African American males in all socioeconomic levels are underperforming in school. Many researchers have conducted studies hoping to find reasons for the underperformance. This study focused on three middle class African American males in a suburban school district. These African American male students took upper level math courses that included Algebra III, Math Analysis, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics. This study modeled the study by E. Wayne Harris. He believed students were influenced by eight factors to include parents, past and present achievement, teachers, love of math, counselors, high school graduation/college admissions requirements, peers, and future plans. I conducted a qualitative case study in which students, parents, teachers, counselors, and the math department supervisor were interviewed. The interview questions provided data that were analyzed to determine the influences of the factors listed above. The data gathered during the interviews was used to assess the influence of the factors in the decision making process of the middle class African American males in the study to take upper level math classes. This researcher concluded 1) The parents expected their children to attend college, but the school staff did not have goals that directed the students to take courses that would prepare them for college, 2) Students had post secondary plans. 3) Two of the three parents advised their sons on what math classes to take, 4) There were no policies or practices in place to influence African American males to take more than the required three years of math or upper level math classes, 5) The school culture did not encourage student to take more academic classes, 6) There was no negative peer pressure for taking upper level math classes, and 7) Parents, teachers, counselors and the math department supervisor need to provide more input to African American male students to increase their participation in upper level math classes. In addition, factors such as love of math, high school graduation/college admissions requirements, peers, and future plans must also be addressed if schools hope to increase the number of African American males taking upper level math classes. / Ed. D.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and interpret specific aspects and characteristics of classroom discourse of an elementary mathematics classroom. To examine the classroom discourse, a fifth grade mathematics classroom was observed during sixteen weeks, and twenty lessons in total. The analysis was based on two main categories: (1) Student Learning and (2) Teacher Moves. Student Learning further divided into two sub-categories as content and learning. Additionally, Teacher Moves also divided into content knowledge and pedagogy and creating learning environment sub-categories. Results of this study showed that despite the many efforts in mathematics education in Turkey and the accepted importance of student-centered classrooms / still in some elementary classrooms teacher-centered instruction continue to be dominating. Moreover, the teacher questions generally seemed to have short answer and low-level characteristics that require students to recall mathematical rules and procedures rather than high-level questions that require students to recall mathematics rules and procedures rather than high-level questions that require students think deeper and draw inferences on mathematical content. Although, the results did not meet the assumptions of discursive classroom at all / based on the results, it could be said that in classroom practices, mathematics teachers try to make connections between mathematical content and other disciplines where they tried to give examples from real-world situations and also encourage students in that way / as pointed out in new mathematics curriculum.

In recent years, there has been a growth of using visuals and vocabulary in mathematics and mathematics classes. The purpose of this Master’s Report is to illuminate research done in the realm of mathematics education related to the increasing use of visuals and visual devices as models for mathematical concepts, as well as visuals for quick reference or “short cuts.” Also discussed is mathematics vocabulary, the words most likely seen on mathematics exams, standardized state tests, and overall, any vocabulary most likely to trigger problem solving strategies and solutions. Trends such as “word walls” and “graphic organizers,” as well as vocabulary strategies aimed at oral, visual, and kinesthetic learners have all emerged in the classroom. Other strategies implemented and researched include student mathematics journals, student created mathematics dictionaries, children’s literature, graphic organizers, and written explanations of open ended word problems. All proved to enhance students’ mathematical vocabulary, increase comprehension and increase ability in communication of mathematical ideas. Furthermore, the use of visual models has emerged in mathematics courses in order to promote more mathematical understanding. “Proofs without words” and patterns and pictures are growing in their use to explain mathematical concepts and ideas. Visual devices that help students arrive at probable answers also have grown in their implementation in the classroom and beyond. Overall, has the increased use of visuals and vocabulary in both mathematics education and mathematics in general improved the mathematical understanding of our society? What research, if any, has been done to document the effects of word walls, graphic organizers, and etcetera? The research will show that, yes, an overwhelming amount of data shows that the implementation of such visual and vocabulary strategies can improve the mathematical understanding of those exposed to the strategies and devices. / text

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:58:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mari Emilia dos Santos Calhau.pdf: 939896 bytes, checksum: 82f6a7baba123615568b40b35959e1ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-10-19 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / The main objective of this assignment is to study the subject "Inquiries in classroom: a proposal of activity in classrooms of elementary education ", with the purpose of giving contributions to the research about how much students can learn if teachers use inquiry tasks in mathematics classes and to think about some criteria to elaborate and apply this kind of activities in order that make possible for teachers using them in a math classroom. We are trying to find out what can be educative projects in this area and how they can contribute for an effective renewal of pedagogical practice at school, so, we think it is important to answer to three questions: what kind of attitudes we can note about the students when they are doing inquiry tasks; what kind of difficulties related to teaching/learning we can find in a methodology which the main aim is inquiry e what about the teacher s role when they ask students to do inquiry tasks. To answer these questions we made five inquiry activities for students that are at the eight grade of Elementary School try to solve them. The group have thirty-four students and nineteen of them was boys and fifteen girls and they are between thirteen and sixteen years old, all of them study in a municipal public school in São Paulo. The data had been collected through a written instrument and interviews with some students. These results had been analyzed according to Ponte s point of view about the inquiry activities. At the end of our research we can say that although initially the most part of the group was shown unreliability on their own capacities about exploring the inquiry tasks and the great challenge that these kind of activities represent to us teachers, we think the results had been very satisfactory, because we can note the students well-known, their enthusiasm, persistence and the progress when they are solving tasks in classes where the methodology was centered in the inquiry / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar o tema Investigações em sala de aula: uma proposta de atividade em salas de aula do ensino fundamental , com o propósito de trazer contribuições à pesquisa referente à aprendizagem dos alunos, através da utilização de tarefas de investigação em matemática e construir critérios para a elaboração e aplicação de atividades que viabilizem o tema em sala de aula. Procurando analisar o que podem ser projetos educativos neste domínio e de que modo contribuem para uma efetiva renovação das práticas pedagógicas escolares, buscamos examinar três questões: que atitudes manifestam os alunos perante tarefas de investigação; qual o papel do professor em atividades de investigação e que dificuldades de ensino e/ou aprendizagem podemos encontrar em uma metodologia centrada na investigação. Para isso foram elaboradas cinco tarefas centradas na investigação e aplicadas a alunos de 8ª série do Ensino Fundamental, o grupo era constituído de 34 alunos dos quais 19 eram meninos e 15 meninas na faixa etária de 13 a 16 anos, de uma escola pública municipal da cidade de São Paulo. Os dados foram coletados através de um instrumento escrito e entrevistas com alguns sujeitos. Esses resultados foram analisados segundo os pressupostos referentes à investigação defendidos por Ponte. Concluímos, que apesar de inicialmente grande parte da turma demonstrar insegurança nas suas capacidades para explorar as tarefas de investigação, do desafio que a elaboração e aplicação dessas tarefas representam para nós professores, os resultados foram muito satisfatórios, pois constatamos o entusiasmo, o empenho e progresso dos alunos durante a resolução das tarefas nas aulas que deram suporte a essa pesquisa

The present work was developed in the Postgraduate Program in Mathematics Education and Physics Teaching (PPGEM & EF) of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and inserted in the line of research Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and its Philosophical, Historical and Epistemological Foundations. Based on interviews with the pedagogical advisor of the 8ª Regional Education Coordination (8ª CRE), responsible for the Special Education sector, with teachers of Mathematics from state schools of Basic Education and the analysis of official documents of the Brazilian legislation on Special Education and Inclusive Education, curricula and pedagogical projects of undergraduate courses in Mathematics, this research aimed to investigate how these Mathematics teachers organize their classes for teaching in classes that have students included. For the data collection, semi-structured interviews were carried out with five Mathematics teachers from the state public school system who work or have already worked with students included in the regular education and with the pedagogical advisor responsible for the Special Education sector of the 8ª CRE. We used as a theoretical methodological reference for conducting these interviews Oral History, based on the ideas of José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy (1996) and, mainly, the works developed by the Oral History and Mathematics Education Research Group, coordinated by Antonio Vicente Marafioti Garnica (2005, 2007, 2011, 2013). The analysis of the interviews was performed - according to the work carried out by Maria Edneia Martins-Salandim - in two moments: analysis of singularities and analysis of convergences. In the analysis of singularities we try to record what is characteristic of each deponent in his narrative, its peculiarities and its particularities. In the analysis of convergences we seek to confront the narratives of our deponents with what is written in the official documents of the legislation on Special Education and Inclusive Education and with the grades and pedagogical projects of the degree courses in Mathematics of the institutions where the teachers interviewed concluded the course Training. For this, we list three units of analysis: initial training, continuing training and work with included students. We emphasize, from the analysis carried out, that the Mathematics teachers interviewed consider that the work carried out with students included in regular education is hard work and difficult to be developed, since they did not receive orientation in the initial training course to work with these students. In addition, they have taken part in a few continuing education courses related to this topic, and the 8ª CRE does not provide guidelines for this work that be aimed at teachers in areas other than Special Education. / O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido junto ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Matemática e Ensino de Física (PPGEM&EF) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) e inserido á linha de pesquisa Ensino e Aprendizagem da Matemática e seus Fundamentos Filosóficos, Históricos e Epistemológicos. Com base em entrevistas com o assessor pedagógico da 8ª Coordenadoria Regional de Educação (8ª CRE), responsável pelo setor de Educação Especial, com professores de Matemática de escolas estaduais da Educação Básica e na análise de documentos oficiais da legislação brasileira sobre Educação Especial e Educação Inclusiva, de currículos e projetos pedagógicos de cursos de Licenciatura em Matemática, essa pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar como esses professores de Matemática organizam suas aulas para a docência em turmas que possuem alunos incluídos. Para a coleta dos dados foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com cinco professoras de Matemática da rede pública estadual de ensino que trabalham ou já trabalharam com alunos incluídos no ensino regular e com a assessora pedagógica responsável pelo setor de Educação Especial da 8ª CRE. Utilizamos como referencial teórico metodológico para a realização dessas entrevistas a História Oral, nos fundamentando nas ideias de José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy (1996) e, principalmente, nos trabalhos desenvolvidos pelo grupo de pesquisa Grupo História Oral e Educação Matemática, coordenado por Antonio Vicente Marafioti Garnica (2005; 2007; 2011; 2013). A análise das entrevistas foi realizada – conforme o trabalho realizado por Maria Edneia Martins-Salandim – em dois momentos: análise de singularidades e análise de convergências. Na análise de singularidades procuramos registrar o que é característico de cada depoente em sua narrativa, suas peculiaridades e suas particularidades. Na análise de convergências buscamos confrontar as narrativas dos nossos depoentes com o que está escrito nos documentos oficiais da legislação sobre Educação Especial e Educação Inclusiva e com as grades e os projetos pedagógicos dos cursos de Licenciatura em Matemática das instituições onde as professoras entrevistadas concluíram o curso de formação inicial. Para isso, elencamos três unidades de análise: formação inicial, formação continuada e trabalho com alunos incluídos. Destacamos, a partir da análise realizada, que as professoras de Matemática entrevistadas consideram que o trabalho realizado com alunos incluídos no ensino regular é um trabalho árduo e difícil de ser desenvolvido, pois elas não receberam, no curso de formação inicial, orientações para trabalhar com esses alunos. Além disso, participaram de poucos cursos de formação continuada relacionados a esse tema e a 8ª CRE também não fornece orientações para esse trabalho que sejam voltadas aos professores de áreas que não seja a Educação Especial.

The research documented in this report had a twofold purpose. Firstly, it was to design and implement an intervention based on the theory of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) aimed at improving the mathematical understanding of learners in two Grade 8 remedial mathematics classes, by revisiting the key number concepts of place value, fractions and decimals. In doing so, a second purpose was to investigate the viability and emerging characteristics of an intervention based on the theory of RME in such a setting (i.e. with low attainers to revisit key number concepts). Pending the realisation of these immediate outcomes, more distant outcomes in subsequent research would be: that learners' understanding and academic performance in mathematics improves and to develop a local instruction theory in using the RME theory to revisit the concepts of place value, fractions and decimals with low attaining learners in order to improve their understanding in this regard. Grade 8 low attainers were selected as the target group for this research as a result of the pending implementation of Mathematical Literacy as a compulsory subject for all learners, possibly from 2006. Currently in South Africa, learners who are not meeting the required standard by the end of their Grade 9 year are able to elect not to take mathematics through Grades 10, 11 and 12. When the new Further Education and Training (FET) policy is implemented, this will no longer be the case. All learners, who do not elect to take mathematics as a subject, will have to take Mathematical Literacy as a compulsory subject throughout Grades 10, 11 and 12. Although less detailed and abstract than the subject mathematics, the Mathematical Literacy curriculum still requires learners to have an understanding of key number concepts and also contains a substantial amount of algebra. As Grade 8 is when learners start working with algebra more formally, and is also their first year at secondary school, it was decided that this would be an appropriate year to try and diagnose and remediate problems in learners' understanding of the key number concepts, if and where possible. The intention was that this would then equip learners with a more appropriate structure of conceptualised knowledge of the above-mentioned concepts on which they could further construct their understanding of algebra. The study was carried out at a local urban high school in South Africa and the research design of this study was informed by two development research approaches (van den Akker&Plomp, 1993; Gravemeijer, 1994). Also, the study was only implemented with a small number of participants, within a bounded setting and without the intention to generalise the results. It was therefore regarded as a development case study. The results appear to indicate that it is viable to apply the theory of RME with low attaining Grade 8 learners in order to revisit the key number concepts of place value, fractions and decimals. Copyright 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Barnes, HE 2004, A developmental case study : implementing the theory of realistic mathematics education with low attainers, MEd dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12032004-103122 / > / Dissertation (MEd (Curriculum design))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted