SSM Table
of Contents & Abstracts
Volume
104 (4), April
2004
Abstract
Describing
and Evaluating an Exemplary Mathematics Elementary Staff Development Project
Kathleen
Cage Mittag and Alan Shoho,
University
of
Texas
at
San Antonio
Violetta Lien
,
Texas
State University ö
San Marcos
The purpose of this paper is to describe the model of a mathematics and
science staff development cooperative and focus on the evaluation of the
mathematics component. The Mathematics and Science Education Cooperative (MSEC)
was a comprehensive, long-range staff development program to improve the
teaching and learning of mathematics and science at the elementary school level.
The special features of MSEC were (a) it provided year-round, multiyear
involvement, and (b) each year an affective strand was included. Statistically
significant student mathematics results from the years 1998-2000 are presented.
Using
Form and Function Analogy Object Boxes to Teach Human Body Systems
Audrey C. Rule, State
University
of
New York
at
Oswego
Charles
Furletti
North
Rose-Wolcott
High School
This study compares the use of form and function analogy object boxes to
more traditional lecture and worksheet instruction during a 10th-grade unit on
human body systems. The study was conducted with two classes (N = 32) of
mixed ability students at a high-needs rural high school in central
New York
State
. The study used a pretest/posttest design, in which the two classes alternated
between conditions for the four systems (skeletal, digestive, immune, nervous).
Both conditions involved students in quality instruction addressing the same
concepts for the same amount of time. Additionally, all students participated in
hands-on labs. The experimental condition presented students with a set of
objects analogous in form and function to parts of a human body system. Students
matched objects with cards describing body system parts, mapped the analogies on
a chart, generated alternative objects that could be used for the analogy, and
finally, created new analogies for other body system parts. Students made
significantly higher posttest and gain scores on material learned in the
experimental condition, with a mean gain score average of 12.4 points out of 25,
compared to 6.2 points in the control condition. Cohenâs Effect Size was
large, 1.36.
The
Effects of a Study-Group Process on the Implementation of Reform in Mathematics
Education
Daniel J. Brahier,
Bowling Green
State
University
Monika
SchŠffner, SRI International
In each of three consecutive years, 16 teachers were admitted to a program in
which they participated in a study group to reform their teaching practices in
mathematics. The 48 (total) elementary school teachers in this program were
selected to ensure diversity of setting÷urban and suburban, as well as public
and parochial. Teachers routinely met with the study group for 1 year, engaging
in follow-up activities after that year. Surveys, interviews, and site visits
showed that teachers underwent significant changes in their knowledge, beliefs,
and teaching practices and were attempting to implement reform consistent with
current standards. Teachers with 11 to 25 years of experience demonstrated the
greatest changes. Long-term effects of the program and its impact on colleagues
within the building and district have yet to be studied.
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