Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-137). Also available on the Internet.

This study examined the effect of problem-based instruction (PBI) on undergraduate students and prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions of mathematical proof and pedagogical views. Quantitatively, the Mathematical Proof Survey (MPS) was developed and used to assess the views of mathematical proof held by undergraduates in lecture-based and PBI mathematics courses. Qualitatively, research interviews examined the way teacher candidates’ experiences as mathematics learners in the courses affected their conceptions of mathematical proof and views of learning and teaching mathematics and proof. Findings from quantitative analysis of MPS data and qualitative analysis of interview data are presented, and results from the comparative analysis are discussed for implications. The results of the study suggest that experiences with proof and instruction in such PBI courses provide opportunities for undergraduates and prospective mathematics teachers to develop more humanistic perspectives of proof and process-oriented pedagogical views than do lecture-based courses. / text

With advancements in information technology, people can now access enormous amounts of information with ease. The education system, which plays a vital role in developing our future, has undergone important changes. In the past decades, nearly every part of the education process, from curricula design, assessment methodologies, to teaching methodologies, have been scrutinized. As a result, a series of reforms or changes have been implemented. The purposes of the present study are to investigate more about perceptions and attitudes of secondary school mathematics teachers towards the use of computers in their teaching. Besides, the factors affecting teachers’ attitudes towards computer application in teaching are also analyzed. Finally, the study will also explore the effectiveness of students’ learning through cooperative learning One class of 36 students from 5C, aged 14-16, were invited to participate in this research by using the DMS of GeoGebra for teaching the topics of ‘Basic Properties of Circles’. The teaching outcome of 5C would then be compared with 2 other classes of 5A and 5B, which would be taught by my peer teachers. 5A and 5B’s teachers would employ conventional teaching methods to teach ‘Basic Properties of Circles’ (i.e. the Control Group). Five student worksheets for Basic Operation of GeoGebra and each sub-topic of “Basic Properties of Circles” were devised (see Appendices I to V). Those 5 students were all asked to fill in the questionnaire I. Besides, 12 mathematics teachers were asked to fill in the questionnaire I (see Appendix VIII) of Mathematics with Technology Perceptions Survey (MTPS) in order to investigate their perceptions of using information technology (IT) in teaching mathematics. The purpose of the MTPS items was to ascertain the prevalence of key attitudes and perceptions creating barriers or enabling teachers’ intentions to alter their practice and to teach mathematics with technology. Demographic data of MTPS items were collected on gender, age group, years of teaching, education level, teacher training, teaching level and subject taught. During the whole study, video-recording was taken. In addition, my two peer teachers from classes 5A and 5B were also invited to have an interview. Then, they were asked to fill in the questionnaire II (see Appendix XIII) in order to investigate their’ intention in using the DMS of GeoGebra for teaching and learning mathematics in Secondary 5 classes. Besides, 14 students were randomly selected in order to find out the effects of their learning by using DMS of GeoGebra through peer groups, and these 14 students were invited to complete an extended version of questionnaire II (see Appendix X). Finally, students were asked to conduct a test (see Appendix VI) in order to compare the learning outcome of students learning ‘Basic Properties of Circles’ with the DMS of GeoGebra with those learning in its absence. It is suggested that the integration of computer in learning mathematics should be required. Schools need to make full use of technology to guide students to learn as much as possible. Also, leadership needs to be available to teachers and to provide an in-service education in technology use, so that technology use was operating as well as possible. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

This study explores the ways in which teachers' interventions interact with and occasion the growth of students' mathematical understanding. Two 'cases' were documented, and these form the two strands of my research. The first strand concerns data collected in my own high school classroom at a time when I was a full-time teacher of mathematics in a small, rural secondary school in the United Kingdom. The second strand concerns data collected in a mathematics classroom in a large, urban high school in Vancouver, British Columbia. The data consist of videotaped lessons in each of the two classrooms, videotaped interviews with students from both strands of the data, copies of students' work from both strands, videotaped interviews with the Vancouver teacher, and my own journal entries. Analysis of the data, which is described in six stages, resulted in the generation of fifteen themes to describe the teachers' actions-in-the-moment. Three of these themes are distinguished from the others as teaching styles, as contrasted with the remaining twelve teaching strategies, and a number of the teaching strategies are clustered within the three teaching styles. The notion of a 'continuum of telling' is developed, upon which the three teaching styles lie, and this continuum is explored in order to probe the ways in which teachers' interventions interact with the growth of students' mathematical understanding. The ways in which teachers' interventions occasion the growth of students' mathematical understanding is probed through an integration of detailed traces of the students' growth of understanding with contemporaneous considerations of the teachers' strategies and styles. Implications to be drawn from these analyses, both for the research community and for teaching and learning, are discussed. I also share my reflections on my own growth as a teacher and as a researcher that I have experienced as a result of participating in, and conducting, this study.

The purpose of this study was to initiate integration of HIV and AIDS curriculum in / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

The purpose of this study was to extend our knowledge about mathematical literacy learning with the focus on a foundational preservice teacher education module required for prospective teachers. The construct of mathematical proficiency provided a framework for understanding how successful learning depends on a multiplicity of competences, and in particular to highlight the pivotal role of a productive disposition towards mathematics in becoming mathematically literate. The main questions that guided the study were as follows: What is the nature and strength of the productive disposition strand of mathematical proficiency evident in preservice teachers entering a Mathematical Literacy module and how does this productive disposition change over the course of the module? and What pedagogical practices and learning behaviours best enable preservice teachers to achieve mathematical literacy? The study was undertaken as two overlapping case studies, the first describing the preservice teachers at the onset of their studies in the Mathematical Literacy for Educators module, and in the second, a three part story-telling case study of the unfolding of the module over three years from 2003 to 2005. The mathematics autobiographies of 254 preservice teachers and the data obtained from a premodule questionnaire and introductory class activities contributed to the first case study which was summarised in the form of three fictional letters. Written reflections, final module evaluations and the insights of my co-workers contributed to the second case study which documented the successes and struggles of the preservice teachers as the module unfolded each year. Complementary mixed methods techniques were used to analyse the multiple sources of data and to weave strong ropes of evidence to support the findings. Statistical analysis pointed to themes which were supported or tempered by qualitative evidence reported in the voices of the preservice teachers themselves. The analysis revealed that many of the preservice teachers entering the Mathematical Literacy for Educators module had found their school experience of mathematics to be dispiriting and consequently had developed negative dispositions towards the subject. The change in this disposition depended on their success in the module and the empathy shown by the lecturer. Helpful pedagogical practices were found to be those that supported language difficulties in learning mathematics, assisted in organising learning, remediated for poor schooling background in mathematics and took account of the diversity amongst the students. I argue that many of the lessons learned and insights gained from teaching the Mathematical Literacy for Educators module are relevant to the expanding number of mathematics courses required as part of humanities programmes. In addition, they can inform practices at school level and in both in mathematics and mathematical literacy teacher education. / Thesis (PhD.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.