Using Sociocultural Theory to Teach Mathematics:
A Vygotskian Perspective
Diana F. Steele, Northern Illinois University
This study describes an elementary teacherās implementation of sociocultural
theory in practice. Communication is central to teaching with a sociocultural
approach and to the understanding of students; teachers who use this theory
involve students in explaining and justifying their thinking. In this study
ethnographic research methods were used to collect data for 4 1/2 months
in order to understand the mathematical culture of this fourth-grade class
and to portray how the teacher used a sociocultural approach to teach mathematics.
To portray this teaching approach, teaching episodes from the teacherās
mathematics lessons are described, and these episodes are analyzed to demonstrate
how students created taken-as-shared meanings of mathematics. Excerpts
from interviews with the teacher are also used to describe this teacherās
thinking about her teaching.
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Student Outcomes in a Local Systemic Change
Project
Kalyani Raghavan, Shira Cohen-Regev, and Shelley A. Strobel
University of Pittsburgh
The Local Systemic Change initiative of the National Science Foundation
supports projects focusing primarily on teacher enhancement through extensive
professional development and the use of standards-based curriculum materials.
The underlying rationale is that the effective use of such materials will
ultimately result in enhanced student learning. However, the research
base regarding the impact of these efforts on student learning is rather
lean. This paper describes the results of a curriculum-aligned assessment
comprising selected items from the Third International Mathematics and
Science Study. The assessment was administered to fifth graders involved
in a Local Systemic Change project to address the following questions:
How does the performance of students involved in the project compare nationally
and internationally? and Does length of involvement in the project make
a difference in student performance? Additional evidence to relate student
outcomes to the projectās systemic change efforts are provided.
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A Survey of Calculator Usage in High Schools
Gloria Dion, Educational Testing Service
Anne Harvey, The College Board
Carol Jackson, Patricia Klag, Jinghua Liu, and Craig Wright, Educational
Testing Service
This survey investigated the current status of calculator use in classrooms
and schools. The results indicated that the prevailing policy in the sample
of high schools is to allow the use of calculators during classroom learning
activities and tests. Scientific calculators are more frequently used than
graphing calculators in algebra I and geometry; whereas, graphing calculators
are more frequently used in algebra II and precalculus/trigonometry. At
the time of this survey, school policies regarding the use of graphing
calculators with symbolic algebra capabilities were still not determined.
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Changing Childrenās Conceptions of Burning
Dorothy L. Gabel, Indiana University
Jamie D. Stockton, DePauw University
Diane L. Monaghan and James G. MaKinster, Indiana University
Relatively few studies have examined the effects of instruction on
childrenās understanding of burning. This study focused on three questions:
(a) What are childrenās views of burning prior to and after instruction?
(b) Do childrenās views become more scientific, that is, more in accord
with scientistsā views, with instruction, and if so, how? (c) Are the changes
in childrenās understanding of burning correlated to their ages? Data were
collected before and after five hours of instruction in a Saturday Science
Program, using both a short multiple choice test based on common misconceptions
from the literature and ćinterviews about events.ä Children were divided
into two classes according to their grade in school. A significant difference
was found in childrenās understanding before and after instruction on the
multiple-choice test that was corroborated with interview data. Younger
children (ages 8 to 11) made more significant gains than did the older
children (ages 11 to 13),with both groups reaching similar levels of understanding
after instruction. Although notable gains were made in recognizing the
need for oxygen in burning and in distinguishing between decomposition
and burning, interviews revealed that few children at any age could explain
specifically what was happening on the phenomena level.
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