Volume 98 (4), April 1998

Table of Contents

Abstracts

Table of Contents

Abstracts

 
• Classroom Assessment: Teachersí Conceptions and Practices in Mathematics

Thomasenia Lott Adams, University of Florida
Jin ? Wen Yang Hsu, University of Florida


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        The purpose of this study was to explore teachersí conceptions about assessment and their actual assessment practices. The sample for the study consisted of 269 mathematics teachers in Grades 1 through 4 in a southeastern state. The teachers completed a cross ? sectional, Likert-scale survey. Using chi ? square to examine the relationships between grade level and teachersí conceptions and between grade level and teachersí practices, the researchers found several significant differences, transcending and indication of relationship by chance.

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• Playfulness: A motivator in Elementary Science Teacher Preparation

Olga S. Jarrett, Georgia State University


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    Research suggests that teacher preparation courses should model hands ? on activities promoting positive attitudes toward science. This study investigated the qualities of activities in a field ? based science methods course that motivate preservice elementary teachers to implement them n their own classrooms. Ratings of the activities as fun, interesting, and having a high potential for learning were highly correlated, and the preservice teachers predicted that they would more likely implement activities they rated high on these qualities. A comparison of activities ranked high and low in fun suggests that activities ranked high tended to be exploratory in nature, taught process skills in context, enables the preservice teachers to experience something new in a nonthreatening way, and promoted social interactions.

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• Geometric Knowledge of Middle School Students in a Reform-based Mathematics Curriculum

William M. Carroll, University of Chicago


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        National and international studies have found U.S. elementary students to be weak in their understanding and applications of geometric concepts. The University of Chicago School Mathematics Projectís (UCMSP) Everyday Mathematics Program is one of the current reform-based elementary curricula incorporating geometry throughout the K ? 6 curriculum, with an emphasis on hands- on and problem solving activities. In this study, the geometric knowledge of fifth and sixth graders using the UCMSP curriculum is compared to the knowledge of students suing more traditional curricula. Because UCMSP students had been in the program since kindergarten, this research attempts to measure the longitudinal effects of such an approach . Along with an overall score, a subset of test items was used to assign each student a van Hiele level for geometric thinking, as well as a reasoning score. On all measures, UCMSP students substantially outperformed their counterparts, and nearly all differences were significant. Aspects of the UCMSP curriculum and the van Hiele model for learning geometry are discussed relative to these results.

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• Learning How Amanda, a High School Cerebral Palsy Student, Understands Angle

Kenneth L. Shaw, Florida State University
Paul Durden, Mosley High School
Amanda Baker


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        Little is known about how well cerebral palsy students learn high school geometry. A case study was used to better understand how one students, Amanda, understood angles. Three major accommodations were made to assist her in learning: a) a self-paced curriculum, b) The Geometerís Sketchpad, and c)nontraditional assessment (portfolio, interviews, observations). It was found that Amanda needed a lot of time to process visual information. The orientation of angles, the complexity of the diagram, and the length of the side of an angle all had an impact on her understanding. The software was beneficial for Amanda, because she could hid unnecessary and distracting information., she could make her drawings legible, and she could measure the angles without relying on her own visual perception.

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• Parent Involvement in Elementary Problem Solving

Peter Kloosterman, Indiana University


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        Parental involvement has been a cornerstone of education for generations. In elementary mathematics, however, it had often been difficult to get parents involved in problem-solving activities. This article describes how process problems were integrated into a Parent-Teachers organization newsletter as a means of getting families involved in problem solving. Methods of generating problems and preparing solutions are discussed. The ideas presented worked well for parental involvement and are also applicable to classroom instruction.
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