This dissertation focuses on examining the use of mathematical cartoons as a teaching tool in middle school mathematics classroom. A mixed methods research design was used to answer how the use of cartoon activities affects teacher and student perceptions of teaching and learning and student intrinsic motivation, interest, and mathematics anxiety in middle school mathematics. 17 students in 7th grade pre-algebra class and one teacher participated in this study. Eight cartoon activities were provided over a 10-week period, but no more than one cartoon activity per class period was given to them. Student surveys were analyzed using quantitative method, such as mean score, frequency, and percentage, and student mathematics journal and teacher journal were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results of this study revealed that both students and teacher reported positive results from using cartoons in the mathematics classroom. Students became more open as time went on and it was possible to see their mathematical insights as the study progressed. They did not enjoy easy cartoon activities, but relished challenging ones. Their frustration at difficult-to-understand activities shows the importance of carefully matching cartoon activities to student abilities. When cartoon activities have appropriate levels of difficulty and are clearly understandable, students' intrinsic motivation and interest increased, and mathematics anxiety decreased. The teacher reported that students gave up less easily, participated more readily, and were more focused in classes with cartoon activities. Mathematics instruction with cartoon activities has shown the students that they can enjoy learning mathematics, mathematics can be fun, and they do have the ability to be successful in mathematics. The use of cartoon activity proved to be a valuable instructional tool for improving the quality of mathematics instruction in a 7th grade classroom.

The development of single-variable causal reasoning is well-studied, with children demonstrating an impressive ability to detect causality from an early age. A less studied, and perhaps important, ability is to understand multivariable causality. Individuals who possess a single-variable mental model of causality risk not thinking deeply enough to accurately detect and understand how the world works. Previous work with middle-schoolers (Kuhn, Ramsey and Arvidsson, under review) has shown that students can be supported in developing their mental models of causality through an extended opportunity to deeply engage in self-directed investigations. These investigations used social studies and health content within social studies and science classrooms; the current work evaluates whether similar development can be supported through using science curriculum content. To evaluate the question, an intervention was conducted in which students performed self-directed investigations into databases to uncover relationships in the data. These investigations were carried out by utilizing InspireData, an age-appropriate software that allows students to visually represent data. Ninety-two eighth grade students were assessed after a self-directed investigation of factors affecting precipitation levels in which they used InspireData to interpret data. Approximately 58% of students had previous experience with a self-directed investigation into factors affecting Body Mass Index, also using InspireData. Students either participated in a one-day intervention (the dense condition) or a six sessions within a two-week period (distributed condition). The effectiveness of the intervention was measured through three assessments: 1) The eighth grade research report prepared during the intervention; 2) A graph-reading assessment which used novel InspireData graphs; and 3) The Cancer Task, which provided an assessment of each student's mental model of causality. Intervention students had superior understanding of causality when compared to an out-of-school control group for mental model of causality, but the improvement in scientific reasoning skills was not as dramatic as in previous interventions. Intervention students demonstrated an ability to detect causal relationships during their intervention, as well as on unfamiliar graphs. There were no differences in graph interpretation and research report performance by condition (dense or distribution conditions) or previous experience. These results suggest that the understanding of multivariable causality is a fragile construct which will not always develop under what appear to be similar circumstances. Students in this intervention investigated a database, successfully identifying relationships present in the data, but were not as likely to undergo the cognitive change necessary to improve their multivariable thinking as participants in previous interventions. Beliefs about the nature of science may affect how students participated in the intervention and therefore whether conceptual development regarding causal understanding was possible. Suggestions for further research into the circumstances in which multivariable understanding can develop and implications based on these findings are discussed.

The new mathematical modeling standard found in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in 2010 immediately created a gap between teachers’ knowledge and the new curriculum. Mathematical modeling is a way of doing mathematics with which many teachers are not familiar. The trilogy of Teachers College Mathematical Modeling Handbooks (Handbooks) were created with this in mind and made to be used as a tool for teachers of mathematical modeling. This study utilized a professional development program to determine teachers’ perceptions of these Handbooks. This study used the qualitative case study approach with two active middle school teachers. Data were collected through researcher observations, journal entries of the two participants, and exit interviews. The data from this study show the two teachers found creating and working on their own models was the most useful activity in preparing to teach mathematical modeling. The teachers also reported positive perceptions toward reading background literature and being provided time to adapt the lesson modules from the Handbooks for their own classrooms. While the teachers did not utilize the theoretical structure provided in the third Handbook, they found the Handbooks, overall, to be an effective tool.

Despite the robust evidence that spiritual development begins in childhood, the relationship between adolescent spirituality and positive development outcomes has been largely overlooked; thus, while the positive impact of spirituality on development has been established again and again, the empirical data on childhood and adolescent spirituality remains limited (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, & Waite, 1995). This topic, however, may be especially relevant in such turbulent times in education and development, particularly in the backdrop of the recent surging interest in character education. Using data from 1,352 middle-school adolescents who live throughout Israel, the current study examines the following hypotheses: 1. Spirituality is a foundational facet of character, independent of interpersonal, intrapersonal and intellectual facets of character. 2. Spirituality is stable over time during adolescent development. 3. Spirituality is correlated with positive outcomes such as positive emotions, prosociality and life satisfaction, and with character strengths such as kindness, gratitude, perseverance, and perspective. 4. Changes in spirituality over time are related to changes in positive outcomes and character strengths. Variables were measured according to several previously validated scales, completed in this study by the Israeli middle-school adolescents. Data were analyzed using a common factor model, latent class analysis and latent growth mixture modeling. The results revealed four distinct dimensions of strength/character among middle school adolescents: spiritual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intellectual. The emergence of a statistically autonomous spirituality factor, incorporating the various aspects of spirituality measured in the current study, suggests that spirituality is a divergent aspect of youth character, and one of the foundational aspects of character. The findings also suggest that spirituality is stable over time. The current study suggests meaningful relationships between spirituality and positive emotions, life satisfaction, prosociality, interpersonal character (e.g., prudence, judgment, selfregulation, honesty, forgiveness, teamwork, humility), and intrapersonal character (e.g., zest, life orientation, humor, hope, perspective). Spirituality did not show meaningful relationships with intellectual character strengths. Lastly, these findings suggest that spirituality is longitudinally related to positive outcomes, and that adolescents with spiritual growth report the highest levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, prosociality, and character strengths such as gratitude, kindness, honesty, perseverance, hope, and prudence, as well as the lowest levels of problems with peers. These findings suggest that spirituality is an important aspect of adolescent psychological development, both in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal growth. Further research on this issue is warranted in order to determine whether the education of middle-school adolescents should include spirituality as a core tenet.

A basic component of argumentive writing is the coordination of claims with evidence bearing on them. Deep engagement in dialogic argumentation has been found to facilitate development of beginning students’ individual written argument. Despite progress in several respects following such engagement, in their argumentive writing middle-school writers frequently ignore evidence incongruent with their claims -- a violation of norms of skilled argument. The present research examines the effectiveness of engaging middle-school student dyads in joint meta-level reflection on the use of evidence in their argumentation, both anticipating its potential use and evaluating its actual use. A total of 54 Chinese 7th graders participated in a dialogic argument curriculum in 33 class sessions over four months. For each of three successive topics, evidence both congruent and incongruent with a dyads’ position on the topic was made available for their use. Half of the participants were assigned to an Evidence Reflection and Argument Practice (ER+AP) condition, in which in addition the dyad was prompted to discuss verbally and jointly complete reflection sheets regarding their evidence use. The other half of participants served in an Argument Practice (AP) condition, identical except for omission of the Evidence Reflection component. Analysis of participants’ individual written essays on the topic at the end of their engagement with each topic revealed superior performance on the part of the ER+AP group, with the reflection component enhancing their addressing evidence both congruent and incongruent with their claims. However, this happened only slowly. The superiority of the ER+AP group was most decisive by the last topic, when members of the ER+AP students also demonstrated an ability to connect two pieces of evidence serving conflicting argumentive functions. Fifty additional students participated in a control condition, included for the purpose of comparing their performance to that of the intervention students on a topic new to both groups. Both the ER+AP and AP intervention groups showed superior performance relative to the control group in including evidence congruent with their own position in their essays. Only the ER+AP group, however, showed superiority in addressing evidence incongruent with their position. Analysis of responses students provided to the evidence reflection sheets revealed developmental patterns over time, and explicated the underlying mechanism driving ER+AP students’ superior performance. Theories regarding the interiroization of cognition from inter- to intra-mental planes, as well as the supportive effects of meta-level engagement on transfer of skills, are invoked in accounting for the findings.

The purpose of this work is to explore the spatial lives of three adolescents in grade nine, between January and May, as they navigated their lives and anticipated their upcoming transition to high school (for students in Grades 10 – 12), with an interest in equitable access to International Baccalaureate programs. Researched in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in a context where access to IB was a student choice, free of cost, and void of consideration regarding academic history, the students involved in this study came from neighborhoods that have been historically marginalized from participation in IB, regardless of this “open access” policy. Methodologically, this study is grounded in spatial theory (hooks 1989; Lefebvre, 1979, 1991; Soja, 1996, 2010) and draws on narrative (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Naraian, 2017) and ethnographic techniques (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995; LeCompte & Schensul, 1999; Merriam, 2009), using an a/r/tographic stance, that is Artist, Researcher, Teacher positionality (Fendler, 2013; Irwin & Springgay, 2008) as a way to conceptualize the adolescents lives in and outside of school. The research questions address: how adolescents define, describe and map the spaces where they spend time; how they describe their identities, experiences and relationships across space and time; and, what connections they make between engaging in this process and their perceptions about high school. The findings suggest that the spatial stories of adolescents matter, are complex, and provide insight into the ways in which they navigate their worlds and make decisions about their academic futures. Methodologically, using a narrative and ethnographically inspired a/r/tographic approach to exploring the spatial lives of adolescents was useful and generative in terms of eliciting insight and understanding of their complex lives in and out of school. Finally, the findings suggest that for schools seeking to become more inclusive of historically marginalized adolescents, they may need to reconsider an approach that pulls marginalized youth into the “main body” (hooks, 1989), and, instead, travel to the “margin” (hooks, 1989) to re-conceptualize and design programs from there, the “space of radical openness” (hooks, 1989).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / In a review of the literature, no studies were found on the achievement of school-age English-Speaking Caribbean students. This study was initiated to remedy this lack by examining the characteristics of twenty-one 12-18 year old high achieving and low achieving English-speaking Caribbean students and the influence of twenty-one parents' and seventeen teachers' attitudes on the students. Support was found for Bandura's theory that role models influence people's self-efficacy which in turn influences their choice, effort and persistence. The study further supports the resiliency theory which suggests that people can be successful, despite environmental challenges. This study also found that the unidentified bilingual status of English-speaking Caribbean 12-18 year old students and their new environment with unfamiliar teaching styles, regulations and procedures were additional challenges not commonly identified in the literature. In order to support self-efficacy and promote resiliency, 1) better assessment of English-speaking Caribbean students' ability to use Standard English and 2) greater planning and collaboration among parents, teachers and students are recommended. The following are questions to be addressed in future research: 1) What are the similarities and differences among students, parents and teachers regarding expectations of ESC students' school performance? 2) What are ESC students' reading and writing proficiency levels in Standard English? 3) How can schools support self-efficacy and resiliency characteristics in all students? / 2031-01-01

<p> The purpose of the study was to investigate middle school students' perceptions of teacher feedback, middle school teachers' perceptions of the same feedback, and the extent to which those perceptions matched. While research into feedback practices was rich, few studies investigated middle school students' perceptions and experience with feedback practices. The study aimed to address possible miscommunication between teachers and students which may negatively impact middle school students' learning trajectories. Middle school students and teachers from a Midwestern Independent school participated in the study. Student data was examined in aggregate and by race, gender, grade level, years of experience at the school, and student academic self-ratings. Data was acquired using surveys, focus groups, questionnaires and interviews comparing middle school student and teacher responses to 1) clarity of feedback messages, 2) effectiveness of feedback messages, 3) feedback delivery systems and 4) how feedback is used by middle school students. The study also compared trimester grade point averages of middle school students who participated in a 6-week feedback training session intended to improve feedback engagement. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of data revealed that while there were significant differences in how middle school students and teachers view and interpret teacher feedback, middle school students find teacher feedback to be highly valuable and crave instructive rather than evaluative feedback to help improve their work. The evidence also revealed the advantages and limitations of instructing middle school students on how to be better interpreters and users of teacher feedback. The researcher suggests educators need to incorporate explicit feedback protocols in their classrooms including providing reflection time and opportunities for middle school students to practice becoming better receivers of feedback. The researcher also recommends educators proactively seek middle school student input concerning the type of feedback desired and how to deliver that feedback. </p><p>

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This study sought to build on existing research in the areas of student extracurricular activity participation, school identification, and improvement of student achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of extracurricular activity participation and school identification upon one another and their combined and individual contributions to the goal of student achievement.;The study was conducted using archival data from the 2009-2010 school year along with data from a survey that target extracurricular activity participation and school identification. Data were analyzed for a sample of 314 students out of a population of over 900 in Grades 6, 7, and 8 from two different middle schools. Students were given a survey at the start of the 2010-2011 school year, after being promoted to Grades 7, 8, and 9. The survey results provided the researcher with a school identification and extracurricular activity participation score for each student. These scores were compared to achievement data comprising the end-of-year grade point average and the mathematics and reading Virginia Standards of Learning scaled scores.;The results of the study indicated that there was a mild relationship between students' participation in extracurricular activities and their identification with their school. The findings revealed no significant relationships between students' participation in extracurricular activities and any of the achievement measures, or between student school identification and academic achievement.