Beyond Accountability and Average Mathematics Scores: Relating State Education Policy Attributes to Cognitive Achievement Domains

We found moderate correlations among four policy attributes (consistency, specificity, authority, and power), which suggest that in many states, at least in design, standards-based reform is working as advocates imagined—aligned content standards and assessments established, backed up by detailed guidelines and frameworks, incentivized by rewards and sanctions, and supported with extra resources and programs for struggling students and their teachers. Our findings suggest that specificity and authority may be related to improvements in procedural knowledge, and no change in problem solving or conceptual understanding, while power (accountability) may be associated with a small decrease in all types of learning. We found that disadvantaged students showed gains in procedural knowledge and did not lose ground in either conceptual understanding or problem solving. Implications for developing an improved theory of policy effects on achievement are discussed.     

Gender differences in mathematics and science: the role of the actiotope in determining individuals’ achievements and confidence in their own abilities

Despite changes, gender differences in math and science continue to exist in some countries. We examined whether the actiotopes of boys and girls at the high school level in math and science differed and the extent to which (a) their actiotope components, (b) the progressive development of their actiotopes (dynamic perspective), and (c) the co-adaptation of their actiotopes (systems perspective) function as predictors for girls’ and boys’ achievements and confidence in one’s own abilities in math and science. To answer these questions, we examined girls and boys (N?=?361) in Canada, the Czech Republic, and Germany with a questionnaire. The results suggest that girls are less effective at progressively developing their actiotopes in the fields of math and science and that modifications in their actiotopes were less well balanced by stabilizing forces. Independent of gender, the actiotope aspects considered here are suited to predicting achievements and confidence in one’s own abilities in math and science.     

数学教育研究科学化之我见

数学教育研究应当以教育学、心理学、社会学的原理为基托,自觉接受哲学的宏观指导,充分利用信息论、控制论、系统论等新兴学科提供的新思想、新方法,以数学思维和规律的研究为核心进行,这是数学教育研究的科学化之路。     

Measuring Attitudinal Change in Mathematics and English Over the 1st Year of Junior High School: A Multidimensional Analysis

Changes in student self- and task evaluations, subjective valuation, and achievement behavior in mathematics and English over the 1st year of junior high form the basis of this study. The transition to junior high has been found to negatively affect students' self-concept and subjective valuation in mathematics and English, but previous research has not addressed changes in task evaluations and achievement behaviors. Gender and level of academic achievement effects are also relevant to the nature of changes in student attitudes. The participants (N =400) were from 3 coeducational Australian government schools in metropolitan Sydney of comparable socioeconomic status. When changes in perceptions occurred, they were negative, and gender differences favored boys in mathematics and girls in English. However, the nature and extent of change was dependent on school and level of achievement.     

数学教育与科学人文精神的培养

从数学的特点、我国广大民众的科学人文精神素质情况、社会进步需要看,科学人文精神应是数学教育的最重要内涵之一。数学教育培养科学人文精神,应将数学教育置于社会的文化背景之中来考虑。数学教师要有数学文化的观念,需要注意到学生所具有的观念及其对数学教学活动的影响。     

直观法在高师“数学教育学”中的运用

基础教育阶段课程改革推动高师教师教育也要与时俱进,针对我国数学教学着重训练逻辑思维,在高师“数学教育学”课中提倡恰当地使用直观法,按情境展示、观察、操作、分析、类比、讨论、猜想、推理、论证、应用、总结、反思等步骤展开双边活动。直观法有利于激发学生学习兴趣、有利于提高教学效率、有助于发展学生直观形象思维。文中给出一个类比图的案例来诠释。     

Science and Mathematics Efficacy Beliefs Held By Practicing and Prospective Teachers: A 5-Year Perspective

A compilation of results from three studies, conducted over a 5-year period, compare and contrast efficacy beliefs held by prospective and practicing teachers toward science and mathematics instruction. Particular attention is directed toward confidence and accountability factors. The theoretical background is derived from Bandura's model as well as the locus of control construct. Recommendations for teacher education programs are offered.     

I still wanna be an engineer! Women,education and the engineering profession

Women's low enrolment in post-school engineering degrees continues to be a problem for engineering faculties and the profession generally. A qualitative interview-based study of Australian women engineers across the range of engineering disciplines showed the relevance of success in math and science at school to their enrolling in engineering at university. However, for a significant number of the women the positive self-image connected with school success was not maintained by their workplace experience. Using a mixed methods approach, further investigations of the attitudes and experiences of working engineers at three large firms suggest that engineering workplaces continue to be uneasy environments for professional women. Particular issues for women working as professional engineers are identified in this paper and some educational strategies are suggested in order to better prepare engineers for an inclusive and participatory professional life.     

Relationships between Young Sisters as Revealed in their Overt Responses

The jackknife and bootstrap methods are becoming increasingly popular in research. Although the two approaches have similar goals and use similar strategies, information is lacking with regard to the comparability of their results. In the present study, this issue was systematically investigated for a case of canonical correlation analysis. Bootstrap, jackknife, and Monte Carlo experiments were carried out for 4 sample sizes (n = 200, 100, 50, 20). The jackknife analyses were also varied as regards the number of jackknife observations deleted in each analysis. Some meaningful discrepancies were observed between the bootstrap and jackknife results, especially under small sample-size conditions. Based on the comparisons made with Monte Carlo estimates, the empirical results suggest that the bootstrap technique provides less biased and more consistent results than the jackknife technique does.