This study investigated the effect of a paper folding activity prepared to develop the sixth-grade students’ concept definitions and images of parallelism and perpendicularity concepts. The study also examined how the concept definition and images changed after the paper folding activity. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. A one-group pre-/post-test design revealed that the paper folding activity had a significant positive effect on students’ concept definitions and images. In addition, the interviews after pre- and post-tests indicated that the students’ personal concept definitions of parallelism and perpendicularity of two lines/line segments began to match the formal concept definitions of these concepts after the paper folding activity. Lastly, missing and mis-in concept image situations, encountered generally in the pre-test, were observed less after the paper folding activity.
{"title":"Fostering students’ definitions and images in parallelism and perpendicularity: A paper folding activity","authors":"Emine Catman-Aksoy, Mine Işıksal-Bostan","doi":"10.30935/scimath/14360","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/14360","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the effect of a paper folding activity prepared to develop the sixth-grade students’ concept definitions and images of parallelism and perpendicularity concepts. The study also examined how the concept definition and images changed after the paper folding activity. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. A one-group pre-/post-test design revealed that the paper folding activity had a significant positive effect on students’ concept definitions and images. In addition, the interviews after pre- and post-tests indicated that the students’ personal concept definitions of parallelism and perpendicularity of two lines/line segments began to match the formal concept definitions of these concepts after the paper folding activity. Lastly, missing and mis-in concept image situations, encountered generally in the pre-test, were observed less after the paper folding activity.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140352967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Georgia Vakarou, Georgios Stylos, Konstantinos T. Kotsis
To investigate students’ interest in physics, this study explores the impact of a brief teaching intervention on the increase of interest. The intervention focused on modern physics, specifically exploring Einstein’s theory of gravity and the dual nature of light. A total of 325 Greek students participated in the survey, comprising 83 students in the 6th grade (11-12 years old), 116 students in the 9th grade (14-15 years old), and 126 students in the 11th grade (16-17 years old). Participants completed a questionnaire, which helped determine the average level of interest before and after the teaching. The findings indicate that teaching modern physics concepts contributes to the development of students’ interest. However, there is an observed decline in interest as the educational level advances, a pattern persisting despite the introduction of Einsteinian physics concepts.
{"title":"Effect of didactic intervention in Einsteinian physics on students’ interest in physics","authors":"Georgia Vakarou, Georgios Stylos, Konstantinos T. Kotsis","doi":"10.30935/scimath/14303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/14303","url":null,"abstract":"To investigate students’ interest in physics, this study explores the impact of a brief teaching intervention on the increase of interest. The intervention focused on modern physics, specifically exploring Einstein’s theory of gravity and the dual nature of light. A total of 325 Greek students participated in the survey, comprising 83 students in the 6th grade (11-12 years old), 116 students in the 9th grade (14-15 years old), and 126 students in the 11th grade (16-17 years old). Participants completed a questionnaire, which helped determine the average level of interest before and after the teaching. The findings indicate that teaching modern physics concepts contributes to the development of students’ interest. However, there is an observed decline in interest as the educational level advances, a pattern persisting despite the introduction of Einsteinian physics concepts.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140353293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mirjam Ndaimehafo Asilevi, S. Havu-Nuutinen, Jingoo Kang
This study examines the role of Namibian secondary school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers’ interest in STEM education and self-efficacy in implementing STEM education in science education curricula. Furthermore, it aimed to distinguish male and female Namibian teachers’ interests and self-efficacy regarding STEM education and investigate how different teaching subjects affect them. To achieve this goal, a survey was completed with (n=200) secondary school teachers, both males and females. Data were analyzed quantitatively using exploratory factor analysis and analyzed covariance. The results show that most teachers were highly interested and confident in implementing STEM subjects into science curricula. While Namibian teachers indicated a high level of interest, they also revealed a high lack of interest in STEM, implying that at least some teachers felt bored and meaningless in implementing STEM education. However, gender plays a significant role in teachers’ negative self-efficacy, with male teachers being less confident than female teachers in implementing STEM education. Moreover, teachers in the present study have high positive and negative self-efficacy levels regarding implementing STEM education. Therefore, these findings highlight the need for a paradigm shift, especially in the Namibian science curricula, to promote STEM subjects and to improve science education. Potential implications from this research also suggest that teachers’ participants benefit significantly from learning within a community by engaging in solutions to real-world problems.
{"title":"Secondary school teachers’ interest and self-efficacy in implementing STEM education in the science curriculum","authors":"Mirjam Ndaimehafo Asilevi, S. Havu-Nuutinen, Jingoo Kang","doi":"10.30935/scimath/14383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/14383","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the role of Namibian secondary school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers’ interest in STEM education and self-efficacy in implementing STEM education in science education curricula. Furthermore, it aimed to distinguish male and female Namibian teachers’ interests and self-efficacy regarding STEM education and investigate how different teaching subjects affect them. To achieve this goal, a survey was completed with (n=200) secondary school teachers, both males and females. Data were analyzed quantitatively using exploratory factor analysis and analyzed covariance. The results show that most teachers were highly interested and confident in implementing STEM subjects into science curricula. While Namibian teachers indicated a high level of interest, they also revealed a high lack of interest in STEM, implying that at least some teachers felt bored and meaningless in implementing STEM education. However, gender plays a significant role in teachers’ negative self-efficacy, with male teachers being less confident than female teachers in implementing STEM education. Moreover, teachers in the present study have high positive and negative self-efficacy levels regarding implementing STEM education. Therefore, these findings highlight the need for a paradigm shift, especially in the Namibian science curricula, to promote STEM subjects and to improve science education. Potential implications from this research also suggest that teachers’ participants benefit significantly from learning within a community by engaging in solutions to real-world problems.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140357843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Filipa Alexandra Baptista Faria, João Pedro Mendes Da Ponte, Margarida Rodrigues
This study aims to identify how mathematics teachers understand whole-class discussions and to know the influence of lesson study on the way they orchestrate these discussions. This is a qualitative study, conducted with two groups of middle school teachers. We analyze data concerning three teachers, Patrícia, Marta, and Diana, collected through initial individual interviews and observation of three research lessons. Data are analyzed by discourse analysis, establishing a relationship between the discourse about the teachers’ understanding of whole-class discussions in the initial interview and their subsequent orchestration of this lesson moment. From this relation, we consider the influence of the lesson studies on the teachers’ orchestration practice. The teachers’ discourse in the interviews suggest the existence of a tension between their understanding of the goals of a whole-class discussion and their practice in orchestrating the discussion, causing several challenges. The lesson study contributed to lower these tensions and challenges through the definition of a fluid lesson structure and the appreciation, selection and recording of the students’ activity, enriching the discussion. However, carrying out effective questioning and managing time proved to be complex challenges that deserve attention from further research.
{"title":"Teachers’ leading whole-class discussions in a mathematics lesson study: From initial understanding to orchestration in practice","authors":"Filipa Alexandra Baptista Faria, João Pedro Mendes Da Ponte, Margarida Rodrigues","doi":"10.30935/scimath/14149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/14149","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to identify how mathematics teachers understand whole-class discussions and to know the influence of lesson study on the way they orchestrate these discussions. This is a qualitative study, conducted with two groups of middle school teachers. We analyze data concerning three teachers, Patrícia, Marta, and Diana, collected through initial individual interviews and observation of three research lessons. Data are analyzed by discourse analysis, establishing a relationship between the discourse about the teachers’ understanding of whole-class discussions in the initial interview and their subsequent orchestration of this lesson moment. From this relation, we consider the influence of the lesson studies on the teachers’ orchestration practice. The teachers’ discourse in the interviews suggest the existence of a tension between their understanding of the goals of a whole-class discussion and their practice in orchestrating the discussion, causing several challenges. The lesson study contributed to lower these tensions and challenges through the definition of a fluid lesson structure and the appreciation, selection and recording of the students’ activity, enriching the discussion. However, carrying out effective questioning and managing time proved to be complex challenges that deserve attention from further research.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139596105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since 2015/16, a standardized written final examination in mathematics or applied mathematics has been compulsory for nearly all pupils at the upper secondary level in Austria. While this standardized competence-oriented maturity examination is intended to increase pupils’ subject-related study ability, empirical research in this regard is scarce. Therefore, the subject-related study ability for six partially different control and experimental groups containing between 11 and 17 first-year STEM students is compared using a one-tailed two-sample Wilcoxon rank sum test. No significant differences in the subject-related study ability are detected between the control groups, comprising first-year Austrian STEM students who did not participate in the standardized written final examination in mathematics, and the experimental groups, comprising first-year Austrian STEM students who did participate in the standardized written final examination in mathematics. However, post hoc power analyses show that the sample sizes for each of the six sample cases would have to be much larger to prove significant results with a power of at least 80%. Additionally, no evidence for teaching-to-the test practices could be found in the experimental groups.
{"title":"Does a centralized written final examination in mathematics indeed improve pupils’ subject-related study ability?","authors":"Pia Tscholl, F. Stampfer, Tobias Hell","doi":"10.30935/scimath/13829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/13829","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2015/16, a standardized written final examination in mathematics or applied mathematics has been compulsory for nearly all pupils at the upper secondary level in Austria. While this standardized competence-oriented maturity examination is intended to increase pupils’ subject-related study ability, empirical research in this regard is scarce. Therefore, the subject-related study ability for six partially different control and experimental groups containing between 11 and 17 first-year STEM students is compared using a one-tailed two-sample Wilcoxon rank sum test. No significant differences in the subject-related study ability are detected between the control groups, comprising first-year Austrian STEM students who did not participate in the standardized written final examination in mathematics, and the experimental groups, comprising first-year Austrian STEM students who did participate in the standardized written final examination in mathematics. However, post hoc power analyses show that the sample sizes for each of the six sample cases would have to be much larger to prove significant results with a power of at least 80%. Additionally, no evidence for teaching-to-the test practices could be found in the experimental groups.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139125255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As highlighted in the literature, one of the main difficulties in mathematics is the management of different semiotic representations. This difficulty occurs in verticals throughout schooling and is often an obstacle to the proper learning process of mathematics. The present study aims to investigate the different facets of these difficulties with regard to mathematical tasks in secondary school. In particular, questions from Italian large-scale mathematics assessments are analyzed and interpreted through the theoretical lens of Duval’s (1993) theory. Statistical analyses on a robust national sample allow a framing of the main difficulties and provide valuable information in this field.
{"title":"Management of semiotic representations in mathematics: Quantifications and new characterizations","authors":"F. Ferretti, Alessandro Gambini, Camilla Spagnolo","doi":"10.30935/scimath/13827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/13827","url":null,"abstract":"As highlighted in the literature, one of the main difficulties in mathematics is the management of different semiotic representations. This difficulty occurs in verticals throughout schooling and is often an obstacle to the proper learning process of mathematics. The present study aims to investigate the different facets of these difficulties with regard to mathematical tasks in secondary school. In particular, questions from Italian large-scale mathematics assessments are analyzed and interpreted through the theoretical lens of Duval’s (1993) theory. Statistical analyses on a robust national sample allow a framing of the main difficulties and provide valuable information in this field.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139128859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anne Bergliot Øyehaug, Marilyn Kouns, E. Savelsbergh
This study analyze data from three national contexts in which teachers worked with the same teaching materials and inquiry classroom activities, investigating teachers’ use of strategies to promote interaction and scaffolding when participating in a professional development program. The data material is collected from three case studies from the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, respectively. Each case is from a teaching unit about green plants and seed sprouting. In one lesson in this unit, students were involved in planning an experiment with sprouting seeds, and this (similar) lesson was videotaped in three national settings. The main research question is, as follows: How do primary teachers use questions to scaffold conceptual understanding and language use in inquiry science activities? The data analysis shows that teachers ask different kind of questions such as open, closed, influencing and orienting questions. The open, orienting questions induce students to generate their own ideas, while closed orienting and influencing questions often scaffold language and content-specific meaning-making. However, both open, closed, orienting and influencing questions can scaffold student language and conceptual understanding. Often, teacher questions scaffold both language content-specific meaning-making at the same time. The study shows the subtle mechanisms through which teachers can use questions to scaffold student science literacy and thereby including them in classroom interaction.
{"title":"Teachers’ use of inquiry and language scaffolding questions when preparing an experiment","authors":"Anne Bergliot Øyehaug, Marilyn Kouns, E. Savelsbergh","doi":"10.30935/scimath/14074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/14074","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyze data from three national contexts in which teachers worked with the same teaching materials and inquiry classroom activities, investigating teachers’ use of strategies to promote interaction and scaffolding when participating in a professional development program. The data material is collected from three case studies from the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, respectively. Each case is from a teaching unit about green plants and seed sprouting. In one lesson in this unit, students were involved in planning an experiment with sprouting seeds, and this (similar) lesson was videotaped in three national settings. The main research question is, as follows: How do primary teachers use questions to scaffold conceptual understanding and language use in inquiry science activities? The data analysis shows that teachers ask different kind of questions such as open, closed, influencing and orienting questions. The open, orienting questions induce students to generate their own ideas, while closed orienting and influencing questions often scaffold language and content-specific meaning-making. However, both open, closed, orienting and influencing questions can scaffold student language and conceptual understanding. Often, teacher questions scaffold both language content-specific meaning-making at the same time. The study shows the subtle mechanisms through which teachers can use questions to scaffold student science literacy and thereby including them in classroom interaction.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139395529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The cognitive reflection test (CRT) assesses an individual’s capacity to restrain impulsive and intuitive responses and to engage in critical reflection on mathematical problems. The literature indicates that several factors influence students’ performance on CRT, including gender, age, and prior knowledge of mathematics. In this study, our objective was to investigate the correlation between CRT scores and students’ achievements in both mathematics and physics. We conducted our research with a sample of 150 Italian high school students, and the findings revealed a positive predictive relationship between CRT scores and students’ performance in both mathematics and physics. Furthermore, we employed an ordinal logistic regression to evaluate the impact of CRT scores, gender, and school level on students’ achievements in mathematics and physics. The results showed that both CRT scores and school level had statistically significant effects on predicting these achievements. In contrast, gender emerged as a statistically significant factor only in predicting students’ mathematics achievements.
{"title":"The cognitive reflection test and students’ achievements in mathematics and physics","authors":"Daniel Doz, J. Sliško","doi":"10.30935/scimath/13832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/13832","url":null,"abstract":"The cognitive reflection test (CRT) assesses an individual’s capacity to restrain impulsive and intuitive responses and to engage in critical reflection on mathematical problems. The literature indicates that several factors influence students’ performance on CRT, including gender, age, and prior knowledge of mathematics. In this study, our objective was to investigate the correlation between CRT scores and students’ achievements in both mathematics and physics. We conducted our research with a sample of 150 Italian high school students, and the findings revealed a positive predictive relationship between CRT scores and students’ performance in both mathematics and physics. Furthermore, we employed an ordinal logistic regression to evaluate the impact of CRT scores, gender, and school level on students’ achievements in mathematics and physics. The results showed that both CRT scores and school level had statistically significant effects on predicting these achievements. In contrast, gender emerged as a statistically significant factor only in predicting students’ mathematics achievements.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139125792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ioannis Vlachos, Georgios Stylos, Konstantinos T. Kotsis
The physics’ subject aims to provide the student with a broad understanding of the physical phenomena that occur around them every day and introduce them to the scientific search. The use of experiments in the teaching of the subject contributes to the understanding of these phenomena, the development of skills and critical thinking and has many benefits for the emotional, social and psychomotor fields of the students. In total, 178 primary school teachers who have taught physics from West Greece, were enrolled in our study. All participants completed a questionnaire electronically, based on teachers’ attitudes towards physics teaching on specific factors. No differences were found between genders, teachers’ attitudes towards the use of physics experiments are not affected by their years of service with minor exceptions, while teachers develop more positive attitudes towards experiments over the years of teaching physics. Moreover, teachers’ field of study plays an important role on their attitudes towards experiments, there are no differences to the age group of teachers and their attitude towards the use of experiments in the teaching of physics with an exception. Though further research is needed, our questionnaire helps to identify factors that affect teachers’ attitudes towards performing experiments in physics teaching.
{"title":"Primary school teachers’ attitudes towards experimentation in physics teaching","authors":"Ioannis Vlachos, Georgios Stylos, Konstantinos T. Kotsis","doi":"10.30935/scimath/13830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/13830","url":null,"abstract":"The physics’ subject aims to provide the student with a broad understanding of the physical phenomena that occur around them every day and introduce them to the scientific search. The use of experiments in the teaching of the subject contributes to the understanding of these phenomena, the development of skills and critical thinking and has many benefits for the emotional, social and psychomotor fields of the students. In total, 178 primary school teachers who have taught physics from West Greece, were enrolled in our study. All participants completed a questionnaire electronically, based on teachers’ attitudes towards physics teaching on specific factors. No differences were found between genders, teachers’ attitudes towards the use of physics experiments are not affected by their years of service with minor exceptions, while teachers develop more positive attitudes towards experiments over the years of teaching physics. Moreover, teachers’ field of study plays an important role on their attitudes towards experiments, there are no differences to the age group of teachers and their attitude towards the use of experiments in the teaching of physics with an exception. Though further research is needed, our questionnaire helps to identify factors that affect teachers’ attitudes towards performing experiments in physics teaching.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139125503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Special tutorials both online and off-line were experimented in order to provide extra support for the senior pre-service mathematics teachers at an Australian regional university to improve their learning experience and achieve the best possible learning outcomes in an advanced mathematics course focusing on solving ordinary differential equations and applying mathematical modelling. Two types of special tutorials were offered to the students, the progressive tutorials on solving the same problem with different methods according to the learning progression and student’s instant requests, and the targeted tutorials to address the common problems shared by many students in attempting questions in the formal assessments. The experiments on these special tutorials indicated that the targeted tutorials were immensely useful for the students to either expand the scientific knowledge related to a real-world scenario described by words so as to begin problem solving with correct setting-ups or streamline multiple mathematical processes together to solve a complicated real-world problem described in words. This approach motivated most students to achieve their best possible learning outcomes. The progressive tutorials were effective in addressing student’s curiosity of solving the same problem by multiple techniques and hence improving student’s mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills in general. This exploratory study also found that there were common problems with a lack of general science knowledge and retention of the previously learnt mathematical techniques among most students. There also existed a portion of students who showed no interest in engaging with learning regardless of how much extra learning support provided to them.
{"title":"Special tutorials to support pre-service mathematics teachers learning differential equations and mathematical modelling","authors":"William Guo","doi":"10.30935/scimath/13831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/13831","url":null,"abstract":"Special tutorials both online and off-line were experimented in order to provide extra support for the senior pre-service mathematics teachers at an Australian regional university to improve their learning experience and achieve the best possible learning outcomes in an advanced mathematics course focusing on solving ordinary differential equations and applying mathematical modelling. Two types of special tutorials were offered to the students, the progressive tutorials on solving the same problem with different methods according to the learning progression and student’s instant requests, and the targeted tutorials to address the common problems shared by many students in attempting questions in the formal assessments. The experiments on these special tutorials indicated that the targeted tutorials were immensely useful for the students to either expand the scientific knowledge related to a real-world scenario described by words so as to begin problem solving with correct setting-ups or streamline multiple mathematical processes together to solve a complicated real-world problem described in words. This approach motivated most students to achieve their best possible learning outcomes. The progressive tutorials were effective in addressing student’s curiosity of solving the same problem by multiple techniques and hence improving student’s mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills in general. This exploratory study also found that there were common problems with a lack of general science knowledge and retention of the previously learnt mathematical techniques among most students. There also existed a portion of students who showed no interest in engaging with learning regardless of how much extra learning support provided to them.","PeriodicalId":36049,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139127114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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