Concept image revisited

Concept image and concept definition is an important construct in mathematics education. Its use, however, has been limited to cognitive studies. This article revisits concept image in the context of research on undergraduate students’ understanding of the derivative which regards the context of learning as paramount. The literature, mainly on concept image and concept definition, is considered before outlining the research study, the calculus courses and results which inform considerations of concept image. Section 6 addresses three themes: students’ developing concept images of the derivative; the relationship between teaching and students’ developing concept images; students’ developing concept images and their departmental affiliation. The conclusion states that studies of undergraduates’ concept images should not ignore their departmental affiliations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Performance of student software development teams: the influence of personality and identifying as team members

One prominent approach in the exploration of the variations in project team performance has been to study two components of the aggregate personalities of the team members: conscientiousness and agreeableness. A second line of research, known as self-categorisation theory, argues that identifying as team members and the team's performance norms should substantially influence the team's performance. This paper explores the influence of both these perspectives in university software engineering project teams. Eighty students worked to complete a piece of software in small project teams during 2007 or 2008. To reduce limitations in statistical analysis, Monte Carlo simulation techniques were employed to extrapolate from the results of the original sample to a larger simulated sample (2043 cases, within 319 teams). The results emphasise the importance of taking into account personality (particularly conscientiousness), and both team identification and the team's norm of performance, in order to cultivate higher levels of performance in student software engineering project teams.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of African American and Hispanic Adolescents' Educational and Occupational Expectations and Corresponding Attainment in Adulthood

Adolescents' expectations about school and work may be key antecedents of adult attainment and this relationship may vary by specific racial, ethnic, and gender groups. This article examines how educational and occupational expectations change in adolescence and how expectations predict corresponding attainment in adulthood. Participants included African American and Hispanic females and males. Educational and occupational expectations were reported at ages 14, 16, and 18, and educational and occupational attainment at ages 20 and 26. Results indicated distinct developmental trajectories per racial or ethnic and gender group. Educational expectations were more nuanced for African American and Hispanic females than for their male counterparts; occupational expectations were more varied for Hispanic females than for other groups. Educational expectations positively predicted educational attainment for all participants, whereas occupational attainment was predicted just by educational expectations and for Hispanic females and males only.     

Education for sustainable agriculture: a typology of the role of teaching farms in achieving learning goals and objectives

Teaching farms have recently gained popularity, but they are often expensive venues per student credit hour. It is therefore important they are used effectively. This research explored why faculty members use teaching farms, their goals and objectives with regard to the farm, and how they integrate teaching farms into curriculum. Twenty interviews were completed with faculty representing 15 institutions. A combined inductive and deductive approach was used to analyze data. The result was a typology of the roles of teaching farms in achieving educational goals and objectives. Four types of roles emerged: enhancement, competency, exploration, and foundation. Three of the four types reflect one of three models of higher education prevalent in the US. Our research suggests a better understanding of educational theory and pedagogy, combined with a firm appreciation of the different models of higher education could significantly enhance the quality of the learning experience provided on teaching farms.     

Use of a computer simulation to develop mental simulations for understanding relative motion concepts

Think aloud interview protocols from three high school post-physics students who interacted with a relative motion computer simulation presented in a predict-observe-explain format are analysed. Evidence is presented for: qualitative and quantitative difficulties with apparently simple one-dimensional relative motion problems; students' spontaneous visualization of relative motion problems; the visualizations facilitating solution of these problems; and students' memory of the on-line simulation used as a framework for visualization of post-test problems solved off-line. Instances of successful and unsuccessful mapping of remembered simulation features onto target problems are presented. Evidence from hand motions and other indicators suggesting that the subjects were using dynamic imagery in mental simulations during the treatment and post-test is presented. On the basis of these observations, it is hypothesized that for successful students, dissonance between their incorrect predictions and simulations displayed by the computer initiated the construction of new ways of thinking about relative motion, and that the memory of certain simulations acted as an analogue 'framework for visualization' of target problems solved off-line after the intervention. In such cases we find that interaction with a computer simulation on-line can facilitate a student's appropriate mental simulations off-line in related target problems. Implications for design and use of educational computer simulations are discussed.