Mathematics education in its cultural context

This paper presents the results of a series of analyses of educational situations involving cultural issues. Of particular significance are the ideas that all cultural groups generate mathematical ideas, and that Western mathematics may be only one mathematics among many. The values associated with Western mathematics are also discussed, and various issues raised by these analyses are then presented.     

Mapping violence,naming life: a history of anti-Black oppression in the higher education system

Abstract

The article will provide a historical overview of anti-Black violence in the higher education system across three time periods: Colonial Era, Post-Civil War, and the mid-to-late twentieth century. Mapping violence demands a focus on how higher education historically has practiced anti-Black oppression coupled with how Black people have practiced resistance and life-making. Both the terms education violence (how systems of schooling limit and kill Black lives) and life-making (how Black people engage in alternative self-definition and self-care) are introduced to name pivotal moments in this history. Defining violence at structural, cultural, and direct levels, the paper accounts for how higher education has been an engine and reflection of racial hierarchy. The article ends with the implications history has for issues of anti-Blackness and movements for Black life-making in the higher education system today.     

Instructional Strategies to Help Online Students Learn: Feedback from Online Students

Increased enrollment in online programs and courses has prompted a plethora of research on instructional strategies that impact online students’ learning. Most of these strategies came from instructors, and others were solicited from students. While the literature notes that students who have more university experience tend to provide more substantive responses when solicited, there seems to be limited representation of online master’s students’ preferences on what instructional strategies work for them. There is paucity in the literature on how these preferred instructional strategies inform existing theoretical and practical frameworks that could impact online learning performance. This article discusses the Top Ten Instructional Strategies preferred by master’s students who responded to a dissertation survey question - What specific things would you like your online instructors do to help you learn successfully? - and relates these strategies to the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and the Quality Matters Rubric.     

Digital play: a new classification

Abstract

This paper draws on an ESRC-funded study of play and creativity in preschool-aged children’s use of apps in the UK. The main objectives of the study were to collect information about access to and use of apps in the home, establish the most popular apps and identify the features of those apps that are successful in promoting play and creativity. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data, including video filming of children using the most popular apps. In identifying play types that emerged in the analysis of data, the team utilised an established taxonomy, which outlines sixteen play types. This taxonomy was reviewed and adapted to analyse data from the project relating to digital play. Through this process, an additional type of play, transgressive play, was identified and added to the taxonomy. The paper outlines the implications of the revised taxonomy for future studies of play.     

Another Look at Counselor,Client, and Supervisor Ratings of Counselor Effectiveness

The purpose of the study was to compare the perceptions of counselors, clients, and supervisors with regard to the effectiveness of counseling. The Counseling Evaluation Inventory (CEI) was used as a measure of counseling effectiveness, using client satisfaction as a criterion. 25 graduate student counselors provided self-ratings on the CEI. Additional CEI ratings of these counselors were obtained from 120 of their clients and their practicum supervisors. The counselor self-ratings and the supervisors' ratings were significantly correlated with each other, but neither was significantly correlated with the client CEI ratings. In addition, the client CEI ratings were significantly higher than both the counselor self-ratings and the supervisors' ratings.     

Developing Collaboration Skills in Team Undergraduate Research Experiences

Abstract

Interdisciplinary undergraduate research experiences often require students to work in teams with other students and researchers from different disciplines, creating a need for development of new skills in interdisciplinary collaboration. In this paper, we describe our unique efforts to mentor participants in developing these skills during our team-based research experience for undergraduates program. This effort was initiated in response to a perceived need to provide professional development in collaboration for our participants, who come from diverse backgrounds that span a range of disciplines, institutions, and cultures. We describe here the intervention used, which is a modified version of one successfully implemented in a classroom setting. Furthermore, we present our formative and summative program evaluation data regarding participants’ perceptions about what helps or hinders team science. The most-repeated themes in student evaluations, in order from most mentions to least, were: communication, goal setting, shared mental model, timing/scheduling, cooperation, non-participation, attitudes, and mentor guidance/support. Together these themes account for 82% of the student responses. Lastly, we present our observations of the positive effects of this intervention on our program. Our findings may be useful to those mentoring undergraduates in both team research and classroom group learning.     

Toward a socio‐psychological definition of transitional persons

In this innovative study, state legislators' dependence on various mass media and interpersonal sources for information about their constituents is examined revealing a relatively stable use of mass communication sources and a somewhat surprising role for radio.     

The Relationship of the World Wide Web to Thinking Skills

As access to the WWW increases in schools and classrooms it is vital for educators at all levels to examine closely its potential roles in learning. Much emphasis has been placed upon making the WWW available without enough emphasis on methods of using it so students will benefit from instruction based upon it. A continuing goal of modern pedagogy is to help students move beyond the lower order cognitive domain, knowledge and comprehension, to higher order thinking skills: application; analysis;, synthesis; and evaluation. Students also need critical thinking skills. These skills are necessary for dealing with the demands of the future information society, which will be even more complex and demanding than at present. In order to foster the skills mentioned above, teachers are urged to provide learning environments that are learner-centred, authentic, problem-based and collaborative. Les relations entre le World Wide Web et les aptitudes des pensées. Comme l'accès au WWW s'accroît dans les écoles et les classes il est vital que les enseignants À tous niveaux examinent de près son rÔle potentiel en éducation. On a mis beaucoup l'accent sur les possibilités d'accès au WWW sans mettre assez l'accent sur les méthodes d'emploi par les étudiants de facon À ce qu'ils puissent bénéficier de l'instruction qu'il permet. Un objectif constant de la pédagogie moderne est d'aider les étudiants À dépasser le domaine cognitif limité. le savoir et la compréhension vers des aptitudes de pensée d'un ordre supérieur : applications, analyses, synthèses et évaluations. Les étudiants ont aussi besoin de pensée critique - ces aptitudes sont nécessaires pour faire face aux demandes de la future société de l'information, qui sera encore plus complexe et exigeante que maintenant. De facon À favoriser les aptitudes mentionnées ci-dessus , il faut que les enseignants fournissent les environnements éducatifs qui sont centrés sur l'apprenant, authentiques, basés sur la résolution de problèmes et la collaboration. Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem World Wide Web und den Denkfähigkeiten. Mit den wachsenden Zugängen an das WWW in Schulen und Klassenräumen wird es für Lehrer auf allen Ebenen immer dringender ihre zukünftige Rolle im Unterricht zu überdenken. Es wurde sehr viel Wert auf die Verfügbarkeit des WWWs gelegt, ohne jedoch auf Anwendungsmöglichkeiten zu achten damit die Lernenden von einem auf dem Web basierenden Unterricht profitieren. Ständiges Ziel moderner Pädagogik ist, Studenten zu helfen, über die untere Stufe des kognitiven Bereichs, Wissen und Verständnis, auf eine höhere Stufe des Denkprozesses zu gelangen: nämlich Anwendung, Analyse, Synthese und Bewertung. Schüler brauchen auch kritisches Denken. Diese Fähigkeiten sind notwendig im Umgang mit den Anforderungen der zukünftigen Informationsgesellschaft, die noch komplexer und schwieriger als die jetzige sein wird. Um diese Fähigkeiten zu fördern müssen Lehrer Lernumfelder schaffen, die sich am Studenten orientieren, authentisch sind, auf Problemlösungen basieren und collaborativ sind.