The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of literature use in the middle grades mathematics curriculum on student motivation and connections. This study involved collecting several types of data regarding students' attitudes, motivation, and their abilities to make real-world connections. Findings from pre and post attitude surveys indicated that literature use in the mathematics curriculum has no effect on students' attitudes towards mathematics. Furthermore, findings from journal entries, students' work, and interview responses indicate that although students find storybooks fun and interesting, their use does not seem to lead to increases in students' understanding of mathematics. However, findings from journal entries, students' work and interview responses indicated that students were better able to make real-world connections through storybooks that were meaningful to their lives. Suggestions for future research should include comparative studies on the effects of literature on student performance in middle grades mathematics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1414 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Creators | Washington, Arnita |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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