The purpose of this study was to ascertain those services and resources generally considered to be the essential parts of a mathematics learning center for students in two-year colleges by determining perceptions held by mathematics students and instructors toward these services and resources. A questionnaire sent to the mathematics department chairperson in all two-year colleges revealed 25 colleges had comprehensive mathematics learning centers (offer tutoring, testing, calculators, counseling, computer terminals, reference books, and filmstrips/slides/tapes services). Questionnaires for algebra students and their instructors were then sent to the names supplied by 19 colleges with comprehensive mathematics learning centers. Of the 837 student respondents, 38% indicated they had used the center. The most number of students had used the tutoring service. Each service was rated for the student feelings about the amount of time they used it and the help they received for satisfying their mathematical needs. The students ranked tutoring, testing, calculators, counseling, reference books, computer terminals, and filmstrips/slides/tapes services from highest to lowest respectively, for helpfulness in learning mathematics. Students gave various reasons for not using the center with 48% of the nonusers stating they knew about it but did not need to use it. The nonusers also checked the services they assumed would be of worth to them in their study of mathematics. All student responses were compared by age, college load, and outside job hours groups. Of the 33 instructor respondents, 94% recommended the tutoring service to students. The instructors rated the services for their feelings about the amount of input into each service and the support they received from each service in teaching algebra. Many instructors felt they had no input. They ranked the services for overall support provided in teaching algebra. Guidelines were formulated for the development of a college mathematics learning center. Based on this study, the conclusions were: (1) Tutoring is the most essential service. (2) Testing and calculators are very essential services. (3) The other services were less essential with computer terminals next to lowest and filmstrips/slides/tapes lowest. (4) Filmstrips/slides/tapes were more essential to instructors than to students.

No description available.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the epistemological obstacles that mathematics students at undergraduate level encounter in coming to understand the limit concept. The role played by language and symbolism in understanding the limit concept was also investigated. A group of mathematics students at undergraduate level at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) was used as the sample for the study. Empirical data were collected by using interviews and questionnaires. These data were analysed using both the APOS framework and a semiotic perspective.</p> <p><br /> Within the APOS framework, the pieces of knowledge that have to be constructed in coming to understand the limit concept are actions, processes and objects. Actions are interiorised into processes and processes are encapsulated into objects. The conceptual structure is called a schema. In investigating the idea of limit within the context of a function some main epistemological obstacles that were encountered when actions were interiorised into processes are over-generalising and taking the limit value as the function value. For example, in finding the limit value L for f(x) as x tends to 0, 46 subjects out of 251 subjects said that they would calculate f(0) as the limit value. This method is appropriate for calculating the limit values for continuous functions. However, in this case, the method is generalised to all the functions. When these subjects encounter situations in which the functional value is equal to the limit value, they take the two to be the same. However, the two are different entities conceptually.</p>

<p>Over the last few years it became clear that the students struggle with the basic concepts of logarithms and inequalities, let alone logarithmic inequalities due to the lack of exposure of these concepts at high school. In order to fully comprehend logarithmic inequalities, a good understanding of the logarithmic graph is important. Thus, the opportunity was seen to change the method of instruction by introducing the graphical method to solve logarithmic inequalities. It was decided to use an mathematical software program, Omnigraph, in this research.</p>

This study explored how software development teams form and interact in a computer science college course setting and what an instructor can do to enhance effective teamwork. The experiences of computer science college courses’ teams are compared and contrasted to the theory of Bruce Tuckman’s stages of small group development model, which he characterized as forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Participants repeatedly self-assessed their enthusiasm and skill levels over time on a questionnaire by agreeing or disagreeing to statements utilizing a five-point Likert scale. The data indicated that Tuckman’s model likely applies to software development teams in a computer science college course setting, although this could not be confirmed quantitatively. Indicators for which instructors or students can watch to identify a team that is struggling are provided along with some possible personality traits that may lead to a team’s success. / Background research and related work -- Tuckman's stages of small group development -- Definition of the research area -- Research and data analysis methods -- Data collection and analysis -- Conclusions and future directions. / Department of Computer Science

Development of a college level freshman biology course was undertaken in response to government reports that American students have fallen behind students of other countries in the area of the sciences. Teaching strategies were investigated to accomplish two objectives, to define essential academic material to include in the course and to investigate teaching techniques that would increase deep processing of the information. An active process that consisted of applying the cognitive information to solving problems or developing answers to questions was defined as critical thinking. Critical thinking was incorporated into the course by the use of case studies.

Technology has a profound influence on how business, education, entertainment, and interpersonal communications are conducted. Mental health professionals have been exploring how technology can support and enhance client care since the 1960s. In the last decade the influence of technology in the practice of counseling has increased dramatically. As the use of technology increased, so did the expectations for counselor preparation programs to include technology instruction. In 1999, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) developed the Technical Competencies for Counselor Education Students: Recommended Guidelines for Program Development. This study examines the technological competence of counseling students at one southwestern university based on the ACES recommendations.

Bug Fixer is a web-based application that complements lectures with hands-on exercises that encourage students to think about the logic in programs. Bug Fixer presents students with code that has several bugs that they must fix. The process of fixing the bugs forces students to conceptually think about the code and reinforces their understanding of the logic behind algorithms. In this work, we conducted a study using Bug Fixer with undergraduate students in the CSCE1040 course at University of North Texas to evaluate whether the system increases their conceptual understanding of the algorithms and improves their Software Testing skills. Students participated in weekly activities to fix bugs in code. Most students enjoyed Bug Fixer and recommend the system for future use. Students typically reported a better understanding of the algorithms used in class. We observed a slight increase of passing grades for students who participated in our study compared to students in other sections of the course with the same instructor who did not participate in our study. The students who did not report a positive experience provide comments for future improvements that we plan to address in future work.

No description available.

Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Student success and throughput rates remain a challenge at South African higher education institutions (Strydom, Mentz and Kuh, 2010) and the results in Industrial Engineering at the Durban University of Technology are no exception. Statistics released by the Department of Management Information Systems at this university in November 2012 on the graduation rates of students registered for the National Diploma: Industrial Engineering from 2009 to 2011 bear testimony to this, as the average graduation rate is between 10% and 21%. This research study investigated the learning styles, teaching methods and student performance in Industrial Engineering at a selected university of technology in South Africa by examining the preferred learning styles of students, and lecturers’ preferred teaching styles at various levels. The Felder and Silverman Model (1988) which was specifically designed to capture significant differences in learning styles amongst engineering students, was employed as the framework for the study. Using a mixed-methods research approach, the target population for the study was the 200 students registered for the National Diploma: Industrial Engineering at the Durban University of Technology in 2013. The lecturers were identified through convenience sampling. The sample comprised five lecturers and 150 students. The participants were recruited by sending letters to inform them about the study and its purpose. Student participation was completely voluntary. The data was collected through questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The study used the ILS Questionnaire developed by Felder and Solomon to assess the four scales of leaning style preference among engineering students. The questionnaire was adapted to include some demographic information such as race and gender. After the lecturers were interviewed, direct observation took place in the class room in order to determine their teaching style. The researcher ensured validity of the data through triangulation and tested the reliability of the ILS questionnaire by running a pilot study. In order for the questionnaire to be reliable, the results should be the same on both occasions. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the data from the ILS questionnaire and the data from the interviews were analysed using NVivo™ software. After the learning styles and teaching styles were identified, the quasi experiment was used to determine if changes in the lecturers’ teaching methods had any influence on the students’ learning styles and performance. It was found that this was indeed the case. In some instances such as Engineering Work Study 1, changes in the teaching method had a positive effect on student performance, but in modules such as Costing 2 and Production Engineering 2, the changes negatively impacted student performance. The study therefore confirmed that teaching styles and learning styles influence student performance. This knowledge could be used by lecturers to familiarise themselves with their students’ learning styles and to match their teaching to these learning styles in a manner that benefits all students. Students also need to be aware of their preferred learning styles and to be guided on how to use these to improve their performance in each of their modules. / M