Effects of an Ancient Chinese Mathematics Enrichment Programme on Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Mathematics

Ancient Chinese mathematics has been the focus of many research studies and scholarly works from a historical perspective. However, no move has been made to investigate its role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. This pilot study examined the effects of an Ancient Chinese Mathematics Enrichment Programme (ACMEP) on the academic achievement of second year students from a secondary school in Singapore—a strand of a principal study which had the intent of investigating possible roles of ancient Chinese mathematics in the Singapore secondary school mathematics curriculum. Analysis of covariance was used to examine the difference in mean scores on a variety of formal assessments in mathematics between students who participated in the ACMEP and those who did not. In addition, scores on formal assessments of other relevant subjects were analyzed to further investigate ACMEP’s scope of influence.     

Manipulative Use and Elementary School Students’ Mathematics Learning

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) 1998/1999, we examine the relationship between elementary students’ (K–5) manipulative use and mathematics learning. Using a cross-sectional correlational analysis, we found no relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics achievement. However, using a longitudinal analysis, we documented a positive relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics learning during their elementary school years (K–5). From a teaching and learning perspective, these findings provide important evidence of the influence of long-term manipulative use on students’ overall learning. From policy and methodological perspectives, these findings provide evidence for the importance of modeling student learning (as opposed to achievement) when studying the effectiveness of instructional strategies.     

A Critical Analysis on Evaluating the Students’Feedback of Learning

Teaching involves finding out about students’misunderstandings,intervening to change them and creating a context of learning that encourages students to engage with the subject matter.This theory of making student learning possible is very much concerned with the content of what students have to learn in relation to how it should be taught.Evaluation implies collecting information about our work,interpreting the information and making judgments about which actions we should take to improve practice.Evaluation is an analytical process that is intrinsic to good teaching.     

Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students’ Understanding of Metallic Bonding

The present study focused on investigating the effectiveness of instruction via newly developed teaching materials based on cooperative learning when compared to a traditional approach, on ninth grade students’ understanding of metallic bonding. Fifty-seven ninth grade science students from two science classes in the same high school participated in this study. The same teacher taught metallic bonding with cooperative learning to an experimental group (N = 28) and with a traditional teacher centred approach to a control group (N = 29). Students’ conceptual understanding of metallic bonding was measured using the Metallic Bonding Concept Test. The results from the Student’s t test indicated that the mean score of the students in the experimental group was significantly higher in the experimental group (78.60, SD = 8.62), than in the control group (54.33, SD = 9.11) after treatment. In the light of the results from the concept test and individual interviews, the misconceptions related to metallic bonding were found less in the experimental group than traditional. Five of these misconceptions were firstly identified in this study. The individual interviews which were done with students from experimental group immediately after the instruction showed that students had positive perceptions about their cooperative work experiences.     

Effect of Computer Simulation on Secondary School Students’ Interest in Algebra

Education and Information Technologies - This study examined the effect of using computer simulation on students’ interest in algebra. A quasi-experimental design was employed. A sample of...     

A Meta-Analytical Review of Students’ Out-of-Class Communication and Learning Effects

A random-effects meta-analysis (N = 7,113) was conducted examining the relationships between students’ out-of-class communication (OCC) and learning outcomes. The findings revealed positive summary effects for OCC on affective learning (k = 7, N = 1478, r = 0.321, p < 0.001) and perceived cognitive learning (k = 11, N = 5635, r = 0.261, p < 0.001). Several moderators were identified, indicating the association between OCC and cognitive learning varied systematically because of the measurement instruments used to operationalize OCC and learning and because of interdisciplinary treatments of the constructs. Recommendations are made for future researchers including the need for a theoretical explanation of the OCC-learning relationship.     

Elementary School Teachers’ Use of Technology During Mathematics Teaching

Various educational technologies have been advanced as potential vehicles to transform teaching and learning. Still, research studies have documented that primary school teachers struggle to integrate technology in meaningful ways. This article presents the findings of a year-long study in which the author frequently observed three primary school teachers’ enactments of technology into their mathematics teaching. Each teacher was observed between 25 and 30 times during the school year. The types of technologies used as well as the types of mathematical tasks and problems that participants posed while teaching with technology were inductively analyzed. Inductive qualitative analyses indicated that participants’ technology use focused on presentation technologies such as the document camera or interactive whiteboard more than computer-based technologies or interactive activities. Further, teachers varied widely in their enacted pedagogies while integrating technology, and two participants demonstrated more frequent enactments of learner-centered pedagogies toward the end of the school year. Implications for researching teachers’ use of technology in the future are also shared.     

Exploring the Impact of Assessment on Medical Students’ Learning

Abstract

What and how students learn depend largely on how they think they will be assessed. This study aimed to explore medical students’ perception of the value of assessment and feedback on their learning, and how this relates to their examination performance. A mixed methods research design was adopted in which a questionnaire was developed and administered to the students to gain their perceptions of assessments. Perceptions were further explored in focus group discussions. Survey findings were correlated with students’ performance data and academic coordinators’ perceptions. Students’ perceptions of the level of difficulty of different assessments mirrored their performance in examinations, with an improvement observed in clinical assessments as students progressed through their degree. Students recognised that feedback is important to allow improvements and seek more timely, better quality and personalised feedback. Academic coordinators identified that some of the students’ suggestions are more realistic than others. Students had a positive attitude towards assessment, but emphasised the need for educators to highlight the relevance of assessment to clinical practice.     

A Survey on College Students’ English Learning Motivation and the Learning Results

This survey has been processed on 78 graduate students in grade 2010, majoring in science and engineer, from different classes. By analyzing the results of College English Test 4 and questionnaire, it shows that the students’ English learning motivation roots in Certificate. Differences between the winners and losers are not reflected in the time they have used to study, but the learning motivation they possess.     

Preparing Teachers’ to Raise Students’ Mathematics Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the ORIGO Stepping Stones program in a large suburban school district in the Midwestern U.S.. The sample included 11 elementary schools that implemented the program during the 2013–2016 school years. Findings are presented from teacher surveys, classroom observations, and analysis of standardized student mathematics achievement scores on the Northwest Evaluation Association Measurement of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP). Using multilevel models, the program did not demonstrate a detectably larger effect on mathematics achievement than the comparison. Classroom observations and views of teachers that support program implementation were explored. In terms of fidelity of implementation, findings suggested that the program was delivered differently from how it was intended. With respect to researchers and policymakers, the approach used to evaluating mathematics program effectiveness is informative and could be used as part of larger accountability systems.     

Reflection on the Assessment of the Assessment of Mathematics Learning

Assessment is a critical issue in the teaching andlearning of mathematics. For many students, theassessment is still one that is based on a behaviouristapproach where discrete facts and skills are tested,where grading and ranking are the primary goals.Kilpatrick argues that an alternative vision isnecessary for today's classrooms. The challenge is toproduce an assessment practice that does more thanmeasures a person's mind and then assign a mindtreatment. We need to understand how people cometo use mathematics in different social settings and     

The Impact of First Computer Encounters on Mathematics Teachers’ Computer Competence

ABSTRACT

Twenty‐seven United Kingdom teachers of secondary mathematics were interviewed about information technology (IT) and its influence on their teaching of mathematics. A common factor to emerge was the nature of their first experience of computers and the impact it had on their subsequent professional activity. The analysis identified four ways in which teachers first encountered computers; as learners at school, university or colleges of education, as teachers undertaking in‐service training, as self‐taught adult learners, or as employees or researchers engaged in computer‐based activity prior to becoming teachers. A significant issue to emerge was that similar initial encounters are likely to have different and lasting professional consequences depending on the persons involved and their perceptions of mathematics, computers, the relationship between the two, and a range of other personal and institutional factors. Some implications for both pre‐service and in‐service training are discussed.     

A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Social and Emotional Learning Interventions on Teachers’ Burnout Symptoms

Educational Psychology Review - Over the last decades, extensive research has given considerable attention to teachers’ burnout. Owing to its negative personal, organizational, and social...     

The Impact of Student-Constructed Animation on Middle School Students’ Learning about Plate Tectonics

Journal of Science Education and Technology - There is a need for research-informed instructional approaches that promote school students’ deep conceptual understanding of abstract geological...     

The Effects of Prior Knowledge and Audience on High School Students’ Writing

Abstract

To investigate the likelihood that explicit instruction in text summarization is being provided in classrooms, an "ideal lesson" method was used. Twelve experienced K-12 teachers were asked to devise summarization lessons appropriate to their learners and course content, to deliver the lessons, and to audiotape them. Lessons were transcribed, and instances of mentioning of summarization rules were coded. Only two teachers in the sample group discussed more than one of the five summarization rules assessed. The other teachers provided instruction that emphasized words and facts, despite their having been prompted to "assist students in improving text summaries." Staff development possibilities are discussed.     

The Effects of College Students’ Personal Values on Changes in Learning Approaches

Many studies of changes in learning approaches have used data from different age groups at one point in time only (Gow and Kember, High Educ 19:307–322, 1990; Watkins and Hattie, Br J Educ Psychol 51:384–393, 1981) or have analyzed the effects of just two or three factors using single level analytical techniques (Cano, Br J Educ Psychol 75:203–221, 2005; Duckwall et al., Res High Educ 32(1):1–13, 1991; Jay and Love, NCSSSMST J 7(2):4–8, 2002; Loo, Educ Psychol, 17(1/2), 1997; Watkins and Hattie, Hum Learn 4:127–141, 1985; Zeegers, Br J Educ Psychol 71:115–132, 2001). This study employs multilevel modeling as a more appropriate technique for the analysis of longitudinal data to examine factors influencing changes in the learning approaches of 153 international undergraduate students over a 3-year period. Specifically, using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), the effects of personal values (level-2) on learning approaches and changes in them over time (level-1) are examined. Results show no changes within students in the deep and surface approaches to learning but a significant decline for the achieving approach, particularly for students who previously experienced a more formal teaching authority. Furthermore, students’ personal values in terms of security, achievement and hedonism affect the achieving approach while no effects emerge for the personal values of tradition, conformity, universalism, self-direction and stimulation. Finally, these effects can be observed while no significant effects emerge for gender, discipline and ability.     

The Research of Cooperative Learning Effects on College Students＇ Learning Anxiety

Since Krashen put forward the Affective Filter Hypothesis, more and more concern has been paid to the anxiety problem in Second and foreign language teaching and learning. Meanwhile, CL （cooperative learning） has gained much attention in recent years, both at home and abroad. Most researches （Oxford ＆ Ehrman, 1993; Kagan, 1994; Slavin, 1995） on CL indicated that CL is a classroom procedure which can lower anxiety and improve learning outcomes. Although the researches abroad have suggested that CL has a positive impact on reducing foreign language learning anxiety, few empirical researches on CL have been conducted in China. Moreover, according to the author＇s observation, anxiety is most obvious in oral English activities. Therefore, this thesis attempts to investigate some Chinese non-English freshmen＇s foreign language learning anxiety. Two classes are involved in the study： one as the experimental class instructed with CL method, the other as the control class taught with the traditional teaching method. By using a classical instrument, the FLCAS （foreign language classroom anxiety scale）, this study examined the subjects＇ foreign language learning anxiety. According to the analysis and comparison of the first and second FLCAS, the author finds CL has a significant effect on reducing students＇ foreign language learning anxiety.     

A Simple Study of the Teacher’s Influence on Students’ Psychology in English Learning

This paper analyzes the teacher’s influence on students’psychologyin English learning from two aspects and emphasizes the importance of English teachers’role in helping students establish healthy psychology in English learning.