Mathematics Camp Research Articles

The Impact of an Undergraduate Led Mathematics Summer Camp on High School Students’ Interest in Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching

ABSTRACT Considering the prevalence of mathematics teacher shortages in the United States, together with declining enrollments in teacher preparation programs, it is crucial for districts and teacher preparation programs alike to investigate new recruitment initiatives. In this pilot study, a university aimed to increase high school students’ interest in mathematics and mathematics teaching through a 1-week summer mathematics camp led by university undergraduates who were participating in an experiential learning program in mathematics teaching. The undergraduates engaged the high school students in activities chosen to allow exploration and discovery related tp advanced mathematics topics. High school students expressed highly positive perceptions of the mathematics camp outcomes. Furthermore, participants experienced increased interest in mathematics at the end of the week and approximately one-third of participants attributed the camp to improving their likelihood of entering a teacher preparation program. Participants highlighted the positive classroom environment and focus on social emotional learning as strong contributors to the success of the camp. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Supporting teacher identity development of preservice middle school mathematics teachers in informal learning environments

ABSTRACT This study focused on the reflections of preservice middle school mathematics teachers who participated in informal learning environments (science and mathematics camps) as assistant teachers. It was aimed to explore whether participation in these informal settings contributed to their teacher identity development. The findings revealed that preservice teachers developed a better understanding of learner-centered teaching and learner characteristics and reflect better on their existing teacher identities based on their experiences in the science and mathematics camps. Furthermore, their reflections revealed that they became more confident about their teaching capabilities and motivated to begin teaching. Therefore, it is possible to claim that the experiences in the science and mathematics camps cognitively, affectively, and emotionally contributed to the participant preservice teachers’ teacher identity development.

Using technologies to design personalized learning pathways as a part of scientific practice of students

Problem and goal. The article deals with the process of designing the high school internship program of the ITMO Universitys Information Chemistry Center by using information and communications technology (ICT). The program development process involved following stages: client briefing, exploratory study, hypotheses-formation processes and its testing, custom development, learning experience design and project defense. Methodology. The high school students views about the Infochemistry Internship Program were analyzed. Authors conduc- ted in-depth interviews with respondents and retrieved information about students scientific achievements, challenges and recommendations for improving the internship program. During the exploratory research stage the high school internship programs of Russian and foreign universities in the field of biology, chemistry, physics and IT were studied. The initial sample was composed of Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC), Stanford University Science Circle, Harvard University Summer School (Pre-College Program), Chemistry Research Academy of University of Pennsylvania. Three types of scientific practices - summer camp or summer school, university science circle and a research academy - were identified. Results. The authors emphasized that there is not a single high school internship program in the field of chemistry in Russia like at IMTO University. This immerse education program is based on laboratory learning that allows students experience chemistry principles under the guidance of leading scientists. The concept of the program based on the science education model. It involves the personalized learning pathway, scaffolding activities, and participation in the research project. Flexible learning pathway is the core of the program that includes various levels of personalization: project, scaffolding means, pace of learning, educational content, educational result. To prove the importance of using ICT and social media in educational process authors found the results of the research conducted by University College Dublin and University of Melbourne. Conclusion. The paper has highlighted the significance of revamping internship programs, identified the most common types of scientific practices and proved the importance of selected program principles.

Mathematics camps: A gift for gifted students?

We evaluate the short-run impact of a mathematics camp for gifted high school students. During the camp, studets work in teams, trying to solve advanced mathematical problems with the help of manipulatives. We randomize participation in the camp and test the effects of such participation on problem-solving skills, personality traits, and career intentions. Results show that participants improve their problem-solving skills, especially in questions that require the use of logic. We also find positive effects on students’ personality traits: students declare to be less neurotic and more extroverted. Gifted students with relatively lower school math scores benefit more from the program. Finally, participating in the mathematics camp makes students more willing to go to university.

(Designing for) learning computational STEM and arts integration in culturally sustaining learning ecologies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the designed cultural ecology of a hip-hop and computational science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp and the ways in which that ecology contributed to culturally sustaining learning experiences for middle school youth. In using the principles of hip-hop as a CSP for design, the authors question how and what practices were supported or emerged and how they became resources for youth engagement in the space.Design/methodology/approachThe overall methodology was design research. Through interpretive analysis, it uses an example of four Black girls participating in the camp as they build a computer-controlled DJ battle station.FindingsThrough a close examination of youth interactions in the designed environment – looking at their communication, spatial arrangements, choices and uses of materials and tools during collaborative project work – the authors show how a learning ecology, designed based on hip-hop and computational practices and shaped by the history and practices of the dance center where the program was held, provided access to ideational, relational, spatial and material resources that became relevant to learning through computational making. The authors also show how youth engagement in the hip-hop computational making learning ecology allowed practices to emerge that led to expansive learning experiences that redefine what it means to engage in computing.Research limitations/implicationsImplications include how such ecologies might arrange relations of ideas, tools, materials, space and people to support learning and positive identity development.Originality/valueSupporting culturally sustaining computational STEM pedagogies, the article argues two original points in informal youth learning 1) an expanded definition of computing based on making grammars and the cultural practices of hip-hop, and 2) attention to cultural ecologies in designing and understanding computational STEM learning environments.

Walking in Two Worlds: An Autoethnographic Reflection of Establishing a STEM Program in Panama City, Panama

This is an autoethnographic reflection of the process of navigating two cultural spaces characterizing the work of implementing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp for English language learners in the country of Panama. There are three themes that are addressed: (1) the importance of gatekeepers, (2) the importance of being a learner as a researcher, and finally (3) the acknowledgement of researcher privilege and power. There are many autoethnographic forms that can be utilized. However, this article considers (a) critical social research, (b) educative experience, and (c) privilege-penalty experiences in combination with the three themes. By using this autoethnographic lens to discuss the STEM program the author shares the difficulty of walking in two worlds. One world represents the culture of home while the other represents the home that offers privilege and power needed to implement the program. This narrative is an analysis of the process of navigating these two valued spaces that have resulted in the identity of the researcher.

Impact of Informal Experiences: Changes in Mathematics Motivation for Middle Schoolers

The current research sought to examine the impact of a week-long mathematics camp on motivation and self-efficacy beliefs of participating middle school students. Middle school students participated in a one-week mathematics camp on a college campus, where they worked on authentic mathematics activities that were applied to real world concepts. The activities were developed by a mathematics educator and were facilitated by trained college students. Middle school students responded to the Sources of Self-Efficacy measure before and after the mathematics camp to determine whether changes occurred in various motivational variables resulting from their participation in the camp. Parallel t-tests indicated significant positive changes in students’ vicarious experiences and mastery goals to suggest that participation in the camp may have caused students to feel more confident in their ability to work through math problems and to adopt learning goals for mastering mathematics content. Providing middle school students with informal learning experiences in mathematics may help them in creating long-term goals for their learning.

A Problem-based Curriculum for Algorithmic Programming

Engagement of students plays a crucial part in education, even if they are gifted children. We know a success story: the extracurricular mathematics camps of Lajos Pósa for talented teenagers in Hungary. The key to that success is the excellently engineered network of problems that guide students through discovering the world of higher level mathematics. It would be a novel approach to teach computer programming and algorithms in a similar way. In this paper we attempt to design a network of problems selected specifically for discovery learning of algorithms and data structures from beginner to advanced level, targeted for secondary and high school talented students. This could serve as the curriculum for extra classes or camps conducted with the problem-based teaching method we describe.

Valued Actions and Identities of Giftedness in a Mathematical Camp

This study follows a mathematical camp for high-school students identified as gifted, and examines it with a socio-cultural lens. Our goal is to examine the identities of students in the camp and the valued actions according to which these identities were authored, both by the students and by their instructors. Data was collected from three rounds of summer camp sessions and included recordings of lessons, staff meetings, and ceremonies. Findings point to identities of competent or “gifted” participants being evaluated according to the valued actions of quickness and ease in problem-solving, “brilliant” ideas or questions, persistence and coping with challenges, and intensive engagement with mathematics, beyond the official requirements of the camp. They also suggest that most of these valued actions were only implicitly communicated in the camp, although some of them, for example writing correctly and justifying statements logically, were stated explicitly. We focus on one student, Jasmine, who was identified as particularly gifted. We examine an episode of fierce mathematical argumentation between her and the instructor (2nd author), and the identifications that accompanied it, relating them to the valued actions in the camp. We discuss the findings with relation to existing literature on the identification and education of mathematically talented youth.

Twenty Years of Middle School STEM Camps at UW-La Crosse

UW-La Crosse has offered middle school science and mathematics camps for twenty years through a partnership of its College of Science and Health and its Office of Continuing Education and Extension. This paper will give information on the history of the program, overall camp design, specific examples of workshop offerings, and details on the administration of the programs.

Puzzles as a Didactic Tool for Development of Mathematical Abilities of Junior Schoolchildren in Basic and Additional Mathematical Education

Pedagogical science has always faced the issue of finding effective means for achieving educational results. This problem is especially urgent today, when in the rapidly changing world the tools, which yesterday could be used to support the interest of schoolchildren in study of mathematics and could provide an opportunity for the development of their mathematical abilities, quickly become obsolete. Today it is very important to search for new means that foster the development of students with the help of mathematics and mechanisms for including mathematics in the educational process. Thus, the aim of the article is to analyze puzzles as a didactic tool and study the possibilities of using puzzles in the process of teaching junior schoolchildren mathematics, both in the classroom and extra-curricular activities. The leading method here is the modeling of the methodical training system in general and additional mathematical education of schoolchildren, with the inclusion of a new didactic tool that fosters the students’ interest to the subject, develops individual mathematical abilities: logical thinking, abstraction, combining, operating spatial images, critical thinking, mathematical memory, etc. As a result of the research, the authors have determined the place, features and methodological aspects of the inclusion of puzzles in the process of teaching mathematics in general and additional school education. They can be used in the system of classical and creative math lessons and in extra-curricular activities of students: a mathematical club, a system of mathematical competitions, a mathematical camp, etc. The practical use of this model makes it possible to reduce the lack of tools in teaching for the development of students’ mathematical abilities, which in its turn, makes it possible to speak of purposefully high results in students’ mathematical activities, which is confirmed by the conducted experimental research.

Spinning a yarn about adaptations in different biomes: stories and science for preschool learners

Evolution and ecology are essential to an understanding of biology, but questions remain as to when and how young children can learn about these concepts. The concept of adaptation represents an opportunity for children to engage with these ideas, and this article presents several lessons used to teach adaptation to children aged three through six at a summer Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics camp. The lessons incorporate interactive yarn stories to illustrate particular adaptations in three biomes: desert, arctic tundra, and deciduous forest. The yarn stories also introduce environmental features and particular organisms that are used in subsequent investigations. Examples and assessment data from preschool children in this camp are used to illustrate young children’s emerging understandings of adaptation throughout these lessons.

Peer mentoring professionalism among pre-service mathematics teachers: Safe spaces for community teaching practice

ABSTRACTThe study described here is a longitudinal qualitative case study conducted on a mathematics pre-service teaching program at a university in Southeast Asia. The university program of study required all pre-service teachers of mathematics to be involved in an alternative form of field experience in which the pre-service teachers would enact mathematics camps for college freshmen and for K–12 students. The pre-service teachers were expected to take on increased responsibility for the success or failures of the mathematics camps as they matriculated through the program. Constant comparative analysis revealed a peer mentoring professionalism among the pre-service teachers as they negotiated the challenges of teaching mathematics during these alternative field experiences. Description of the construct of peer mentoring professionalism as well as explanation of its derivation from the study are given. Implications and applicability across mathematics teacher education programs are discussed.

Student Perceptions of a Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics Camp Experience

“As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of (the ideas and skills of its population) will be determined in no small measure by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States” and “STEM education will determine whether the United States will remain a leader among nations and whether we will be able to solve immense challenges in such areas as energy, health, environmental protection, and national security” (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010, p. vii). Research on the effectiveness of STEM‐focused school and other learning experiences (e.g., short‐term camps) on student attitudes and performance outcomes is sparse. In this study, we documented the influence of an intensive STEM summer program on high school students’ attitudes toward STEM concepts and interests in STEM careers. Attending the summer program was associated with gains on students’ attitudes toward some aspects of STEM as well as specific career interests. Notably, students reported statistically significant views of important aspects of STEM and their attitudes toward science and mathematics were more positive than their attitudes about engineering and technology.

Preparing for an Inquiry-Based Summer Camp Experience for Students with Visual Impairments: What Do the Campers Think?

Research has shown that students with visual impairments have considered science a difficult subject because of the reliance on visual instruction for the teaching of the concepts (Jones, Minogue, Oppewal, Cook, & Broadwell, 2006; Penrod, Haley, & Matheson, 2005; Sahin & Yorek, 2009). However, when given the opportunity, students with visual impairments learn the same scientific concepts with accommodations as their peers (Jones et al., 2006; Wild & Trundle, 2010b; Wild, Hilson, & Hobson, 2013; Wild, Hilson, & Farrand, 2013). Research has also found that scientific inquiry benefits students with visual impairments (Wild & Trundle, 2010a, 201b; Wild et al., 2013, Wild, Hilson, & Hobson, 2013). This paper will report on survey data collected from students with visual impairment who participated in a week-long Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) camp sponsored by a major consumer organization dedicated to the needs and interests of the blind community.

Mathematics Camp Model for Primary School

A series of Mathematics Camps were organized as an effort to improve pupils’ achievement in Mathematics. This article introduces a model used in a series of twelve Mathematics Camps for primary school since 2008. This article also shares the research findings obtained during the Camps. The explanatory design of mixed method was used in the study. Census was used in collecting quantitative data where randomly selected participants, teachers and parents were involved in the interview. Overall, participants, teachers and parents were satisfied with the Mathematics Camp. Participants also showed interest, enthusiasm, motivation and positive attitude towards Mathematics after the Camp.

Exposing the Fun Side of Mathematics via Mathematics Camp

In this paper we share our experience of conducting a mathematics camp to a group of 16-years-old school students. This camp is special since throughout their learning history, the students, like most school students in Malaysia, are only exposed to the academic side of mathematics. By this we mean the emphasis given by the school is only on academic achievement measured by the string of A's in the examination results. Of course in order to achieve this, the preferred mode of teaching and learning is geared towards drill and practice. None of the students from this group have experienced “outdoor” mathematics as to be given in this camp. The camp which consisted of several hands-on activities and done in small groups was conducted outdoors in a very relaxed and light-hearted atmosphere. The activities aimed at introducing several areas of mathematics such as group theory and number theory and their relevance to our everyday live. One niche activity which is considered as ethno-centric was also conducted. Indeed it exposed to the students the mathematical elements in the Malay culture. At the end of the camp questionnaires were distributed to the students to gauge their reaction to this mode of learning. A chi-squared test conducted showed that there was no relationship between student's understanding on the mathematics camp's module with their streams, hence the modules are applicable to both pure science and social science stream. In all, students were satisfied with the overall conduct of the mathematics camp, where they felt that this camp was very useful and helped improve their mathematical skills and knowledge.

Decomposition of triangles into isosceles triangles I : let the students ask bravely

We report about working up an open geometric problem as a mathematical research with pupils of a mathematics camp. This paper shows the didactic aims and the methods we worked with, the didactic results. The second part of this paper gives a general solution of the problem, using pure mathematics and a computer programme.

Encouraging Young Women to Stay in the Mathematics Pipeline: Mathematics Camps for Young Women

For two summers, week‐long residential mathematics programs were held for high school women, with the primary goal of encouraging them to continue their study of mathematics. The activities were designed to rekindle their excitement about mathematics and to support the idea that women should learn advanced mathematics. This paper reports the findings of the data collected to assess the programs. Statistically significant changes were found in student attitudes, confidence level, willingness to continue working on a problem, and perception of the value of group work. Journal entries confirmed the statistical analysis. Follow‐up surveys also indicated that the summer programs changed the way the participants perceived mathematics and mathematics courses.

American Indians, Mathematical Attitudes, And The Standards

Readers may wonder what American Indians. mathematical attitudes, and the Standards (Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics [NCTM 1989]) have in common. This article presents practical activities relevant to teaching mathematics in the lndian culture. These activities also serve as a means for incorporating a cross-cultural component in the non Indian classroom. The activities exemplify the spirit of the NCTM's Standards and have been used successfully with American Indian middle school students in summer mathematics camps. We believe that they are appropriate for use in elementary and secondary school mathematics classes. This belief is based on research done with other populations and on our own in-class experiences.