International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education最新文献

Research on teacher educators’ professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting teacher learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of teacher educators. In this paper, we conceptualize a set of design heuristics to guide the development of educative curriculum materials for teacher educators. We illustrate how these heuristics guided the identification of specific educative features, which we included when developing prototype educative curriculum materials for elementary science teacher educators in content and/or method courses to support the development of preservice teachers’ content knowledge for teaching about matter and its interactions.

Abstract

Fostering students’ mathematical creativity is important for their understanding and success in mathematics courses as well as their persistence in STEM, but it necessitates intentional instructional actions, such as designing and implementing tasks that have the potential to foster creativity. As teaching innovation requires support for instructors who implement them, we developed a creativity-fostering task design framework that can be used by instructors of undergraduate mathematics courses. In this paper, we share this framework and its research-based development process. The framework includes research-based task features and aligns with the Creativity-in-Progress Reflection (CPR) on problem-solving, a formative assessment instrument. We share two creativity-fostering task samples for Calculus 1 courses as we notice that this course could be enhanced with such tasks. We also discuss ways in which Calculus 1 instructors utilized task features and framework as they designed their own tasks. We observed that the multiple answers and open-ended features of creativity-fostering tasks were frequently incorporated in instructors’ tasks; meanwhile, the framework provided opportunities for instructors to be intentional about creating tasks that incorporate mathematical actions such as making connections and taking risks.

Learning science requires students to conceptualize complex scientific concepts, discover scientific facts, and share ideas with others. In this process, scientific vocabulary and language of science help students develop their understanding of science. Given the interlink between language and conceptual development, the current study aimed to improve seventh-grade students’ scientific vocabulary and communicative interactions using teaching materials designed for the “cell and divisions” subject. Through an embedded mixed research design, the study was conducted with 31 (21 girls, 10 boys) students (aged 13–14 years) drawn from a middle school in the city of Trabzon, Türkiye. A scientific vocabulary test, observation form, and video recordings were used to collect data. The findings showed significant improvements in students’ scientific vocabulary and communicative interactions. Future studies should examine the effect of students’ scientific vocabulary on communicative development.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the online flipped learning model (OFLM) when integrated into a mathematics course in an emergency remote teaching process on seventh grade students’ academic achievement, their attitudes towards their mathematics course, and their cognitive load. The study was designed as a crossover experimental research model and conducted in two stages. In the first stage, 26 girls constituted the experimental group and 22 boys constituted the control group. In the second stage, the experimental and control groups were switched. In both stages, an academic achievement test was administered to the groups before and after implementation, an attitude test towards the mathematics course was applied to the experimental group before and after each stage, and a cognitive load test was administered to the groups after the live online classes each week. Also, the students’ views about OFLM were obtained through qualitative methods. The findings indicate that there is a significant difference between the academic achievement of the experimental and control groups in favour of the experimental group in the first stage. However, in the second stage, no significant difference was found between the groups. Students had a more positive attitude towards the mathematics course when the flipped learning model was used. There was a significant difference in favour of the experimental groups in the cognitive load of the experimental and control groups in both stages except for the first week. This study provides evidence that OFLM contributed positively to the mathematics learning of secondary school students in distance education.

We review analytic frameworks related to the study of noticing in mathematics and science education for the purpose of suggesting trends in research literature across both disciplines over time. We focus on highly cited articles in both mathematics and science noticing research, along with recent articles in both disciplines. We focus specifically on research articles that include an analytic framework, to understand the state of how data on noticing are analyzed. We conducted an extensive review of literature, intentionally related to population, temporality, methodology, and quality. The purpose was to provide an overview of the field of noticing, based on particular search criteria for articles including an analytic framework. To be considered an analytic framework, the article had to include a framework that could be used to analyze teacher noticing. We found frameworks in science education are frequently adapted from mathematics education and are moving toward pairing noticing with aspects of effective instruction (formative assessment, sense-making, pedagogical content knowledge), whereas the frameworks in mathematics education now consider context and equity, which was not an explicit focus in the initial noticing literature.

This systematic review investigated the literature between 1990—2021 to identify trends regarding science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) scientists conducting K-12 outreach. The review identified 50 publications that reflected the scholarship on scientist-led K-12 outreach. This includes literature on the effective strategies regarding scientists’ outreach efforts and how scientist-teacher partnerships could be improved for more meaningful and impactful K-12 outreach. In addition to best practice recommendations, this review revealed patterns in outreach participants and barriers to effective scientist-teacher partnerships. The results of this study suggest that there is a need for more rigorous and published scholarship on scientist-led K-12 outreach so that scientists and K-12 stakeholders can better understand the best practices and barriers related to outreach. Additionally, the review calls for better integration of the perspectives of educators into educational outreach activities from the onset of outreach. These strategies may lead to more valuable scientist-led K-12 outreach programs that more effectively broaden participation in STEM, a major goal of broader impact activities.

Abstract

Recognizing patterns is an essential skill in early mathematics education. However, first graders often have difficulties with tasks such as extending patterns of the form ABCABC. Studies show that this pattern-recognition ability is a good predictor of later pre-algebraic skills and mathematical achievement in general, or the development of mathematical difficulties on the other hand. To be able to foster children’s pattern-recognition ability, it is crucial to investigate and understand their pattern-recognition processes early on. However, only a few studies have investigated the processes used to recognize patterns and how these processes are adapted to different patterns. These studies used external observations or relied on children’s self-reports, yet young students often lack the ability to properly report their strategies. This paper presents the results of an empirical study using eye-tracking technology to investigate the pattern-recognition processes of 22 first-grade students. In particular, we investigated students with and without the risk of developing mathematical difficulties. The analyses of the students’ eye movements reveal that the students used four different processes to recognize patterns—a finding that refines knowledge about pattern-recognition processes from previous research. In addition, we found that for patterns with different units of repeat (i.e. ABABAB versus ABCABCABC), the pattern-recognition processes used differed significantly for students at risk of developing mathematical difficulties but not for students without such risk. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the pattern-recognition processes of first-grade students, laying the foundation for enhanced, targeted support, especially for students at risk of developing mathematical difficulties.

Abstract

The study assessed the relationship between career preparation, beliefs, attitudes, in-service training, and peer communication of primary school mathematics teachers and their knowledge of students’ misconceptions. Seven hundred one Chinese teachers were selected for the test and questionnaire survey. The mathematics teacher test paper had good reliability and content validity. The coefficient omega ( ({varvec{omega}}) ) and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire items on mathematics teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, in-service training, and peer communication. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to explain the relationship between factors. SEM results showed that career preparation had no significant influence on mathematics teachers’ knowledge of students’ misconceptions. Mathematics teachers’ attitudes towards students’ misconceptions, student-centered beliefs, and peer communication positively influenced their knowledge of students’ misconceptions. Furthermore, peer communication was the mediating variable between mathematics teachers’ attitudes and knowledge of students’ misconceptions, meanwhile between the student-centered beliefs and the knowledge of students’ misconceptions. These results of the study have indicated the direction for education departments and schools to improve teacher education courses and teacher activities in classroom practice.

Previous studies have found positive effects of Game-Based Learning for mathematics. While most studies assume that this effect is explained by the presence of flow/immersion during games, this has not yet been established. The aim of the current study is to verify if immersion indeed is associated with mathematical skills improvement when using a Game-Based Learning intervention. This was tested among 59 Greek high school students, using authentic design. After having received a traditional education module, the students were tested and then engaged for four weeks in a desktop-based 3D Virtual Learning Environment where they could play mathematic minigames. They were subsequently re-tested to verify if they showed a significant increase in mathematical skills. The students showed an improvement in their mathematical skills (Cohen’s d = 1.26), with significant results for functions, geometry, and thinking skills and methods. On the individual level, about half of the students showed a 10% increase in one of the domains (numbers & calculations, functions, geometry, thinking skills and methods, and algorithms and number theory). Immersion was found to be reflected by engagement and presence, but neither one of these aspects was associated with mathematical achievement after the intervention. It is concluded that Game-Based Learning is an effective approach to increasing mathematical skills, yet the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. The authors discuss several alternative mechanisms based on the literature that can be verified in future studies.

Internationally, there are concerns that more needs to be done to address the inequalities in participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects at the degree level. In response, research focused on better understanding what influences young people’s STEM participation has focused on a range of factors. This paper contributes to the existing research with an analysis of how “science capital” and “STEM identity” relate to STEM participation. We draw on data from 3310 young people aged 21–22 who had undertaken an undergraduate degree, 523 of whom studied a STEM subject. We found that science capital and STEM identity were statistically significantly related to studying a STEM degree (with science capital being weakly and STEM identity strongly associated with STEM study at university). Adopting a Bourdieusian lens, we discuss what our findings mean for higher education and what more could be done to support students, especially those who are currently under-represented in STEM, such as through better recognising and developing their science capital and supporting their sense of belonging in STEM.