What Mathematics Education May Prepare Students for the Society of the Future?

This paper attempts to engage the field in a discussion about what mathematics is needed for students to engage in society, especially with an increase in technology and digitalization. In this respect, mathematics holds a special place in STEM as machines do most of the calculations that students are taught in K-12. We raise questions about what mathematical proficiency means in today’s world and what shifts need to be made in both content and pedagogy to prepare students for 21st Century Skills and mathematical reasoning.     

Fostering Self-Reflection and Meaningful Learning: Earth Science Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers

This paper describes the analysis of teachers’ journal reflections during an inquiry-based professional development program. As a part of their learning experience, participants reflected on what they learned and how they learned. Progress of subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge was assessed though surveys and pre- and posttests. We found that teachers have difficulties reflecting on their learning and posing meaningful questions. The teachers who could describe how they reasoned from evidence to understand a concept had the highest learning gains. In contrast those teachers who seldom or never described learning a concept by reasoning from evidence showed the smallest learning gains. This analysis suggests that learning to reflect on one’s learning should be an integral part of teachers’ professional development experiences.     

The Changing Role of the Local News Media in Enabling Citizens to Engage in Local Democracies

Using Leeds City Council in the United Kingdom as a case study, we analyse comparatively the changing role of local journalism in the public communications and engagement strategies of local government. Drawing on over 20 semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the mainstream news media's role versus new modes of communication in engaging and communicating with citizens. We evaluate the Council's perceptions of its online and offline practices of engagement with different publics, and focus in particular on their interactions with journalists, the news media, and citizen journalists. The article considers how moves towards digital modes of engagement are changing perceptions of the professional role orientations of journalists in mediating between the Council and the general public.     

Everybody Counts,but Usually Just to 10! A Systematic Analysis of Number Representations in Children’s Books

Research Findings: Teachers and parents often use trade books to introduce or reinforce mathematics concepts. To date, an analysis of the early numeracy content of trade books has not been conducted. Consequently, this study evaluated the properties of numbers and counting within trade books. We coded 160 trade books targeted at establishing early numeracy skill in children to determine the numbers included; the representations of number presented; and how books used representations of number to inform children about numbers, including counting. The main findings included limited opportunity to learn the number 0 and numbers beyond 10 as well as limited exposure to multiple representations of number deemed necessary to build strong number understanding and counting skills. Practice or Policy: We discuss practical implications for the selection and use of trade books about number with young children.     

Striving 2.0: Faculty Collaboration and Advocacy as Strategies for Overcoming Post-Striving Organizational Priorities

Innovative Higher Education - A case study at a large, public research university was conducted to understand how post-striving environments, defined by those universities that achieved very high...     

Simplest Shapes First! But Let's Use Cognitive Science to Reconceive and Specify What “Simple” Means

Children's informal and formal learning experiences with geometric shapes currently result in misconceptions that persist into adulthood. Here, we combine research from mathematics education as well as cognitive science pertaining to concepts, categories, and learning strategies to propose a more optimal progression that is better specified and justified than the current standards. To do so, we reframed what constitutes a “simple” shape from perceptual simplicity to simplicity of properties. Our Property-Based Shape Sequence uses property-based criteria of what makes shapes “simple” and progresses in a way that affords opportunities for learners to develop hierarchical conceptions of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. Our goals are threefold: (1) recommend an optimal, mathematically-correct shape learning sequence, (2) correct misconceptions that adults and children harbor about shapes, and (3) encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations between mathematics education and psychology researchers to validate the proposed learning sequence.     

Challenges and Accomplishments of Practicing Formative Assessment: a Case Study of College Biology Instructors’ Classrooms

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - This study presents a glimpse into the private classrooms of biology instructors and the way they practice formative assessments within...     

Postural Influences on the Development of Infant Lateralized and Symmetric Hand‐Use

Within‐individual variability is such an apparent characteristic of infant handedness that handedness is believed to consolidate only in childhood. Research showed that manifest handedness is influenced by emerging postural skills (sitting, crawling, and walking). In this investigation, it was proposed that symmetric hand‐use (tendency to acquire objects bimanually), rather than lateralized hand‐use (the use of one hand more than the other), may be influenced by postural changes. Trajectories of lateralized and symmetric hand‐use for object acquisition were examined in 275 infants tested monthly from 6 to 14 months. Multilevel modeling revealed that change in lateralized hand‐use is unrelated to developmental transitions in infant posture, whereas the trajectory of symmetric hand‐use changes significantly with the development of postural skills.