The author shares some of the findings of the research he conducted in 2007 on grade 11 mathematics learners in two schools, one experimental and the other one control. In his study, the author claims that an open-ended approach towards teaching and learning of mathematics enhances understanding of mathematics by the learners. The outcomes of the study can be summarised as follows: 1. In the experimental school, where the author intervened by introducing an open-ended approach to teaching mathematics (by means of giving the learners an open-ended approach compliant worksheet to work on throughout the intervention period), the performance of the learners in the post-test was better than that of the learners from the control school. Both schools were of similar performance in the pre-test. The two schools wrote the same pre-test and same post-test. Both schools were following common work schedule. 2. Within the experimental school, post-test performance of the learners in the class where the intervention was monitored throughout the intervention period (thus ensuring compliance of the teacher to the open-ended approach) out-performed those in which monitoring was less frequent. 3. There was no significant difference in performance between learners from the unmonitored experimental class and those from the control class.

Low standardized mathematics scores resulted in a suburban middle school not reaching adequate yearly progress (AYP) for the 2 previous years. There were many possible factors contributing to this problem, among them the design of instruction. The purpose of this study was to identify learning styles of students and implement differentiated instructional strategies that address the learners' needs. The study was based on the Silver and Hanson's theory of learning style instruction and Gardner's multiple intelligences as a model for differentiating instruction. This sequential mixed methods quasi-experimental causal comparative design study investigated the effect of classroom intervention based on learning style differentiation on the improvement of mathematics achievement and the teachers' perception of learning style instructional strategies. An ANCOVA analysis of 8 th grade archival math achievement scores from a nonrandomized control and experimental-group pretest-posttest sample measured the effect of using a learning style strategy intervention on the experimental group. No statistical significance was noted for the student scores by instructional type. An anonymous teacher open-ended survey and classroom observations were used to determine teachers' perception of implementing differentiated instruction. NVivo was used to manage the qualitative data, and analysis revealed emerging themes of teachers reporting a better understanding of the importance of differentiation, and designing lessons to include learning styles' instruction. This study impacted social change by developing a working knowledge for teachers of learning style differentiation of instruction intervention so that student mathematical achievement may be positively impacted by a change in the design of their instruction.

<p> </p> <p>Issues of social justice continue to permeate all aspects of life in the United States. Acknowledging recent calls for racial justice, as well as efforts to restrict what is taught in mathematics classrooms, researchers and practitioners are increasingly exploring the promises of teaching mathematics for social justice in secondary mathematics classrooms. This dissertation contributes to research about how a social justice mathematics course can be utilized in teacher education programs to support prospective mathematics teachers’ (PMTs’) development of their mathematics identities, as well as how PMTs translate social justice mathematics theory into</p> <p>practice with their secondary mathematics students. This research complexifies the role of primarily white mathematics teachers and teacher educators working toward teaching</p> <p>mathematics for social justice by foregrounding some of the ways in which social justice mathematics curricula and instruction may continue to center whiteness. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This dissertation includes three studies focused on the design and delivery of a social justice mathematics course offered to undergraduate students, as well as the learning outcomes</p> <p>for 11 PMTs enrolled in the first iteration. As such, each study is formatted for submission to a research journal and contains its own questions, methods, findings, discussion, and conclusion. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first and second studies detail the experiences of PMTs in a social justice mathematics course. In the first study, I explored how engaging in such a course contributed to PMTs’ mathematics identities. Findings in this case study suggest that sustained engagement with social justice mathematics can contribute to PMTs’ conceptions of mathematics and encourage them to address issues of social justice in their mathematics classrooms. Building on this, three of the PMTs enrolled in the course and I engaged in a critical participatory action research study to investigate their experiences working toward teaching mathematics for social justice in their secondary mathematics field placements. Prior to engaging their students with social justice mathematics tasks, the PMTs focused on developing relationships and trust with students and also maintained a commitment to engaging students with dominant mathematics. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Informed by a finding in the first study (i.e., PMTs continued to view mathematics as objective and neutral), in the third study, I investigated the prominence of whiteness in the development and facilitation of the course. Using action research and critical whiteness studies, I detail areas in which I perpetuated whiteness, as well as areas in which I began to make progress.</p>

The diploma thesis focuses on learning Maths through French language using the CLIL method at a secondary vocational school. The acronym CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), EMILE (Enseignement de Matières par Intégration d'une Langue Etrangère) or e.g. AICL (Apprentissage Intégré d'un Contenu et d'une Langue) refers to integrated learning of a content-based subject through an additional language. There are always two aims of such tuition. The first aim is the content goal (e.g. to gain particular specialized knowledge or skill in mathematics); the second aim is the language goal (e.g. to learn essential vocabulary and sentence structures in order to lead a discussion concerning the solution of a quadratic equation in the French language). Based on a literary research, analysis of educational CLIL materials, and especially in connection with theoretical grounds of the method (constructivism, problem-solving, critical thinking, active and communicative approach) there was established a study plan focusing on the topic of quadratic equations. The experimental tuition was put into practice with the 1st year students of a secondary school, where the French language is taught as the second foreign language. The main objective, apart from the tuition itself and its analysis, was to assess the...