Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications最新文献

{"title":"Weekly online quizzes to a mathematics course for engineering students","authors":"Sandra Gaspar Martins","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrw011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrw011","url":null,"abstract":"A set of weekly optional online quizzes was used with 104 students on a Multivariable Calculus course (MC), via the Moodle online system. These quizzes contributed a maximum of two extra points, and this was awarded if the student scored more than 9 points (out of 20) on the exam. All the students got the same questions and could resubmit the answers without penalty. There were usually several sub-questions embedded in each item. The effectiveness of these quizzes, applied with this set of strategies, was studied using students’ adherence and performance. Students’ vision of quizzes was also studied: usefulness, fairness, effect on the amount of study, awareness of the student’s level of understanding, and influence on outcome scores.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"36 1","pages":"56-63"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrw011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50274624","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}

{"title":"Angle concept: a high school and tertiary longitudinal perspective to minimize obstacles","authors":"Marita Barabash","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrw008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrw008","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of angle emerges in numerous forms as the learning of mathematics and its applications advances through the high school and tertiary curriculum. Many difficulties and misconceptions in the usage of this multifaceted concept might be avoided or at least minimized should the lecturers in different areas of pure and applied mathematics be aware of the way their students have learned the concept in their previous studies. The article presents an analysis of the literature on the mathematical and didactical origins of the concept of angle. The purpose of the analysis is to identify the principal characteristics of the concept required in various contexts of pure-mathematical and applied courses, and to trace the way these appearances might have been previously presented. Attentiveness to students’ possible lack of mastery of the notion will hopefully help to prevent or at least minimize difficulties related to it.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"36 1","pages":"31-55"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrw008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50274623","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}

{"title":"Teaching mathematics with intelligent support in natural language. Tertiary education students working with parametrized modelling activities","authors":"Teresa Rojano;Montserrat García-Campos","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrw009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrw009","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports the outcomes of a study that seeks to investigate the role of feedback, by way of an intelligent support system in natural language, in parametrized modelling activities carried out by a group of tertiary education students. With such a system, it is possible to simultaneously display on a computer screen a dialogue window and a window with a microworld that are dynamically hot-linked to each other. While users work in the microworld, they can enter into dialogue with the system in natural language. The article discusses the case of one pair of participating students. In their case, the feedback provided by the intelligent support and by the microworld at key moments of the modelling activities, such as understanding the phenomenon, building the model or predicting, was crucial to their ability to build a spreadsheet model and, consequently, to their understanding of the long-term behaviour of the phenomenon being modelled.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"36 1","pages":"18-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrw009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50274529","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}

{"title":"A comparison of the efficacy of varenicline and bupropion and an evaluation of the effect of the medications in the context of the smoking cessation programme.","authors":"Ali Ramazan Benli, Selman Erturhan, Muhammet Ali Oruc, Pinar Kalpakci, Didem Sunay, Yeltekin Demirel","doi":"10.1186/s12971-017-0116-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12971-017-0116-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Within the context of the support program for smoking cessation, initiated by the Turkish Ministry of Health in 2011, those who present at 'smoking cessation' centres and are found to be suitable for pharmacological treatment are given varenicline and bupropion free of charge. As the smoking cessation programme is centralized, the selection of the medication is made randomly to provide a fixed distribution rate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of both varenicline and bupropion in smoking cessation and to evaluate the effect of the smoking cessation programme.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 405 individuals who met the study criteria were included in the study. Smoking habits and degree of dependence were determined in all the participants with the Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence (FTND) and bupropion or varenicline therapy was initiated in those who were eligible. Patients were followed up at 15 days then at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after smoking cessation. A level of CO < 5 ppm and 'point prevalence abstinence' were used as the criteria of success for smoking cessation and this evaluation showed the non-smoking status in the previous 7 days.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean age of the participants was 35.19 ± 7.73 years and 82.8% (<i>n</i> = 334) were male. Of the participants, 60.2% (<i>n</i> = 244) were given varenicline and 39.8% (<i>n</i> = 161) bupropion. The mean FTND and package/year was not significantly different between the groups. The rates of success in the 1st and 2nd weeks, and 1st, 3rd and 6th months were significantly higher in the varenicline group than in the bupropion group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). At the end of one year, the rate of smoking cessation was determined as 13.9% (<i>n</i> = 34) in the varenicline group and 6.2% (<i>n</i> = 10) in the bupropion gruop. The difference was statistically significant (<i>p</i> = 0.015). At the end of 1 year when the previous 7 days smoking status was evaluated with the 'point prevalence abstinence' measurement as the success criteria, success rates were 20.5% with varenicline and 18.6% with bupropion and the difference was not significant (<i>p</i> = 0.646). The individuals who used the medications for 45 days or longer were more successful in smoking cessation (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The most common reasons given for discontinuing the medication were the side-effects (31.5%). No significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the side-effects observed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although the rates of smoking cessation in all the other control points were higher with varenicline than with bupropion, no significant difference was found between the success rates of varenicline and bupropion used in smoking cessation based on the last 7 days at the end of one year. Those who used the medications for 45 days or longer were more successful in smoking cessation.</p>","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"30 1","pages":"10"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5286845/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83132084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developing conceptual understanding and definitional clarity in linear algebra through the three worlds of mathematical thinking","authors":"J. Hannah, Sepideh Stewart, Mike Thomas","doi":"10.1093/TEAMAT/HRW001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/TEAMAT/HRW001","url":null,"abstract":"Linear algebra is one of the first abstract mathematics courses that students encounter at university. Research shows that many students find the dense presentation of definitions, theorems and proofs difficult to comprehend. Using a case study approach, we report on a teaching intervention based on Tall’s three worlds (embodied, symbolic and formal) of mathematical thinking, and use a framework combining these with Dubinsky’s Action, Process, Object and Schema (APOS) theory to analyse students’ resulting levels of understanding. Through interviews and analysis of test and examination scripts, we investigate students’ understanding of the basic concepts of linear algebra, their ability to use and explain these concepts and their relationship to definitional clarity. The results show that, while students tend not to learn definitions by rote and can be imprecise when expressing them in words, they seem to understand the concepts, can talk sensibly about them and are able to use their essential features in solving problems.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"46 1","pages":"216-235"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/TEAMAT/HRW001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61089920","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}

{"title":"Developing conceptual understanding and definitional clarity in linear algebra through the three worlds of mathematical thinking","authors":"John Hannah;Sepideh Stewart;Michael Thomas","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrw001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrw001","url":null,"abstract":"Linear algebra is one of the first abstract mathematics courses that students encounter at university. Research shows that many students find the dense presentation of definitions, theorems and proofs difficult to comprehend. Using a case study approach, we report on a teaching intervention based on Tall’s three worlds (embodied, symbolic and formal) of mathematical thinking, and use a framework combining these with Dubinsky’s Action, Process, Object and Schema (APOS) theory to analyse students’ resulting levels of understanding. Through interviews and analysis of test and examination scripts, we investigate students’ understanding of the basic concepts of linear algebra, their ability to use and explain these concepts and their relationship to definitional clarity. The results show that, while students tend not to learn definitions by rote and can be imprecise when expressing them in words, they seem to understand the concepts, can talk sensibly about them and are able to use their essential features in solving problems.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"35 4","pages":"216-235"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrw001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50323955","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}

{"title":"Flipping the calculus classroom: an evaluative study","authors":"Wes Maciejewski","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrv019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrv019","url":null,"abstract":"Classroom flipping is the practice of moving new content instruction out of class time, usually packaging it as online videos and reading assignments for students to cover on their own, and devoting in-class time to interactive engagement activities. Flipping has garnered a large amount of hype from the popular education media and has been adopted in a variety of contexts. Despite this high amount of interest, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of classroom flipping on student academic outcomes. Specifically, no rigorous studies of the effects of flipping a mathematics course on students’ mathematical understandings and achievement appear in the literature. This article reports results from a control group study of flipping a large (N = 690), first-year university calculus course for life sciences students. Students in the flipped course sections on average outperformed their counterparts in the traditional sections on the final exam, though only by approximately 8%. A more detailed analysis reveals the true beneficiaries in a flipped classroom—those with high basic mathematical ability and low initial calculus knowledge. Gains for this group are considerable: approximately 10% on the final, with an effect size of d = 0.56, and comparable gains on an independent measure of calculus concept mastery. This study positions classroom flipping as an effective practice in undergraduate mathematics and calls for further research into the mechanisms behind its effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"35 4","pages":"187-201"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrv019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50324647","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}

{"title":"Trigonometric integration without trigonometric functions","authors":"J. Quinlan, J. Kolibal","doi":"10.1093/TEAMAT/HRV020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/TEAMAT/HRV020","url":null,"abstract":"Teaching techniques of integration can be tedious and often uninspired. We present an obvious but underutilized approach for finding antiderivatives of various trigonometric functions using the complex exponential representation of the sine and cosine. The purpose goes beyond providing students an alternative approach to trigonometric integrals. It introduces a framework in which students can better understand more advanced mathematical ideas such as the inverse Laplace transform and also affords an opportunity to work with detailed algebraic manipulations involving the binomial expansion.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"35 1","pages":"236-244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/TEAMAT/HRV020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61089905","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}

{"title":"Trigonometric integration without trigonometric functions","authors":"James Quinlan;Joseph Kolibal","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrv020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrv020","url":null,"abstract":"Teaching techniques of integration can be tedious and often uninspired. We present an obvious but underutilized approach for finding antiderivatives of various trigonometric functions using the complex exponential representation of the sine and cosine. The purpose goes beyond providing students an alternative approach to trigonometric integrals. It introduces a framework in which students can better understand more advanced mathematical ideas such as the inverse Laplace transform and also affords an opportunity to work with detailed algebraic manipulations involving the binomial expansion.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"35 4","pages":"236-244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrv020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50323954","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}

{"title":"Pre-service teachers’ mathematics content knowledge: implications for how mathematics is taught in higher education","authors":"Tom Lowrie;Robyn Jorgensen","doi":"10.1093/teamat/hrv008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrv008","url":null,"abstract":"This investigation explored pre-service teachers’ mathematics content knowledge (MCK) and beliefs associated with mathematics education practices. An Exploratory Factor Analysis, conducted on a beliefs and attitudes questionnaire, produced three common attitude factors associated with (1) inquiry-based teaching; (2) how mathematics knowledge is acquired; and (3) the applicability of mathematics. These factors were used in subsequent multivariate analyses to determine whether teachers’ mathematics competence influenced their personal mathematics viewpoints and perspectives. There was no difference between those students who had studied advanced and standard mathematics at school on the three belief and attitude measures, despite distinct differences in their MCK.","PeriodicalId":44578,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications","volume":"35 4","pages":"202-215"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/teamat/hrv008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50323956","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}