of mathematical knowledge, but because the type of problem to which they are exposed differ substantially from those of their classroom teaching and evaluative practices.

Povećanje motivacije učenika u nastavi matematike primenom zanimljivih zadataka u nižim razredima osnovne škole

The fact is that most students have a problem with the adoption of mathematical content. Mathematics as a school subject is something that burdens them, and math classes are a real torture for them. How to learn mathematics and have the desired grade is a problem for students and their parents, as well as for teachers. Many mathematicians, pedagogues and psychologists have researched what it is that would increase students' motivation to adopt mathematical content. Some believe that the students' success to a large extent depends on the competencies and engagement of teachers, while others believe that the student himself and its inner motivation are of crucial importance. A student who has an "internal drive", who has the will and desire to work, who is persistent and does not give up on his goals achieves the best results. In this paper, we have dealt with the problem of motivation in students in the lower grades of primary school in the teaching of mathematics. The paper describes with concrete examples how students can be motivated by applying some interesting tasks. By applying these tasks, which are logical and in a way funny, students get the impression that they are playing in class while solving tasks. In a relaxed atmosphere, they learn, play and socialize, and most importantly, the knowledge they gain in this way is more lasting.

A Study to the Self through Prefixes

A Study to the Self through Prefixes Ae Hee Lee (bio) 1. Multi-: more than one; many, especially variegated. Example: "multicolor." Think kaleidoscope. A spinning circus of several colored-glass. From the Latin multus, much, many. The existence of more than one. In one. Another example: "multicultural." Think you. Think of those you loved. Think myriads of others. 2. Notice people applaud at the word "unity." Strangely enough, words like "mixture," "composite," and "amalgamation" are often attributed to Frankenstein's creature. Abomination. The "monster" (from the Latin monere or warn) must be hidden, devoured, or assimilated (notice though, "monster" sounds closer to the Latin monstrare which means "to show"). Notice you are not alone in your desire for this being to have a name of its own. 3. Another prefix: inter-. From the Old French entre- or Latin inter-. Between, among. Poet Kimberly Blaeser once talked about a liminal space in which mixed bloods and mixed cultures find themselves. She called the in-between not a phase of being but a state of being, not a tragedy but a position of power. A strength and balance that only bridges possess. Don't forget "Intermediary"—don't underestimate it. 4. Read Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," again. The ending: the little mermaid cannot go back to be a mermaid, having been human, and cannot become human, having been mermaid. Her sisters at the sea, the prince for whom she endured the pain of invisible knives needling her soles—neither understood her love. When she turns into foam, don't cry for her, don't hate the story. Read it again. 5. Prefix: cross-Surprise: originating from the word "cross." Can refer to the shape of a cross, or across. Example: "Crossroads": An intersection of two or more roads. Neither here nor there. Figuratively, a meeting place. A shared place, a place of sharing, which belongs to no one for those that belong nowhere. Old European folklore tells stories of fairy processions happening at crossroads. A threshold to new worlds. 6. Recall the Venn diagram from your math class: a diagram of logical relations between different sets. The more circles, the closer to a field of flowers. Admire Venn diagrams, watch how the circles always converge in the middle. Ask: who fits outside these spaces of meeting? Who can live untouched and alone? 7. Paradox: Everyone belongs, but belonging is not easy. [End Page 24] 8. Another prefix that means across: trans-. Also means beyond and through. In Third Factory, Viktor Shklovsky writes, "There is no third alternative. Yet that is precisely the one that must be chosen." To transform oneself is to transcend. An unchanging thing is a dead thing.1 9. Learn from words. Words know that they cannot be restricted to a single meaning, and that their many meanings become their history and identity. Learn from people: words come from people—they were made in their image. 10. In his essay "The Argentine Writer and Tradition" Borges thought there were no camels in the Koran and wrote that "[Mohammed] knew he could be Arab without camels." Wonder: what do you not need, to be what you are?2 [End Page 25] Ae Hee Lee Lisa Beech Hartz directs Seven Cities Writers Project, a non-profit that brings cost-free creative writing workshops to underserved communities. She currently guides poetry workshops for men and women in a city jail and a memoir workshop at an LGBTQ community center. "Mural" is drawn from a manuscript exploring the life and work of Abstract Expressionist Lee Krasner. Lisa's ekphrastic collection, The Goldfish Window, was published by Grayson Books in 2018. Footnotes 1. Translation by Richard Sheldon 2. Translation by Esther Allen Copyright © 2020 Pleiades and Pleiades Press

Investigating Various Grouping Strategies in Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

Group work can become a powerful tool for teaching and learning of mathematics. Grouping strategy is one of the factors that determine the effectiveness of group work. In this paper, the researcher investigated the effectiveness of various strategies for grouping students in a maths class. Learners were placed in groups according to various strategies and given the same treatment under similar conditions. Afterward, a test was administered to gather the feedback of every grouping strategy and the results analyzed. Mixed-ability grouping based on academic achievement was observed to be the most effective grouping strategy.

The importance of mathematical tales in elementary school math classes

This article discusses the importance of using mathematical tales in math classes in elementary school and how to use them effectively. The article analyzes the importance of using mathematical tales in the mathematics lessons of primary school students and their effective application, as well as methods for creating some mathematical tales. One may find that it is more difficult to understand the world of ideal dreams in a person who has not been brought up in fairy tales. Thanks to fairy tales, the child begins to distinguish between real and unreal things. If in the past the game was a prerequisite for attracting students to learning, then you can implement the game for the entire learning process, mastering the elements of educational activity in the gaming environment., That is, a game based on the learning process becomes in essence a didactic tool.

Let’s Talk About the Birds, Not the Bees

Just as math and history classes aim to prepare students to do math and history well, sex education must prepare students to participate in good sex that contributes to their overall flourishing. I reject David Archard’s autonomy-centered view of sex education because it fails to address deeply ingrained social inequalities. I deny Paula McAvoy’s mutuality-centered view of sex education because mutuality and consent are not sufficient for good sex. I draw on Quil Kukla’s work on sexual negotiation and claim that for sex to be good, we must engage in communicative sex that goes beyond consent. Therefore, sex education should not only instruct students how to avoid bad sex, but also enable students to participate in good sex that contributes to their overall flourishing.

Jefferson Measures a Moose by Mara Rockliff

Reviewed by: Jefferson Measures a Moose by Mara Rockliff Deborah Stevenson, Editor Rockliff, Mara Jefferson Measures a Moose; illus. by S. D. Schindler. Candlewick, 2020 [48p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780763694104 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 6-9 yrs Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was, notably, a citizen scientist, who documented numbers of all kinds of weights, measures, and times. When famed French naturalist Buffon (fully, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon) claimed that everything in America (where he'd never been) was puny and weak, the nettled Jefferson amassed data into a book to prove him wrong. Buffon remained unimpressed by figures, so Jefferson determined to send him a moose. Unfortunately, the moose carcass arrived in France the worse for wear, but even more unfortunately, Buffon died without ever seeing it. On the fortunate side, Americans loved Jefferson's book, Notes on the State of Virginia. This takes a different tack from Clickard's Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Hunt (BCCB 12/18), focusing on Jefferson's Enlightenment-typical focus on data and using the moose mostly as an exemplar. Rockliff's well-paced, wryly funny narration is enjoyable as well as informative (if Buffon "believed in chirpless chickadees and puny pigs, then so would everybody else"). Schindler's familiar gravely humorous delicacy, in line and watercolor that sometimes echoes wood engraving with its hatching, is perfectly suited to the personable recounting of a polite historical feud. This would be a boon to early math classes or discussions about the importance of data, but it also serves as offbeat entertainment. Copious end matter expands on the story, provides answers to the questions Jefferson asks himself in the narrative, and includes lists of both primary and secondary sources. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Using digital technology in math classes for high school students

Using digital technology in math classes for high school students

A Girl Burst into Flames

A Girl Burst into Flames Ruth Joffre (bio) No one noticed. It happened all the time: in the middle of math class, during study hall, or on the walk home from school. Once, it even happened in the showers, after gym class, while she was clutching a bar of soap to her chest and averting her eyes. Other girls asked her: "How is that even possible? Why isn't the water putting out the flames?" And she just shook her head and told them it was hormonal. Her doctor said the fire was a projection, a visual manifestation of internal reactions to stimuli. "You'll have to be careful," the doctor warned her, "not to get too aroused in front of other people," and because her doctor was a woman and chose her words with great care, the girl understood aroused to mean more than just the obvious. This fire would betray her, every rush of lust emerging, every extreme of anger exploding like fireworks under her skin; she would burn so publicly, she would never be able to hide it from her peers. And so she learned to control it and began setting herself on fire randomly (at assemblies, in the bleachers, during exams or the Pledge of Allegiance) just to throw off their scent, to remain in some ways unknown. Better to be a total freak, she thought, than a freak clearly in love with Madame P., the French teacher, during whose class the girl first burst into flames. She remembered it was an ordinary day (a Monday, to be exact); Madame P. had scheduled an exam for that morning, so the girl was sitting at a desk at the back of the class, allowing her half-finished test to taunt her with acute and circumflex accent marks, when a dull heat began radiating from her palms. She felt sweaty—so sweaty, in fact, that she thought she might be having a panic attack. First her hands flushed, then her cheeks, then her chest. Orange flames spat out of her ears, and her fingertips burned up like match heads, emitting light blue flames that tapered at the ends, mimicking the luminous sheen of glow-inthe-dark nail polish. She lifted them up to the light and wondered: what will Madame think? For that was what had been going through her mind before she burst into flames—what would Madame think when she graded the exams and realized the girl had forgotten the French word for pan? Of course, she knew it now, had made a concerted effort since to control her grades, her tongue, the way the fire licked her skirt whenever Madame crossed the room; but at the time her condition was still brand new and people were afraid. A boy beside her shouted, "Whoa!" and scrambled away, toward the front of the class. Her classmates formed a wide ring, as if around a bonfire. Madame pressed her way through. Let her hand hover over the girl's burning arm, too afraid to touch down for fear of being burned by the flames. Est-ce que ça fait mal? Madame asked. The girl nodded, not because it was really painful but because she very much wanted Madame to reach through the flames and touch her warm, bare flesh where the fire turned it translucent; she hadn't realized until then just how much she wanted it. How far she would go to get Madame's attention. Please dip your hand into my chest, she wanted to plead. Please rub your thumb over my eyelids and slide your fingers under my chin. I promise it won't hurt. [End Page 91] Ruth Joffre Ruth Joffre is the author of the story collection Night Beast. Her fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, Prairie Schooner, The Masters Review, Lightspeed, Hayden's Ferry Review, Copper Nickel, PANK, and elsewhere. Her nonfiction and criticism have appeared or are forthcoming in Electric Literature, Colorado Review, The Gay & Lesbian Review, Lambda Literary, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her months-long interview series with the authors, editors, and curators of craft books and resources is available at the Kenyon...

Tenth Grade American Indian/Alaska Native Students' Feelings of School Belonging, Instructional Alignment, and Math Performance

This study compares tenth grade American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and non– AI/AN students’ sense of belonging in schools. AI/AN students are then compared with “other race” students (Black and White) regarding whether they feel they can understand a difficult math class, with math performance controlling for student sense of belonging. Data from the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS 2002–2013) are used. Our findings indicate that there was little difference between students’ belonging constructs. The variable “can understand difficult math class” was positively associated with improved math performance among AI/AN and non– AI/AN students. However, AI/AN students showed lower levels of math performance than non– AI/AN students overall. This suggests that, after accounting for the belonging constructs, other important factors influence AI/AN students’ math performance. These finding support the findings of Matthews and López (2018) that teacher expectations are a necessary but not sufficient requisite for mathematics learning. Critical awareness of cultural content integration is also necessary.

Van Hiele 기하 학습 수준 이론에 기초한 수학 교실에서의 로봇 활용 방안 탐색

The study analyzed changes in students' behavior by designing robot programming activities and linking them to mathematical concepts that are covered in school mathematics classes to introduce robots, one of the most representative technology in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Mathematics classes in this study were designed based on LOGO and Lego Mindstorm activity levels(Rim & Choi, 2019) according to the Van Hiele levels. In problem solving situations using robots, DBL uint( Design Based Learning unit) was based on how students solved the problem by combining the content elements of the geometric area and the programing elements contained in the mathematics curriculum according to the Van Hiele levels. The implications based on the results of this study are as follows: First, robot programming classes in math classes should be carefully designed, taking into account mathematical contents and learners' level. Second, robot programming activities in the mathematical classes should meticulously design learning activities by taking into account procedures such as DBL units so that students can have experience in activating logical and critical thinking and systematically solving problems. Third, mathematics classes using robots should be conducted as a group activity so that students can experience a dynamic process of sharing and agreeing on knowledge through active communication. Fourth, teachers should serve as facilitators to help students complete their task exploration in a timely manner with sufficient knowledge of robot programming activities.

정보과다 문제와 정보부족 문제에 대한 초등학교 6학년의 문제 해결 분석

This study was intended to derive some implications for designing math classes utilizing extra information and missing information word problems by analyzing students' problem solving processes of these kinds of problems. For the study, we developed two extra information word problems and two missing information word problems, and applied the problems to 23 sixth graders to analyze their problem solving. The results of analysis showed that students relied on their own experience to screen out given information and suppose additional information needed, and that the length and material of the problems had an impact on the problem solving. The results implies that there is a need to deal with various problems in a class with students, that in problem development the context and material of the problem should be determined in consideration of the students' interest, that the problem should be presented with the appropriate length of the problem.

METHODS OF EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION OF TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS BY USING THE PROBLEM-BASED TEACHING


 
 
 
 In this article: strengthening the material-technical and informational base of higher education institutions, further improving the quality of teaching and learning processes in mathematics and independent learning by providing high- quality educational literature, modern teaching methods and educational technologies; the stages of changing of the student's perceptual activity related to solve problematic situations in the effective organization of math classes are analyzed.
 
 
 

Zjawisko ukrytej przemocy wobec najmłodszych uczniów na zajęciach matematycznych

The paper undertakes research meant to identify the teacher’s violent behaviour towards students during early school math lessons. The research conducted in grade one during the math class was used as an aid to deeper understanding of the phenomenon of violence in school. It was found that some lesson procedures, mathematical formulations, and cognitive situations can be seen from the perspective of teacher violence. Their effects can reduce pupils’ self-esteem, limit understanding of mathematics and hinder full participation in culture now and in the future.

Exploring the Mediation Effect of Flow on the Effects of Digital Literacy on Satisfaction and Achievement in Smartpad-based Math Classes

Exploring the Mediation Effect of Flow on the Effects of Digital Literacy on Satisfaction and Achievement in Smartpad-based Math Classes

Neurociência e o ensino da matemática: um estudo sobre os estilos de aprendizagem e as inteligências múltiplas

O presente artigo evidencia uma análise sobre neurociência como condutor significativo na diretriz dos professores de matemática e no estudo da sua prática docente na qual se reflete o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar a relação entre os Estilos de Aprendizagem e a Teoria das Múltiplas Inteligências no ensino da Matemática. Como metodologia de pesquisa para elucidar essas questões, foi adotada a pesquisa bibliográfica. A partir das análises do presente estudo, conclui-se que, a existência de uma relação inclusiva faz com que os estilos de aprendizagem e as inteligências múltiplas dos alunos se relacionem entre si. Contudo o estudo do cérebro para as aulas de matemática trará muitas vantagens para os professores, que facilitará o desempenho dos alunos.

Improving abstraction through Python programming in undergraduate computer science and math classes

Stenger et al. [8] developed an instructional model that can be applied in any STEM classroom to use computer programming to explore the essential characteristics of a math or science concept and t...