Stereotype threat is a situational concern in which persons have uneasiness or worries about confirming a negative presumption about their social group. This apprehension affects the performance of those suffering this threat in recursive cycles, causing continuing underperformance in the threatened domain. This document reviews the research on stereotype threat, its causes, characteristics and effects, and describes how stereotype threat affects learning and undermines academic performance. Attention is focused on the role that stereotype threat plays in the underachievement of females in mathematics. A report on an experiment that attempted to reduce math-related stereotype threat among middle school females is included.

This study was conducted to investigate the disparity that seems to exist in students abilities to solve equations, solve word problems, and model word problems with algebraic equations. Over the course of fourteen-weeks, students enrolled in an advanced seventh grade mathematics course were given a series of algebra assignments, tasks, and surveys that focused on students abilities to solve and write algebraic equations. The results show that students are more competent in determining solutions for equations and simple word problems than modeling word problems with algebraic equations. Students were willing to exert substantial effort to use arithmetic procedures to find solutions, but were not as invested in writing the equations. This study also shows that students have difficulty relating known and unknown quantities algebraically. Our results suggests, classroom instruction should be focused on bridging the conceptual gaps that exist within solving equations, solving word problems, and modeling with algebraic equations.

This thesis discusses the results obtained upon the implementation of an online math remediation program, SuccessMaker, as a component of Response to Intervention (RTI). The objective was to increase the content knowledge of students struggling in math. Woodlawn Middle chose a targeted group of students considered at risk in hopes of preparing them for the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP). Yearly gains in SuccessMaker were compared to achievement levels on the math section of the LEAP test. Results showed that the more time spent on Success Maker resulted in higher gains in grade level. The gains in SuccessMaker did not necessarily translate to increasing the passing rate on the math component of the LEAP test. In terms of an RTI component, SuccessMaker worked well as a remediation tool because teachers were able to meet the needs of multiple students at a time. The intervention raised the math skills and consequently, the grade levels of many students. Hence, suggestions to optimize the implementation of SuccessMaker are given in detail to Pearson, school administrators and teachers.

The purpose of this research is to uncover best practices to create competent proof writers. Studies have shown the best setting to do this is in the high school geometry classroom. Throughout a yearlong study of geometry, students were exposed to theorems and their demonstrations. Despite constant exposure, students were still unable to produce their own proof of propositions. The questions then became how can an educator provide critical feedback that encourages student reasoning and develops logical argumentation skills? With the goal in mind, twenty-five students enrolled in a geometry course at Baton Rouge High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana were given the task of replicating certain proofs in their own words. More than the students performance, this research focuses on the teachers role as a feedback source of students proof-writing ability. Submitted are the efforts of one educator to establish norms in the construction of geometric proof writing, provide a method of feedback in the form of a student checklist and student teacher interviews, and adapt these efforts into an evaluation tool. The research will show students original writing, teacher feedback, final product, and the evaluation results in the hopes of establishing best practices to increase student performance on proof writing tasks.

Because students are often taught physics in a traditional, lecture-based classroom, the present study was undertaken to test whether the use of peer instruction, specifically concept questions embedded within a PowerPoint that allows for students to interact throughout the lecture, affects learner outcomes in a classroom setting. The outcomes from classes taught using peer instruction were compared to classes taught with traditional, lecture-based teaching strategies. Students in five different sections of a 9th grade Physical Science class were given pre-tests and post-tests to determine their learning gains on the topics of motion and forces. In the first unit of instruction, three of the five classes were given peer instruction throughout each class lecture while the other two classes received a traditional, lecture based approach to each class. In the second unit, classes that had not used peer instruction previously received the peer instruction treatment, while the other classes received traditional lecture. Overall, the peer instruction technique showed a significant positive effect on learning gains compared to traditional teaching methods when used in a ninth grade Physical Science classroom. In each of the sections of students examined individually, peer instruction was as or more effective than traditional lecturing in improving student learning.

This study was completed to determine if implementing demonstrations in specific chapters of a high school chemistry classroom would enhance students understanding of the topics the demonstrations represented. The study consisted of five sections of college preparatory high school chemistry. The sections were made up of both male and female students. The sections were randomly broken up into two groups. Each group acted as the experimental and control at different points in the study. Four chapters were used in the study. Each group represented the control group in two chapters and the experimental group in two chapters, flip flopping with each chapter tested. Both groups were given a pre-test at the start of the chapter to assess prior knowledge. The experimental group was provided with classroom demonstrations throughout the chapter along with a standard lecture on the topics tested in the pre-test. The control group was given a standard lecture but was not shown any demonstrations throughout the chapter. Both groups were given a post-test to evaluate understanding gained at the end of the chapter. No significant differences were observed between the control and experimental groups when comparing raw test scores. However, a consistent trend was observed suggesting that the demonstrations presented to the experimental group did have a positive effect on student understanding with those students obtaining higher learning gains than those without the demonstrations. In comparison of normalized learning gains between the control and experimental groups, a trend of increased normalized learning gain for the experimental groups was observed including statistical significance in two of the chapters tested. The data collected was also broken down by gender with-in each chapter. No statistical significance was found in the raw scores or normalized learning gain based on gender.

This research explores the effects of frequent quizzing versus no quizzing in a high school Physical Science class. The study population included two freshman level Physical Science Honors classes. The content in this study included Classifying Matter, States of Matter, Atomic Bonding, Motion and Forces and Motion. For each chapter covered one class served as a control group, getting no quizzes, and the other class served as an experimental group, getting frequent quizzes. Prior to being taught information on the 5 chapters covered in this study, a 15-question pre-test was administered to the students. The information was delivered in the same manner, by lecture and PowerPoints, to both the control and the experimental groups. Upon completion of each section of the chapter, the experimental group took a 10-question quiz. The control group was allowed to review their notes. A post-test was given after covering all of the material for each chapter. The pre-tests and post-tests were generated using software and a question database for choosing questions based on state standards and learning objectives. Raw gains of the study population from pre-test to post-test were analyzed and compared to determine if the quizzes had increased student knowledge for the chapter. No statistical significance was found between the non-quizzed and the quizzed groups.

The Common Core State Standards encourage the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. This study was designed to create a template for high school teachers to use in a geometry class to improve students proof writing ability. The students enrolled in the class were asked to complete journal and expository writing assignments throughout the course. The assignments were scored with a rubric. To assess if growth was made in proof writing, the students were all given a test four times throughout the school year. All four tests were assessed using the same rubric. We provide evidence that the template was successful in increasing the students ability to write geometric proofs by increasing their use of mathematical vocabulary, increasing their ability to use the information in a problem, and increasing their ability to justify their steps with correct mathematical facts or theorems.

ABSTRACT Many high school Geometry students lack the perseverance required to complete complex and time-consuming problems. This project tests the hypothesis that if students were provided with a means of organizing their problem solving work they will be less apt to quit when faced with complex and time-consuming mathematical problems. This study involved students enrolled in 10th grade Geometry and 10th grade Honors Geometry in two similar high schools. After trying unsuccessfully to implement methods adapted from an engineering workshop, I designed a graphic organizer that was simple to use and acceptable to the students. Ultimately, I did not detect a direct effect on perseverance, but the graphic organizer appeared to increase student communications about problem solving and aided the teacher in quickly diagnosing student problem-solving progress. Thus, it did help to create classroom conditions conducive to student engagement.

This study was undertaken to test if the use of self-explanation to a peer would affect learning outcomes in the classroom. The outcomes of classes taught using the self-explanation technique were compared to outcomes from traditional lecture courses in lessons of comparable content. Great Scholars and traditional students in a sixth grade physical science classroom setting were given pre-and post-tests in two units of study, matter and waves. In the matter unit, students participated in a lesson on density using traditional lecture and a lesson on changes in matter using self-explanation. In the waves unit, students utilized lecture instruction for a lesson on electromagnetic waves and self-explanation instruction for a lesson on sound waves. Pre-test scores, post-test scores, and learning gains were analyzed for each lesson across instructional treatments and class types. After the unit on waves students were given an opinion survey to determine which instructional method they preferred using. Self-explanation had a significantly positive impact on learning gains for the Great Scholars students in the first unit of study. No detectible differences in gains for the second unit of study were found in either group of students. However, the opinion survey given after the second unit of study suggests that students experience greater enjoyment when using the self-explanation instructional technique. Larger sample sizes and experiments in other science disciplines may lead to a better understanding of how self-explanation to a peer impacts student learning.