A plan for the development of a conceptually-based mathematics curriculum for disadvantaged children I: Theoretical foundations

The purpose of this two-part article is to point the way towards more sophisticated educational technologies with specific reference to educating the disadvantaged. In Part I, after summarizing some of the current problems in educating the disadvantaged, a new theory of structural learning is proposed and relationships between this theory, educational technology, and curriculum development are made explicit. This conceptual framework then is used as a basis for planning curriculum development in education. Part II shows in more detail how this plan may be applied in the real world with special reference to three specific projects:

1. An efficient and self-instructional way to diagnose and teach the basic arithmetical skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
2. A systematic way of teaching children how to read critically based on a behavioral analysis of the process in terms of logical reasoning.
3. A plan for in-service teacher education which deals with mathematical processes (as opposed to content).

     

Developing a mathematics curriculum to improve learning behaviors and mathematics competency of children

The authors investigated the effect of a mathematical curriculum (CU) developed based on verbal and practical activities on the mathematical competency (MC) and learning behaviors (LB) of preschool children. In a quasi-experimental design, 60 children (5- to 6-year-old girls) were selected using the accessible sampling method. The children were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, and the relevant concepts were taught to the children in both groups. While the control group received the typical kindergarten education based on the usual textbooks and worksheets, the CU was taught to the experimental group. Structural equation modeling was used to model the data and statistical evaluation. The results demonstrated a significant difference between the two groups in MC and LB. The CU significantly improved MC directly, and indirectly through the improvement of LB (i.e., engagement and learning focus, verbal behaviors, and type of activity).     

高职数学网络课程开发浅析

网络教学是现代多媒体技术与教学内容的整合,是一种新型的教育教学手段。数学的教育教学在知识和信息资源的输入受传统黑板教学的约束,所以很多的数学抽象性描述和大量实现手段难以进入课堂,要想突破这些难点,开发网络课程会给数学教育教学带来春天,即实现高职数学教学网络化是很好的一种选择,利用多媒体网络课程进行教学是一种很好、可以交互的教学方式。为了满足基于网络的远程教育的需要,开发高质量的高职数学多媒体网络课程教学软件已成为必然。     

以数学实验室为基地创新驱动数学课程教学改革

数学作为高校教育的基础课程,教学效果的优劣对高校人才的培养起着关键作用。针对新形势下传统数学课程教学模式已不能适应高校教育需求的问题,分析了目前对数学课程教学改革认识上存在的偏差,并分别从教学目标、教学效果、功效发挥这3个方面阐述了数学实验室建设对促进数学课程教学改革的必要性,以及在人才培养方面所起的作用。     

A practice-oriented professional development programme to support the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum in Portugal

This article presents the extended workshop, a national professional development programme that was used in the preparatory stages of the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum for basic education (grades 1–9) in Portugal. These workshops are based on five major ideas—orientation towards practice, focus on students’ learning, collaboration, practitioner research, and change of professional culture. The evaluation shows that these workshops constituted a stimulating professional development setting that encouraged teachers to reflect about classroom practice and students’ learning and was quite successful in supporting an overall movement favourable to the orientations of the new curriculum.     

基于数学专业的数学实验课程研究

探讨了数学实验课程在数学专业教育中的地位和作用，以及高校数学专业中数学实验课的教学设计，并提出了目前开设数学实验课程有待解决的几个问题。     

基于新课程下的高中数学教学方法

随着课程改革的不断深入,传统的数学教学观念正面临着向现代教学观念转变的挑战.如何将新的课程理念贯彻在课堂教学之中,真正使学生更快更好地获得数学知识,发展能力,形成良好的品格,掌握科学的方法,值得数学教育工作者思考.     

基于建筑类专业的高职数学课程改革的几点思考

在面对新的教学形势下,结合建筑类专业特点讨论了的高职数学教学改革的方法,提出了加强数学教师专业化建设,选择建筑专业特色的内容和多种教学手段等措施。     

Performance of mentally retarded children on a hierarchically sequenced introductory mathematics curriculum∗

Sixteen severely and moderately retarded children were given diagnostic tests to assess their understanding of number concepts. One group of eight children (experimental) were then given training on a hierarchically sequenced introductory mathematics curriculum and the other group of eight children (control) were given training on the same objectives but through traditional techniques. Results at the end of 12 months showed that the experimental group mastered an average of 32 objectives while the control group averaged 15.5 These results suggest that hierarchically sequenced mathematics curriculum may provide an effective approach to the teaching of number concepts to the severely and moderately retarded.

     

Current status of secondary school mathematics curriculum development in China

In this article, we intend to give a brief account of secondary school mathematics curriculum development in China. Some experimental teaching materials and teaching methods are introduced. One of the most influential projects is described in detail.Heartfelt gratitude is due to our supervisor, Professor David F. Robitaille at the University of British Columbia. It is under his encouragement and guidance that this article sees the light.Appendix 1–3 are quoted from Leung's (1987) article.     

数学教师课程资源的开发与利用

教师是第一位的课程资源。数学教师要确立课程资源的意识,提高开发课程资源的能力,使自己的知识素质结构不断充实优化,心理及人格素质不断升华提高,促进数学课程资源的开发利用。     

The development of classification abilities in culturally disadvantaged children

Culturally disadvantaged children appear to do less well in analyzing categorical relationships than middle class children.     

Type of day-care and preschool intellectual development in disadvantaged children

Levels and patterns of intellectual development of 3 groups of socioeconomically disadvantaged children were compared. The groups consisted of (1) children who were randomly assigned to receive extensive university-based intervention group day-care, (2) children whose parents placed them in community day-care centers for varying amounts of time, or (3) children whose parents chose little to no center-based day-care for their children. Two repeated-measures analyses of variance were performed to identify possible day-care effects on IQ level and on patterns of infant and preschool cognitive development. The results suggest that quality community day-care, as well as intervention day-care, may positively change both the level and pattern of preschool intellectual development of socioeconomically disadvantaged children.     

以数学建模活动为载体促进数学课程教学改革

黄冈师范学院1998年开始开展数学建模的组织与培训工作,自1999年起至2007年连续9年参加全国大学生数学建模竞赛并取得一系列国家级、省级大奖。本文从数学建模实验室建设、教学团队建设、《数学模型与实验》课程创立、教学改革与创新等方面总结了黄冈师范学院开展数学建模活动的经验。     

Empowering educationally disadvantaged mathematics students through a strategies-based problem solving approach

A major impediment to problem solving in mathematics in the great majority of South African schools is that disadvantaged students from seriously impoverished learning environments are lacking in the necessary informal mathematical knowledge to develop their own strategies for solving non-routine problems. A randomized pretest–posttest control group design was used to empirically investigate the effectiveness of a strategies-based problem solving approach on the problem solving performance of 9th grade disadvantaged students. In this approach students receive explicit instruction on a wide repertoire of problem solving strategies. The results reported in this study show a significant improvement in problem solving performance when a strategies-based approach to problem solving was being implemented. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the responses to the items showed how the treatment group students had internalized as part of their problem solving repertoire the strategies on which they had been explicitly instructed on. The findings of this study make a case for the adoption of this approach so that the gap between the student’s existing problem solving competence, and the cognitive demands of a problem solving task can be bridged.     

A cybernetic model for curriculum development

The task of the curriculum developer is to design instructional systems which will produce consistently high levels of learning despite wide variation in pupil characteristics. This can be viewed as a cybernetic question of regulating variety in a system to produce stable and high level output. Six cybernetic principles—goal orientation, limitation of input, monitoring, control decisions, restoration of equilibrium, and positive feedback—are described, and their application to curriculum discussed. It is concluded that a cybernetic model can guide curriculum developers in designing effective learning systems.     

学术计划——一个新的高校课程理论框架

高校课程理论框架的构建是高等教育研究中的一个难点,高等教育的自身特点是导致这一结果的重要原因。曾就职于美国"提高中学后教学与学习国家研究中心"的斯塔克(Stark,J.S.)教授在近10年研究的基础上,构建了一个较为全面、系统的高校课程理论分析框架。该框架把课程看作"学术计划",其核心包括八个构成要素,外部社会、高校组织层面及高校内部等三方面的因素则成为型塑高校课程的重要影响因素。     

Relation of psycholinguistic development to imaginative play of disadvantaged preschool children

The relation of imaginative play to psycholinguistic development was investigated in a sample of disadvantaged preschool children. The children were assigned to high and low play groups based on their level of play organization. The high play group was significantly more mature in overall psycholinguistic development than the low play group. Further analyses revealed that while the groups did not vary in Auditory Reception, the high play group earned more advanced scores on the Auditory-Vocal Association and Verbal Expression tasks that did the low play group. Moreover, the high play group engaged in more task-relevant speech during play than did the low play group, although the groups did not differ in amount of task-irrelevant speech. The role of psycholinguistic, cognitive, and environmental factors in the development and organization of imaginative play was discussed.