Using Video-Based Pedagogy in an Elementary
Mathematics Methods Course
Susan N. Friel and Lisa W. Carboni
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
The study explored the impact of using video-based pedagogy on preservice
teachersâ cognitions about teaching mathematics. The use of video-based
pedagogy was integrated into the course, Methods for Teaching Elementary
School Mathematics. A variety of written and interview data were collected
during the course and, in the following semester, during student teaching.
Evidence from case studies of three preservice teachers indicates that
they engaged in reflection and reconstruction of their beliefs about how
children learn mathematics and moved from a more didactic perspective of
teaching mathematics toward a student-centered perspective. Such movement
appears to have been influenced by the use of video-based pedagogy.
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What Sense Do Children Make of Three-Dimensional,
Life-Sized ãRepresentationsä of Animals?
Sue Dale Tunnicliffe and Michael J. Reiss
Homerton College
One way of investigating what children learn about animals is to examine
the mental models they reveal through their talk when they come face to
face with animal representations. In this study, representations were provided
by (a) robotic models in a museum, (b) preserved animals in a museum, and
(c) preserved animals borrowed from a museum and presented in a school
setting. By recording pupil talk in these three settings and then analyzing
the content of the talk for comments about the anatomy of animals, their
behaviour, habitat features, and so on, both similarities and significant
differences are revealed by this study, depending on the setting. Based
on these findings, recommendations are made for science education in both
classroom and museum settings.
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A Comparison of Calculator Use in Eighth-Grade
Mathematics Classrooms in the United States, Japan, and Portugal:
Results From the Third International Mathematics and Science Study
James E. Tarr, University of Missouri - Columbia
Kathleen Cage Mittag, University of Texas, San Antonio
Kazuaki Uekawa, University of Chicago
Lesia Lennex, Morehead State University
The study
used data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to
determine trends in calculator use among Population 2 (13-year-olds) students
in Japan, the United States, and Portugal. While relatively high levels
of calculator use were observed for the US and Portugal, virtually no calculator
use was found for the Japanese sample. Hierarchical Linear Model analysis
determined a statistically significant negative relationship between studentsâ
frequency of calculator use and student performance in Japan; no statistically
significant relationship was detected for the US and Portuguese samples.
US student achievement was positively associated with each of the five
reported ways in which calculators are used; however, a statistically significant
negative relationship was found between student performance and Japanese
studentsâ use of calculators on tests. Plausible explanations are explored.
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An Analysis of Writing and Postwriting
Group Collaboration In Middle School Pre-Algebra
Debra I. Johanning
Michigan State University
The current reform effort in mathematics education emphasizes the importance
of studentsâ being active in their own development and understanding of
mathematical ideas. The reform recommends that students read, write,
and discuss mathematics as a way of developing mathematical thinking.
This study emphasizes writing as a way to help students learn to think
mathematically. Typically, writing has been used as a dialogue between
the teacher and the student or as a product for the teacher to examine.
However, this study is significant because students wrote as a preparation
for discourse with the teacher and other students. Qualitative analysis
was used to understand how middle school students think about and approach
problems while they wrote descriptions of why and how they solve problems.
For this study, students wrote detailed descriptions of their approaches
to nonroutine problems and then met in groups to discuss and evaluate their
approaches. In order to understand their mathematical thinking, the
researcher examined studentsâ writing, participated in and audiotaped group
discussions, and interviewed students. The results of the analysis showed
that rich learning experiences are possible when writing is used as a way
to prepare for small group discussion in mathematics.
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