This article comes largely from observations made on-the-job while teaching mathematics in a government high school in the ACT. The issues canvassed will be familiar to those who have considered the arguments for and against ability grouping in mathematics education. It is speculative in nature, hinting at a synthesis of opposing views in the ability-grouping debate and ending with a proposal about how the practice of streaming might be aligned better with numeracy outcomes.
Topics: ERIC Archive, Numeracy, Ability Grouping, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Instruction,...
The author's secondary school mathematics students have often reported to her that quadratic relations are one of the most conceptually challenging aspects of the high school curriculum. From her own classroom experiences there seemed to be several aspects to the students' challenges. Many students, even in their early secondary education, have difficulty with basic multiplication table fact retrieval. Difficulty retrieving multiplication facts directly influences students' ability to engage...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Semantics, Secondary School Mathematics, Memory, Multiplication, Cognitive...
Mathematics is like a language, although technically it is not a natural or informal human language, but a formal, that is, artificially constructed language. Importantly, educators use their natural everyday language to teach the formal language of mathematics. At times, however, instructors encounter problems when the technical words they use, as formal parts of mathematics, conflict with an everyday understanding or use of the same word, or related words. This article discusses this problem,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Symbols (Mathematics), Artificial Languages, Vocabulary, Mathematics, Mathematics...
In recent times there has been considerable commentary regarding the need to enhance mathematical assessment as evidenced by "Numeracy, A Priority for All: Challenges for Australian Schools" (2000). This emphasis on assessment is timely because, although the mathematical reform movement has produced much needed improvements in both curriculum and instruction, changes in assessment have not kept pace. As Ridgway states in "From Barrier to Lever: Revising Roles for Assessment in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Curriculum Development, Educational Assessment, Mathematics...
Reams of paper come in a standardised system of related sheet sizes. Most people are familiar with the international paper sizes A4, A3 and B4, but there are others. The ratio of the sides of any sheet in the series is such that if the paper is cut or folded in half on itself then the ratio of the sides remains unchanged. Due to this property of constant proportions when folding, artwork will enlarge or reduce photographically to fit any international paper size. In this article, the author...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Activities, Measurement Techniques, Mathematical...
Computers have been in schools and indeed some mathematics classrooms for more than 35 years. Some schools have chosen to centralise their computers in laboratories, while others have a mix of configurations and networks. Whatever the case, how extensive has been the classroom use of computers for teaching and learning in mathematics? What has their presence added to the classrooms and the learning experiences of students? What effect has there been on the pedagogy of teachers in this time? How...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Instruction, Computer Software, Teacher Educators, Online Courses,...
This paper reports the results of two interventions involving the integrated study of mathematics and technology practice to girls in Years 6 and 7. The focus of the study was to look at factors that contributed to girls' disengagement with mathematics study and seek pedagogical solutions for this. The key mathematics concepts embedded in the two interventions were proportional reasoning and ratio. A design based research methodology was adopted. The study started with the assumption that by...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Research Methodology, Intervention, Females, Mathematics Education, Mathematical...
Computer-based technologies are now commonplace in classrooms, and the integration of these media into the teaching and learning of mathematics is supported by government policy in most developed countries. However, many questions about the impact of computer-based technologies on classroom mathematics learning remain unanswered, and debates about when and how they ought to be used continue. An increasing number of studies seek to identify the effects of technology usage on classroom learning,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Policy, Mathematics Education, Developed Nations, Educational Research,...
This study reports on the algebraic generalisation strategies used by two fifth grade students along with the factors that appeared to influence these strategies. These students were examined over 18 instructional sessions using a teaching experiment methodology. The results highlighted the complex factors that appeared to influence student strategy use, which included: (a) input value, (b) mathematical structure of the task, (c) prior strategies, (d) visual image of the situation, and (e)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Grade 5, Mathematics Education, Algebra, Mathematical Concepts, Elementary School...
This research examined students' responses to mathematics problem-solving tasks and applied a general multidimensional IRT model at the response category level. In doing so, cognitive processes were identified and modelled through item response modelling to extract more information than would be provided using conventional practices in scoring items. More specifically, the study consisted of two parts. The first part involved the development of a mathematics problem-solving framework that was...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Problem Solving, Mathematics Education, Cognitive Psychology, Item Response Theory,...
This paper presents an examination of the use of Rasch modelling in a major research project, "Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science" (IMYMS). The project has generated both qualitative and quantitative data, with much of the qualitative data being ordinal in nature. Reporting the results of analyses for a range of audiences necessitates careful, well-designed report formats. Some useful new report formats based on Rasch modelling--the Modified Variable Map, the Ordinal Map,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Item Response Theory, Classification, Mathematical Models,...
As part of the Victorian Early Numeracy Research Project, over 1400 Victorian children in the first (Preparatory) year of school were assessed in mathematics by their classroom teachers. Using a task-based, one-to-one interview, administered during the first and last month of the school year, a picture emerged of the mathematical knowledge and understanding that young children bring to school, and the changes in this knowledge and understanding during the first year of school. A major feature...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Young Children, Mathematics Curriculum, Mathematics Education, Knowledge Level, Prior...
In this article the development of two teachers as they make the transition from pre-service teachers to experienced teachers is examined. While these teachers participated in the same mathematics methods course and similar collaborative environments in their practicum experiences, their mathematics classroom instructional practices revealed stark differences by the time they were experienced teachers. In an effort to investigate these differences, the teachers' beliefs were explored in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Methods Courses, Intellectual Development, Mathematics Education,...
Wondering whether they are really making a difference to young people's mathematics learning is a question that most teachers have probably wrestled with at some stage of their careers. However, evidence from a multitude of research studies shows that students' mathematics learning and their dispositions towards mathematics are indeed influenced--for better or for worse--by the teaching that they experience at school (see Mewborn, 2003, for a review of this research). In other words, teachers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Characteristics, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Teachers, Mathematics...
Problem solving and student-centred learning have received a great deal of attention in mathematics curricula for schools and in some universities. Much of this emphasis developed from the pioneering work of George Polya in heuristics, problem solving, and mathematics education. In this study, the author reviews Polya's work, and some of its later extensions, in the light of current research findings. It is argued that, despite the attention it has received, problem solving remains a difficult...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Problem Solving, Mathematics Instruction, Conceptual Tempo,...
Fractions and algebra are critically important components of the mathematics education of the youth. Unfortunately, however, students have typically struggled in these areas. For this reason, teachers and researchers have focused their attention on these topics for at least the past century. This article discusses what research shows regarding fractions and algebra, particularly, on issues related to when fractions should be taught, how fractions should be taught, and how competence with...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Algebra, Teacher Effectiveness, Child Development, Learning...
The mathematical performance of Chinese students, from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is widely acclaimed in international comparisons of mathematics achievement. However, in the eyes of the Western educators, the environments established in Chinese schools are deemed relatively unfavourable for mathematics learning. This paper reports on a study that investigates the characteristics of effective mathematics teaching in five Shanghai schools. Findings reveal that those characteristics...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Mathematics Teachers, Mathematics Education, Mathematics...
This study focuses on a group of practitioners from a school district that adopted reform-oriented curriculum materials but later rejected them, partially due to the inclusion of alternative algorithms in the materials. Metaphors implicit in a conversation among the group were analysed to illuminate their perspectives on instructional issues surrounding alternative algorithms. Several possible sources of resistance to folding alternative algorithms into instruction were found, including the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Education, Computation, Mathematics...
The purpose of this article is two-fold: first, to explore the role played by linguistic and cultural factors in the mathematics classroom, particularly in relation to diverse learners; and, second, to provide insight into teaching, learning, and professional development that takes into account current mathematics education reform recommendations. In this article, the authors explore and discuss four selected cultural and linguistic factors to consider when teaching mathematics to diverse...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Instruction, Educational Change, Cultural Influences,...
The TIMSS 1995, 1999, and 2003 data have been gathered from Hong Kong before and after its sovereignty switch from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Built on a reciprocal relation theory from the research literature, this investigation is designed to examine models of student self-concept and mathematics achievement during the political transition. Along with a perceived "brain drain" from the population migration, there was a non-monotonic change in the reciprocal relationship...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Achievement, Cultural Awareness, Foreign...
The perceived problem of low mathematics achievement is a concern to education leaders at all levels of PK-16 education. Results from various research raise concerns about mathematics learning of U.S. middle school students. Education leaders search for interventions to address issues related to improving mathematics achievement. This article presents findings from a middle school mathematics intervention implemented to improve students' mathematics performance. The purpose of this empirical...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Achievement, Standardized Tests, Computer Assisted...
The Children Designing & Engineering (CD&E) Project at the College of New Jersey is a collaborative effort of the College's Center for Design and Technology and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has been charged to develop instructional materials for grades K-5. The twelve thematic units under development integrate science, mathematics, technology and other content through design-and-make activities. Activities are...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Problem Based Learning, Instructional Materials, Teaching Methods, Science Education,...
Higher levels of girls and women's participation in targeted areas are widely apparent, particularly in affluent and middle-class sites. Here, we report on research with young middle and upper middle-class high school girls successfully enrolled in non-traditional advanced placement (AP) courses in mathematics, science, and computer programming in a suburban school district in Midwestern USA. Focus group interviews with 45 of the highest achieving students in this affluent suburb revealed...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Advanced Placement, Females, Focus Groups, Sex Fairness, Womens Education, Self...
The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE, 2004) administers a formula grant program to states that is intended to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and teaching skills of classroom teachers. Partnerships between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty in institutions of higher education are at the core of these improvement efforts. These programs articulate the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Rural Schools, Educational Change, Rural Areas, Grants,...
This article presents initial findings from a study that examined how African American mothers from a low-income neighborhood conceptualized their roles in their children's mathematics learning. Based on interviews and observations focusing on ten mothers' involvement in their children's education, we offer a framework that expands typical characterizations of parent involvement. This framework privileges practices that are both traditionally visible and invisible to the school and highlights...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Urban Schools, Mathematics Education, Mothers, Income, Parent Participation, Parent...
The intention of this study is to explore mathematical discourse and teaching methods in Grades 6 and 7 of primary school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The school's student population changed from predominately white English/Afrikaans-speaking learners before the 1994 election to predominately black Xhosa-speaking students in 2004. The language of teaching and learning is strictly English, and most teachers cannot speak or understand Xhosa. Additionally, some Xhosa-speaking...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Foreign Countries, Grade 6, Grade 7, Mathematics Instruction,...
This study investigated the potential of an approach to involving families in regular integration of math into home life, addressing the following: When families are given math-related games unconnected with children's school, does what parents believe impact the extent to which their families play the games, and how do parents describe their family's learning with the games? We distributed games integrating math and U.S. geography to 30 parents with children aged 7 to 13. Over four months, we...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Homework, Play, Educational Games, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Skills, Parents...
This article reports on a sample of 26 middle-class Chinese immigrant parents' perspectives on their children's reading, writing, mathematics learning, and homework, and on the parents' involvement in and communication with mainstream American schools. Findings suggested both consistencies and discrepancies between their beliefs and practices. Areas of discrepancies include their reported involvement in their children's reading and their attitudes toward homework. However, the parents were more...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Homework, Mathematics Education, Familiarity, Parent School Relationship, Literacy,...
Citing that the concept of fractions is not a single idea, and that students may be proficient in one area of fractions while also holding contradictory beliefs, the writer reviews some common problems areas in teaching and learning about fractions, and maintains that the fraction concept does not respond to simple remediation methods. The author provides sample student drawings and explanations to provide insight into learners' thinking, as a foundation for developing effective lessons....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematical Concepts, Numeracy, Teaching Methods, Elementary...
Adults and children often encounter situations where they have to make judgments about "how much" or "how long" or "how many." The significance of estimation as an ordinary, everyday, and natural aspect of measurement needs to be conveyed to students through their mathematical experiences. Many students, however, tend to view estimation as a difficult technique where success is dependent upon how close the student's estimate is to the teacher's estimate rather than...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Measurement, Educational Strategies, Mathematics Education, Foreign...
This article presents an example of a versatile multi-solution problem that can be used right across the primary years. The basic problem is: "Noah saw 16 legs go past him into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?" Any even number can be used, although, 2 legs allows only one answer and with 16 legs there are already 14 different solutions, so teachers need to exercise caution in using large numbers. The teacher should encourage discussion around the interpretation of the problem...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Animals, Recreational Facilities, Primary Education, Foreign Countries, Problem...
Australian primary schools are mirroring international trends where textbooks become the pseudo curriculum. Some schools have adopted a publication series, and mandate its use at every year level. However, textbook-dependent mathematics programs are riddled with problems. In this article, the author argues the case against overuse of mathematics texts in classrooms. The author asserts the need for teachers, principals, and schools to challenge the textbook driven mathematics curriculum, and to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Curriculum, Textbooks, Mathematics Instruction, Mathematics Education,...
For years, students have become frustrated with the task of learning to tell time, and teachers have become frustrated at not fully understanding why this task is such a difficult one . The concepts of time include point of time ("measured" or labelled by clocks, and calendars), and durations (measuring elapsed time)--abstract ideas about the nature of time as a flowing direction. Beyond that, most of the experiences with time in the school curriculum involve labelling,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Time, Foreign Countries, Primary Education, Teachers, Mathematics Education,...
Measurement is a mathematics skill students encounter often in their daily lives. The act of measuring involves the use of concrete, hands-on materials that students find engaging and appealing. According to Martinie (2004), the best way to teach measurement "is to find or create situations in which students need to measure and let them experience this process." Preston and Thompson (2004) concur that "the most fundamental aspect of measurement is the act of measuring.". In...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Skills, Grade 5, Foreign Countries, Primary Education, Measurement,...
Developing strategies for engaging mathematics activities is always a challenge. Teachers seek out new resources and online activities to excite students and support their learning. Mathematics through Movement offers an active learning strategy requiring few resources, and a bit of imagination, to achieve a variety of outcomes across mathematics domains. It is based on sound educational theory and a lifetime of experience in dance. This paper examines the beginnings of research into this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Activities, Learning Strategies, Active Learning, Foreign Countries,...
As part of the project titled "Hands-On Heads-On: The Effective Use of Manipulatives Both Virtual and Physical" being undertaken at Edith Cowan University, there was an investigation into the use of virtual manipulatives and the interactive whiteboard (IWB). Virtual manipulatives may be defined as a virtual representation of a physical manipulative which, through various dynamic processes may help develop mathematical conceptual understanding. This article outlines how virtual...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Investigations, Mathematical Concepts, Manipulative Materials, Educational...
Drawing upon research, theory, classroom and personal experiences, this paper focuses on the development of primary-aged children's computational fluency. It emphasises the critical links between number sense and a child's ability to perform mental and written computation. The case of multi-digit multiplication is used to illustrate these important links. The author states that, while the path to computational fluency is not a straight-forward one for most students, is it clear that the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Computation, Mathematics Education, Primary Education, Mental Computation, Thinking...
It is not often that one can introduce primary school students to a problem at the forefront of mathematics research, and have any expectation of understanding; but with magic squares, one can do exactly that. Magic squares are an ideal tool for the effective illustration of many mathematical concepts. This paper assumes little prior knowledge on the part of the student except for addition and multiplication, reflection and rotation; but, using questions and exercises throughout, finishes by...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematical Concepts, Primary Education, Mathematics Education, Arithmetic,...
The concept of a function is fundamental to virtually every aspect of mathematics and every branch of quantitative science. Presently this type of thinking is carolled at the secondary level, and yet it has many benefits for deepening the understanding of early arithmetic. This is particularly so in the way that operations can be considered as "changing" and how it explicitly illustrates the way in which addition and subtraction are inverse operations, with each "undoing"...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Constructivism (Learning), Active Learning, Algebra, Mathematics Instruction, Foreign...
Patterning is an essential skill in early mathematics learning, particularly in the development of spatial awareness, sequencing and ordering, comparison, and classification. This includes the ability to identify and describe attributes of objects and similarities and differences between them. Patterning is also integral to the development of counting and arithmetic structure, base ten and multiplicative concepts, units of measure, proportional reasoning, and data exploration. The importance of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Student Evaluation, Foreign Countries, Algebra, Spatial...
This paper reports on a classroom investigation of a sequence of cross-disciplinary mapping lessons undertaken by Grade Five students at Black Hill Primary, a Victorian State Primary School in Ballarat. While this activity was broadly framed around Mathematics, there were also important elements from Geography, (a new emphasis in the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS)), along with English and Technology that contributed to the experiences of students undertaking the tasks. In both...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Geography, Foreign Countries, Primary Education, Mathematics Education, English,...
The plethora of data that confronts teachers on a daily basis requires that they know more than simply being able to calculate. It demands that they understand the context in which the mathematical ideas are embedded and what those ideas are telling them in relation to that context. Also, it necessitates that they are prepared to question how data, and the associated claims, are presented. For primary teachers, the implication is that they must be prepared to help their students to develop...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Instruction, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Foreign...
In the middle years of primary schooling, the teaching of common fractions frequently involves written activities that use abstract representations of numbers, symbols, and images. Many students, however, still need the benefit of concrete materials and sensory motor experiences to enhance their understanding of the concepts associated with common fractions. The author's experiences with "playdough maths" provide evidence of effectively engaging learners in building bridges from...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Elementary School Mathematics, Mathematics Instruction,...
The ever increasing availability of mathematics education software and internet-based multimedia learning activities presents teachers with the difficult task of deciding which programs are best suited for their students' learning needs. The challenge is for teachers to select pedagogical products that not only promote significant mathematical learning but also offer user-friendly functions, and are useful in the classroom. With the aim of assisting teachers in the selection process, this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Multimedia Materials, Computer Software, Data Analysis,...
The results of the study reported in this article found that primary-aged students used context knowledge in three broad ways: (1) to rationalise the data or their interpretations; (2) in taking a critical stance toward the data; and (3) in ways that were not necessarily productive or pertinent in addressing the task at hand. When teaching students how to analyse data, it is important to realise that data are numbers in context and that data engage one's knowledge of the context so that he/she...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Education, Familiarity, Data Analysis, Literacy, Statistics, Primary...
The fortunes of chance and data have fluctuated in the mathematics curriculum in Australia since their emergence in the National Statement in the early 1990s. Their appearance in Australia followed closely on similar moves in the United States. In both countries the topics, taken together, were given a section status equal to other areas of the mathematics curriculum, such as space or algebra. In Australia this was reflected in the curricula of many states. In recent years chance and data have...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Curriculum, Foreign Countries, Primary Education, Mathematics Education,...
In this article, the author presents findings of a project that focused on identifying elements in the learning environment that promote numeracy outcomes. The project--"Numeracy Research and Development Initiative"--was undertaken in eight schools across a range of settings within the three schooling systems in Queensland and was coordinated by Education Queensland. A research team of 10 primary mathematics educators formed from four Queensland universities collaborated with teachers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Mathematics, Elementary School Teachers, College...
If numeracy is about improving students' use of mathematics in life, then numeracy education cannot be restricted to the mathematics classroom: students need to apply the mathematics they learn across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. Hence, there is more that educators need to discover about how well students can use mathematics in settings other than schools mathematics classes, and about the extent and nature of the relationship between students' mathematics knowledge and their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Numeracy, Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Education, Foreign...
There is ample evidence that positive involvement of families in children's learning can be a major contribution. Where to start is often a challenge, however, especially in the numeracy area. As part of the Australian Government's "Numeracy Research and Development Initiative" a team led by Beth Powell in Western Australia has developed a poster and three brochures aimed at promoting the importance of numeracy to parents. The brochures also provide some welcome starting points to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Research and Development, Age, Numeracy, Foreign Countries, Family Involvement,...
In this article, the author presents findings from a national project coordinated by the University of Queensland. The project was designed to explore the links between home, school, and community that supported children's numeracy development. Two of the aims of this project were to: (a) critically review recent Australian and international research in this area, with a particular emphasis on the extent to which the needs of educationally disadvantaged students are addressed in current...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educationally Disadvantaged, Numeracy, Foreign Countries, Primary Education, Early...