Volume 106 (4), April 2006

Murat Bursal, University of Minnesota
Lynda Paznokas, Washington State University

Sixty-five preservice elementary teachers’ math anxiety levels and confidence levels to teach elementary mathematics and science were measured. The confidence scores of subjects in different math anxiety groups were compared and the relationships between their math anxiety levels and confidence levels to teach mathematics and science were investigated. The results suggest that low math anxious preservice teachers are more confident to teach elementary mathematics and science than are their peers having higher levels of math anxiety. Negative correlations were found between preservice teachers’ math anxiety and their confidence scores to teach elementary mathematics (r = -.638) and between preservice teachers’ math anxiety and their confidence scores to teach elementary science (r = -.417). Also, personal math and science teaching self-efficacy scores of participants were found to be correlated at .01 level (r =.549).
 

Jason Painter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M. Gail Jones, North Carolina State University
Thomas R. Tretter, University of Louisville
Dennis Kubasko, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Although there have been numerous scientists-in-the-classroom initiatives in recent years, there is little research that documents whether or not these initiatives make an impact on students. This study examined 27 seventh-grade and 27 tenth-grade students’ perceptions of scientists before and after a weeklong educational experience on nanotechnology, where students interacted with scientists. The data from this project included student interviews (pre and post intervention), field notes, student stories, and follow-up interviews conducted 1 year after the project. Results showed that fewer than 10% of participants reported ever interacting with scientists in school settings prior to this project, despite attending schools in areas surrounded by a high density of scientists. Students’ perceptions of scientists changed as a result of the project. The implications for science instruction are discussed.
 

James E. Tarr
îscar Ch‡vez
Robert E. Reys
Barbara J. Reys
University of Missouri-Columbia

In this paper is reported the extent of textbook use by 39 middle school mathematics teachers in six states, 17 utilizing a textbook series developed with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF-funded) and 22 using textbooks developed by commercial publishers (publisher-generated). Results indicate that both sets of teachers placed significantly higher emphasis on Number and Operation, often at the expense of other content strands. Location of topics within a textbook represented an oversimplified explanation of what mathematics gets taught or omitted. Most teachers using an NSF-funded curriculum taught content intended for students in a different (lower) grade, and both sets of teachers supplemented with skill-building and “practice” worksheets. Implications for documenting teachers’ “fidelity of implementation” (National Research Council, 2004) are offered.

 

Katherine A. Phillips
Lloyd H. Barrow
University of Missouri-Columbia

This research study was designed to provide an introductory examination of how high school students’ out-of-school science experiences, particularly those relevant to the physical sciences, relate to their learning of Newtonian mechanics. A factor analysis of the modified Science Experiences Survey (SES; Mason & Kahle, 1988) was performed, leading to three factors: Learning Attributes Related to Science, Physical Science Experiences, Nature Experiences. The students’ learning of Newtonian mechanics was measured by their gain score from a pre-instruction/post-instruction administration of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI; Hestenes, Wells, & Swackhamer, 1992). An analysis of variance showed that females and males in honors physics courses demonstrated similar gain scores, while males in non-honors courses demonstrated larger gains (p < 0.05) than the females. When the students’ total SES and SES factor scores were correlated with their FCI pretest and gain scores, the SES Physical Science Experience score was found to be significantly related to the FCI pretest score (p = 0.01). No other correlations were significant.