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Mathematics Curriculum (mathematics + curriculum)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Education62%

Selected Abstracts

Curriculum-Context Knowledge: Teacher Learning From Successive Enactments of a Standards-Based Mathematics Curriculum

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2009
JEFFREY MARTIN CHOPPIN
ABSTRACT This study characterizes the teacher learning that stems from successive enactments of innovative curriculum materials. This study conceptualizes and documents the formation of curriculum-context knowledge (CCK) in three experienced users of a Standards-based mathematics curriculum. I define CCK as the knowledge of how a particular set of curriculum materials functions to engage students in a particular context. The notion of CCK provides insight into the development of curricular knowledge and how it relates to other forms of knowledge that are relevant to the practice of teaching, such as content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. I used a combination of video-stimulated and semistructured interviews to examine the ways the teachers adapted the task representations in the units over time and what these adaptations signaled in terms of teacher learning. Each teacher made noticeable adaptations over the course of three or four enactments that demonstrated learning. Each of the teachers developed a greater understanding of the resources in the respective units as a result of repeated enactments, although there was some important variation between the teachers. The learning evidenced by the teachers in relation to the units demonstrated their intricate knowledge of the curriculum and the way it engaged their students. Furthermore, this learning informed their instructional practices and was intertwined with their discussion of content and how best to teach it. The results point to the larger need to account for the knowledge necessary to use Standards-based curricula and to relate the development and existence of well-elaborated knowledge components to evaluations of curricula. [source]

From bar diagrams to letter-symbolic algebra: a technology-enabled bridging

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 4 2009
C.-K. Looi
Abstract In the Singapore primary school Mathematics curriculum, students are taught the model method that uses bar diagrams to visualize the problem structure in a given word problem. When these students progress to secondary school, they learn the algebraic way of solving word problems. Studies (e.g. Ng et al.) have shown that poor bridging of students from the use of bar diagrams to the use of letter-symbolic algebraic methods can hinder their learning of algebra. We design a software tool ,AlgeBAR' to scaffold the learning of the algebraic process, especially the formulation of equations to support a pedagogy that seeks to help students transit from bar diagrams to algebraic methods. In this paper, we report a cycle of evaluation of the intervention pedagogy by examining a class that uses the software tool as part of a holistic intervention package. This evaluation is in the context of an overall design research approach that sought to address complex problems in real classroom contexts in collaboration with practitioners and to integrate design principles with technological affordances to render plausible solutions. Our findings show that the software tool can be an important enabler of the bridging process. [source]

Perceptions of mathematics curricula and teaching in China

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 3 2005
Robert Moy
China and other East Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) have consistently outperformed the United States and other Western countries in mathematics achievement. As part of a Fulbright-sponsored trip to China in the Summer of 2002, a New York City public school teacher and a trainer of school psychologists offer their impressions of some of the reasons for these differences. Their impressions are based on observations of schools and classrooms, review of curricula, and a review of the literature. Four areas are covered: textbooks, curricula, teaching practices, and teacher knowledge. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 251,258, 2005. [source]

Standards-based school mathematics curricula

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
Doug French
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Curriculum-Context Knowledge: Teacher Learning From Successive Enactments of a Standards-Based Mathematics Curriculum

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2009
JEFFREY MARTIN CHOPPIN
ABSTRACT This study characterizes the teacher learning that stems from successive enactments of innovative curriculum materials. This study conceptualizes and documents the formation of curriculum-context knowledge (CCK) in three experienced users of a Standards-based mathematics curriculum. I define CCK as the knowledge of how a particular set of curriculum materials functions to engage students in a particular context. The notion of CCK provides insight into the development of curricular knowledge and how it relates to other forms of knowledge that are relevant to the practice of teaching, such as content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. I used a combination of video-stimulated and semistructured interviews to examine the ways the teachers adapted the task representations in the units over time and what these adaptations signaled in terms of teacher learning. Each teacher made noticeable adaptations over the course of three or four enactments that demonstrated learning. Each of the teachers developed a greater understanding of the resources in the respective units as a result of repeated enactments, although there was some important variation between the teachers. The learning evidenced by the teachers in relation to the units demonstrated their intricate knowledge of the curriculum and the way it engaged their students. Furthermore, this learning informed their instructional practices and was intertwined with their discussion of content and how best to teach it. The results point to the larger need to account for the knowledge necessary to use Standards-based curricula and to relate the development and existence of well-elaborated knowledge components to evaluations of curricula. [source]

Practicing Change: Curriculum Adaptation and Teacher Narrative in the Context of Mathematics Education Reform

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2006
COREY DRAKE
ABSTRACT The use of reform-based curricula is one possible avenue for the widespread implementation of mathematics education reform. In this article, we present two urban elementary teachers' models of curriculum use that describe how each teacher used a reform-oriented mathematics curriculum. In particular, we examine when and how the teachers made adaptations to the curriculum. We find that each teacher had a distinctive pattern of adaptation when using the curriculum. Furthermore, these patterns were related to three key aspects of the teachers' own experiences with mathematics: their early memories of learning mathematics, their current perceptions of themselves as mathematics learners, and their mathematical interactions with family members. Implications for curriculum design and implementation are discussed. [source]

Mathematics anxiety in secondary students in England

DYSLEXIA, Issue 1 2009
Steve Chinn
Abstract Whatever the changes that are made to the mathematics curriculum in England, there will always remain a problem with mathematics anxiety. Maths anxiety is rarely facilitative. This study examined aspects of mathematics in secondary schools and how students rated them as sources of anxiety. Over 2000 students in independent and mainstream schools in England completed a 20-item questionnaire designed to investigate maths anxiety levels. The same questionnaire was given to over 440 dyslexic males in specialist schools within the same age range. The results showed that examinations and tests create high levels of anxiety in approximately 4% of students. The results suggest that certain aspects and topics in the maths curriculum, such as long division, cause similar levels of anxiety for students in all year groups in secondary schools. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Extending Responsiveness to Intervention to Mathematics at First and Third Grades

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 1 2007
Lynn S. Fuchs
Responsiveness to intervention (RTI) is an innovative approach to the identification of learning disabilities (LD). The central assumption is that RTI can differentiate between two explanations for low achievement: poor instruction versus disability. If the child responds poorly to validated instruction, then the assessment eliminates instructional quality as a viable explanation for poor academic growth and instead provides evidence of a disability. For children who do respond nicely, RTI serves a critical prevention function. Most of RTI research has been focused on early reading. In this article, we describe two ongoing programs of research on RTI in the area of mathematics: one on a comprehensive mathematics curriculum at first grade and the other focused on word problems at third grade. For each research program, we describe the sample, explain how students are identified as at risk for mathematics disability, provide an overview of the interventions to which responsiveness is gauged, and describe some results to date. [source]