Mathematical Experiences Research Articles

Key Patterns of LGBTQ Experiences in STEM: From Institutional Barriers to Transnationality

For decades, scholars have researched social inequalities of race, gender and other minority groups experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Nonetheless, whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) professionals experience parallel disadvantaged circumstances remains to be further surveyed substantively. This paper draws on relevant literature concerning the normative STEM environment and different views (constructivism, liberalism, etc.), seeking to unpack the intersectionality between LGBTQ and STEM. Through conducting surveys targeted at international LGBTQ students regarding their academic, social, and mental experiences in STEM specifically, this paper argues that there exists a shared common dilemma for this group: sexual objectification and extra stress to increase their STEM competence. This paper comparatively analyzes the results and reveals the institutional and transnational barriers for those LGBTQ students of different cultural backgrounds in the context of globalization and international interactions and cooperation. This paper also contends that LGBTQ professionals in STEM become victims of sexual objectification mainly due to hypermasculinity and male-female dichotomy.

Teaching Mathematics Through Online at the University Level: An Ethnographic Inquiry

Teaching mathematics at the university level expects a more complex form of algorithmic and theoretical exploration which sometimes could not be delivered as enough as the curriculum demands. In this context, this study primarily focused on exploring the opportunities and challenges of online classes while teaching-learning mathematics at the university level. It is an ethnographic study in which three students and a teacher who had a long experience in online teaching-learning practices were taken as the key respondents. The key informants were requested for writing the reflection about their experiences of learning mathematics through online mode. And, the responses of the students were analyzed and presented in different themes. Based on the responses of the key respondent students, poor networking, unavoidable disturbance, teacher’s artificial pretending, negligence of the teachers, and less ICT-friendly curriculum & teachers were found as the major challenges for the online class. From the perspective of teachers' preparing documents for teaching, students’ negligence, ICT being used only as a means of sharing, taking more time to complete the course, less interactive class, and evaluating the students were found as the major challenges. However, online education provided the teachers and student both with a friend in crisis, sitting home reaching school, reducing unnecessary expenditures, and utilizing video records of the classes. Similarly, for teachers; providing opportunities for professional development, web browsing, any time anywhere teaching-learning, and developing the skills for designing different online evaluation tools have been observed as the major opportunities. Based on these conclusions, even having many challenges of using ICT in teaching university mathematics, its appropriate use leads for the deeper and wider understanding of mathematical contents.

Rarely Discussed and Often Ignored: Classroom Factors Affecting Black Students’ Experiences in Developmental Mathematics

We present findings from a study about obstacles that Black students who succeeded in developmental mathematics in community college reported having endured in those mathematics classrooms. To understand the types of obstacles that can arise for students in these classrooms, we analyze data using two frameworks: mathematics identity and dimensions of mathematics classrooms. Study participants faced obstacles in three categories: (a) impressions of faculty’s instructional practices for problem solving; (b) negative race-related perceptions they believed classmates had about them; and (c) perceptions about instructors’ expectations. These findings contribute to literature on Black students’ progress in mathematics by identifying obstacles experienced by students who achieve in these courses and can also inform professional development learning for mathematics faculty.

Enhancing prospective secondary teachers’ potential competence for enacting core teaching practices—through experiences in university mathematics and statistics courses

Enhancing prospective secondary teachers’ potential competence for enacting core teaching practices—through experiences in university mathematics and statistics courses

Preschool Teachers’ Opinions on the Mathematics Learning Process of Immigrant Children

A limited number of studies on the cognitive learning processes of immigrant children reveal that children have difficulties in learning mathematics. Studies to date have generally been carried out to understand teachers' experiences in multicultural mathematics learning environments. However, it is important to understand children’s own experiences to ensure that every child has access to quality mathematics education. This study aims to explore the mathematics learning process of immigrant children in the preschool period through teacher opinions. The study was designed with a case study, one of the qualitative research designs. The participants consist of 10 preschool teachers determined by purposive sampling. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and the data were analyzed by content analysis. The findings showed that teachers believed that the immigrant children in their classrooms have mathematical skills appropriate for their age or at a higher level. Teachers stated that immigrant children have difficulties in understanding and naming mathematical concepts and performing some mathematical skills. It has been determined that teachers play an organizer, facilitator and collaborative roles in the mathematics learning of immigrant children.

MathCityMap Application in Mathematics Learning in Primary School

<p><em>The background of this research is that the use of digital technology in learning mathematics in schools has not been optimal. The purpose of this research is to improve mathematics learning outcomes by utilizing technology through the MathCityMap application in teaching geometry in elementary schools. Methods This research uses classroom action research which is carried out in two cycles</em><strong> </strong><em>The subject was a population of 68 grade five students in an elementary school in West Java, using descriptive statistics. Data collection techniques using questionnaires, observations, tests, and, documentation studies. The results of this study indicate an increase in mathematics learning outcomes. In pre-cycle 58.05, it increased in cycle 1 to 72.03 and increased again in cycle 2 to 89.60.The results of observations show that the use of digital technology has the potential to support teachers in facilitating the teaching and learning process of mathematics outdoors so that students gain direct mathematical experience and deal with the real world. Based on these results, MathCityMap is proven to be able to improve mathematics learning outcomes for elementary school students, especially in teaching geometry.</em></p>

Parents' experiences of mathematics learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: a typology of parental engagement in mathematics education.

The COVID pandemic disrupted the schooling of students worldwide resulting in many having had a period of at-home learning. Many parents found themselves assuming responsibility for supporting their children's at-home learning. Parents often find it difficult to support their children's mathematicslearning compared with other curriculum areas. There has been limited research exploring parental engagement in mathematics education generally, and little into parental engagement in mathematics education during the COVID pandemic. This paper examines how parents supported their child's mathematics education during the school closures and identifies the factors that impacted this engagement. The Ecologies of Parental Engagement (EPE) model was used to help describe the engagement of different parents in mathematics education during the school closures and to examine the way the home space and available capital shaped parental engagement. Eight parents were selected from a larger Australian study that explored the impact of the pandemic-induced period of at-home schooling on primary school mathematics and science. One-on-one narrative interviews were conducted online with participants. Analysis identified three categories of parental engagement: monitors, facilitators, and enhancers. Parents in each category responded to their role in at-home learning differently, and accessed and activated different capital to support their child's at-home learning in mathematics during the pandemic. Results highlight the value of emotional capital, as well as knowledge of mathematics and mathematics education, with implications for schools hoping to engage parents in mathematics learning. The study offers a typology to be explored in future research concerning parental engagement in mathematics education.

Preservice preschool teachers’ mathematics experience and math anxiety on their beliefs about and attitudes toward teaching mathematics

ABSTRACT Only a limited number of research has examined preservice preschool teachers’ attitudes toward and beliefs about teaching mathematics, likely because there are no instruments aimed at preschool settings that have appropriately established psychometric properties. In the current study, we addressed this deficit and aimed to adapt the Preschool Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs toward Science (P-TABS) instrument in a sample of 164 Greek preservice preschool teachers and test its validity and reliability. Using a version of the P-TABS that had been adapted to mathematics, we investigated participants’ beliefs about and attitudes toward teaching mathematics and the impact of their previous experiences with mathematics, as well as their math anxiety, on their beliefs about and attitudes toward mathematics teaching. The results showed that this adapted version of the P-TABS was valid and reliable, and therefore it can be useful in the assessment of preservice preschool teachers’ beliefs about and attitudes toward teaching mathematics. The results also showed that teachers’ math anxiety and their previous experience with mathematics explained their beliefs about and attitudes toward teaching mathematics. This suggests that introducing courses on mathematics into teacher education programs could have a positive effect on preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching mathematics.

Thinking Essays A Review of Daniel Tammet’s Thinking in Numbers: On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math

Daniel Tammet’s Thinking in Numbers: On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math (2012) is composed of 25 essays that share his views and experiences of mathematics, connections he makes between mathematics and poetry, and biographical stories. He is a writer, a linguist and a tutor who was born in London, England and lives in Paris, France.

Math Metaphors: Windows Into Mathematical Experiences

What tales would your students tell about their mathematical experiences? In this article, we describe a task, The Math Metaphor, and how it was utilized in a high school classroom as a window to explore students’ experiences with mathematics.

МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ ДИАЛЕКТИКИ ГНОСЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИНТЕРЕСА (НА ПРИМЕРЕ МАТЕМАТИКИ)

Methodological aspects of dialects and education epistemological interest to mathematics are considered in this article. The latter is defined as the management of the process of its forming (developing). The problem being research now is especially relevant today because it is the cognitive interest that can be considered as an indicator of personality development. The result of the experiment indicates that a teacher of Mathematics experiences certain difficulties in solving set tasks.

Design in the service of topology and the classification theorem

Topology is considered an advanced field in mathematics, and it might seem off-putting to people with no previous experience in mathematics. The classification theorem, which lies within the field of algebraic topology, is fascinating, but understanding it requires extensive mathematical knowledge. In this manuscript, we present a modular object that provides a glimpse into the construction of surfaces as defined by the classification theorem. This allows any user to explore different options and discover possible surfaces with three holes or fewer. This tactile experience of exploration grants the user intuition about the meaning of the theorem, without needing the rigorous proof; thus, it simplifies the depth of the classification theorem and its respective proof for non-mathematical audiences. We strive to accurately illustrate these esoteric concepts by giving them a form and to describe the modeling process of creating a tangible, touchable sculpture designed to intrigue and invite simple understanding. We believe that this playful object will be exciting for a variety of communities: university students, graduate students, teachers, professional mathematicians, and especially designers, who can use it to produce new tools.

The role of movement in young children’s spatial experiences: a review of early childhood mathematics education research

Young children’s spatial reasoning is critical to mathematics learning from an early age. Recent reviews have drawn attention to the importance of mathematical experiences in the early years; however, an explicit focus on research in spatial reasoning can contribute to a more coherent account of the field. This paper reports a scoping review of qualitative studies (n = 37) during the years 2009–2021. The studies analysed in this review provide insight into children’s embodied spatial concepts and non-verbal expressions such as gesture and the relationship between spatial reasoning and mathematics learning in early childhood (birth to 8 years). Four main themes were found: (i) children’s manipulation and transformation of objects, (ii) children’s bodily engagement with and within spaces, (iii) children’s representation and interpretation of spatial experiences, and (iv) contexts for spatial learning. While the review illuminates a deeper awareness and a more holistic and embodied view of children’s spatial competencies, there remains few studies focussed on children under three years of age. Future directions for ongoing research are identified.

Mind the Gap! Using a Discourse Perspective to Bridge Students’ Experiences of Learning Mathematics Across Grade Levels

Presently, in Malta, syllabi are being replaced by learning outcomes. For ages 3–7, the outcomes are framed holistically (e.g. identity, communication, etc.), and it is recommended that children learn mathematics informally through play and projects. For ages 8–11, learning outcomes are subject-based, and new mathematics textbooks are being phased in. I discuss the importance of a smooth transition between informal and structured approaches to learning mathematics. I draw on Anna Sfard’s 4-element definition of discourse, linking the theory with my research classroom data. I argue that a discourse perspective can provide a basis for ensuring continuity across Grade levels.

Examining the dynamics of mathematics anxiety, perceived cost, and achievement: A control-value theory approach

Concerns about the influence of students’ perceived negative consequences of engagement in a task (i.e., cost) on their emotions, motivation, and cognition have increased in the last decade. The use of longitudinal models is needed to provide new insights into the role of perceived cost in mathematics learning. Grounded in the control-value theory, this study examined cross-lagged relations of mathematics anxiety, perceived cost, and mathematics achievement. The participants (N = 335) reported their mathematics anxiety and perceived cost four times during Grades 7 and 8, and their mathematics grades were attained from their school records. Cross-lagged panel model analysis revealed evidence of a long-term positive reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and effort/emotional cost, a gradually diminished relationship between effort/emotional cost and mathematics performance, and a positive achievement to anxiety link during the transition between grade levels. Moreover, mathematics performance is a distal predictor of mathematics anxiety through effort/emotional cost rather than a proximal predictor or an outcome of anxiety. This study also clarified the distinction in the central role of effort/emotional versus opportunity cost in the interrelatedness of mathematics anxiety and performance, where the latter failed to demonstrate significant paths. Specific timing for interventions was discerned. Early cost prevention interventions along with considerations of academic achievement to alleviate both anxiety and perceived effort/emotional are highlighted as crucial for a positive high school mathematics experience.

Challenges and suggestions regarding the aesthetic experience of mathematics when teaching and learning fully online

Growth in fully online mathematics education has been steady for decades. This is where essentially all interactions associated with the teaching and learning process are mediated via the online medium. Initially spurred on by technological innovation and a variety of socio-cultural forces, growth has more recently rapidly accelerated due to pandemic restrictions. Many suggest we are on the precipice of profound transformation in mathematics education, the outlines of which remain unknown. In leveraging online education possibilities and advancing online mathematics education, this paper considers aesthetic experiences associated with learning mathematics fully online. First, three assumptions are made to highlight the importance of these experiences. Second, three challenges are identified regarding the current state of fully online mathematics education. Finally, specific instructional design and online teaching strategies are outlined that potentiate experiences of wonder and beauty often associated with mathematical discovery. As its central theme, the paper seeks to answer how we may take advantage of this technology in delivering quality mathematics education without allowing it to diminish our human essence.

The policy and practice of mathematics mastery: The effects of neoliberalism and neoconservatism on curriculum reform

AbstractThis paper explores how the twin processes of neoliberalism and neoconservatism work together on, and through, curricula and their associated pedagogies. It bridges the gap between policy and classroom practice, focusing on the particular example of the school subject of mathematics and the notion of mastery, operationalised in the English education system as Teaching for Mastery (TfM). From this context, it develops a theoretical argument using Dean's analytics of government as part of a broader Foucauldian frame, to analyse how TfM is constructed as a particular policy truth. It then shifts the analysis from a wide, social one to the individual classroom level using a psychological argument to critique TfM in its own terms, examining the onto‐epistemological nature of mathematics as a subject. In doing so, it explores ways in which mastery might be problematic in classrooms, even whilst appearing to offer a solution at policy level to long‐standing problems in English schooling. The aim is not to suggest that TfM has nothing to offer, but to point to ways in which it draws on the psychology of teaching and learning in a very particular manner, inscribing pupils with very specific mathematical subjectivities. By providing this insight into how neoliberal policy positions play out at practitioner level via curricula and pedagogies, the paper raises questions which are philosophical, political, and ethical, regarding the potential effect of TfM on teachers' and pupils' experiences of mathematics in schools, including implications for equity of this experience amongst the latter.

Information Technology Capability (ITC) Framework to Improve Learning Experience and Academic Achievement of Mathematics in Malaysia

Poor mathematics performance was generally reported from international assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) among Malaysian students. Malaysia is ranked 52nd and 48th in the assessments for 2012 and 2018 respectively, while Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and even Vietnam have consistently performed well and held the top spots among the 78 countries evaluated in the PISA. Although numerous new technologies have been introduced, developed and implemented for education, incorporation of IT capability (ITC) to teach and learn Mathematics where still lacking commonly. Additionally, learning Mathematics in the traditional teaching contents could not accomplish desired learning outcomes because of dry contents and dull teachers. Therefore, this study is to design an appropriate ITC framework for improving learning experience and academic achievement of learning Mathematics. This study has adopted the development model of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) and Mayer (2010)’s cognitive theory for multimedia instructional content design. This study developed a new Multimedia Probability and Statistics system (MMPASS) for a subject of Probability and Statistics. The developed topics were concepts of discrete random variables and probability distribution function which were puzzled by students from preliminary study. An experiment was conducted with both control and experimental groups. The developed MMPASS blended multiple influential multimedia elements in the learning contents. A quantitative method and proportional stratified sampling were used to collect data. The blended topics were used by the experimental group whilst the control group was solely learning using the existing learning contents. Questionnaires were distributed to both groups after the lessons. 66 students participated in this survey. The collected data was then analysed and an ITC model was formed. Results of this study show that Perceived System Quality, Perceived Information Content Quality and Perceived System Performance as independent variables significantly improved learning experience. The findings also reveal that the performances of the experimental group have a higher mean score (9.65/10.00) compared to the control group (8.03/10.00), indicating the use of MMPASS improved students’ learning performance in subjects that involve understanding of concepts. While there is a lack of established ITC framework and IT application for Mathematics education in Malaysia, this study has verified the use of ITC improving performance of learning Mathematics in Malaysia.

The aesthetic effects of a new lesson design approach: Mathematical stories

Research suggests that high school students often have negative experiences with mathematics. To address this challenge, this paper shares findings of a design-based research project in which researchers and teachers developed and used a narrative approach to lesson planning in order to design lesson experiences that provide opportunities for high school students to become captivated with mathematical content (“CMLs”). The goal of this approach is to provide students positive aesthetic opportunities, such as inspiring student curiosity, while maintaining cognitive demand and coherence. Overall, students reported more positive, varied aesthetic experiences (e.g., suspense, surprise) in CMLs than in other lessons with the same teacher and students. These findings provide evidence that designing lessons as mathematical stories shows promise and can offer students more positive aesthetic experiences in mathematics.

The influence of prior experience with mathematics and A-Level science subjects on statistics anxiety in undergraduate psychology students

Statistics is a core subject in the psychology undergraduate curriculum and is often associated with increased anxiety among learners. The aim of this study was to identify factors relating to statistics anxiety, and specifically, how prior experiences in mathematics and A-Level science qualifications may influence students’ perceptions as they begin their undergraduate course. Four hundred and eighty-seven first year psychology students filled in an online survey with a range of quantitative and qualitative measures. Number of science A-Level subjects studied at school was a significant negative predictor of interpretation anxiety, and a positive predictor of perceived worth of statistics and perceived self-concept. Students without a mathematics qualification felt at a disadvantage in studying statistics in their degree overall and compared to their peers. Findings provide key insights into students’ specific concerns and highlight the benefits of studying science subjects in secondary education prior to a psychology undergraduate degree.