Volume 105 (4), April 2005

Table of Contents

Abstract

Middle Grades: Misconceptions in Statistical Thinking

Mary Margaret Capraro, Gerald Kulm, and Robert M. Capraro

Texas A&M University

 A sample of 134 sixth-grade students who were using the Connected Mathematics curriculum were administered an open-ended item entitled, Vet Club (Balanced Assessment, 2000). This paper explores the role of misconceptions and na•ve conceptions in the acquisition of statistical thinking for middle grades students. Students exhibited misconceptions and na•ve conceptions regarding representing data graphically, interpreting the meaning of typicality, and plotting 0 above the x-axis.

Inclusive Science Education: Classroom Teacher and Science Educator Experiences in CLASS Workshops "Inclusive Science Education\: Classroom Teacher and Science Educator Experiences in CLASS Workshops"

Susan A. Kirch, Queens College, CUNY         

Mary Ellen Bargerhuff, Heidi Turner, and Michele Wheatly, Wright State University

Inclusion is the meaningful participation of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The CLASS project (Creating Laboratory Access for Science Students) is a unique initiative offering training and resources to help educators provide students with a variety of physical, sensory and learning disabilities equal access in the science laboratory or field. To determine whether participants believed a 2-week residential workshop sponsored by CLASS raised disability awareness and provided teacher training in inclusive science teaching practice, a multipoint Likert scale survey and questionnaire was completed by all participants (N = 20) in four workshops. Participants reported large gains in their preparedness to teach science to students with disabilities. Participants also reported gains in their familiarity with instructional strategies, curricula, and resources and their ability to design, select, and modify activities for students with disabilities. Finally, shifts in attitudes about teaching science to students with disabilities were noted.

A Comparison of Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs  About Mathematics and Teaching Mathematics: 1968 and 1998 "A Comparison of Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs  About Mathematics and Teaching Mathematics\: 1968 and 1998"

Carol E. Seaman, Jennifer Earles Szydlik, Stephen D. Szydlik, and John E. Beam

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

The study replicates Collier’s (1972) work. It focuses on the beliefs of a large sample of elementary education students at four stages of teacher preparation, about both the nature of and the teaching of mathematics. The instrument measures what Collier termed a “formal-informal” dimension of belief. The data suggest that initially the 1998 students held significantly more informal (constructivist) beliefs than did their 1968 counterparts. In both years, students moved toward more informal beliefs during the course of their programs, with the most significant changes occurring in their beliefs about how mathematics should be taught. However, apparent contradictions in belief structures were observed both at the start and at the end of their programs. Thus, it appears that though many students acquired new, more informal beliefs during the course of their programs, they did not develop robust, consistent philosophies of mathematics education.

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