Reinventing discovery learning: a field-wide research program

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature. Whereas some educational designers believe that students should learn new concepts through explorative problem solving within dedicated environments that constrain key parameters of their search and then support their progressive appropriation of empowering disciplinary forms, others are critical of the ultimate efficacy of this discovery-based pedagogical philosophy, citing an inherent structural challenge of students constructing historically achieved conceptual structures from their ingenuous notions. This special issue presents six educational research projects that, while adhering to principles of discovery-based learning, are motivated by complementary philosophical stances and theoretical constructs. The editorial introduction frames the set of projects as collectively exemplifying the viability and breadth of discovery-based learning, even as these projects: (a) put to work a span of design heuristics, such as productive failure, surfacing implicit know-how, playing epistemic games, problem posing, or participatory simulation activities; (b) vary in their target content and skills, including building electric circuits, solving algebra problems, driving safely in traffic jams, and performing martial-arts maneuvers; and (c) employ different media, such as interactive computer-based modules for constructing models of scientific phenomena or mathematical problem situations, networked classroom collective “video games,” and intercorporeal master–student training practices. The authors of these papers consider the potential generativity of their design heuristics across domains and contexts

Developing pre-service mathematics teachers’ mathematical problem solving-posing skills through solve-reflect-pose strategy in Lagos state, Nigeria

Introduction: Problem posing activities in the classroom help in improving students’ achievement, creativity, and expand their mathematical knowledge. Purpose: The objective of this research is to examine the impacts of solve-reflect-pose strategy on pre-service mathematics teachers’ achievement in problem solving-posing activities. Junior secondary school algebraic word problems was used in the research as a tool in observing the impacts of the intervention on pre-service mathematics teachers’ in problem solving-posing skills. Methodology: There were 92 pre-service teachers in total and a mixed method design with quantitative was used. Algebraic Problem Posing Skills Achievement Test and Interview Protocol were used to measure the pre-service teachers’ mathematics problem solving-posing skills. The reliability test was measured using test-retest reliability techniques and the value of was calculated as 0.84. Data was evaluated using descriptive statistics, dependent sample t-test, independent sample t-test and Pearson Correlation for the quantitative data. Findings: The findings showed that after being exposed to solve-reflect-pose strategy, the pre-service teachers displayed greater improvement in their problem solving and posing skills and they were able to pose and create quality solvable real-life problem. Recommendations: It recommended that, solve-reflect-pose strategy could be a main instructional strategy in prospective teachers’ methodology courses

Investigating the Effects of Problem-Posing on High School Students’ Mathematical Learning

Problem-posing activities have received more attention in mathematics education in recent decades. Problem-posing activities’ effects on improving students’ mathematical learning have been studied by extant studies. This study implemented an explanatory sequential mixed-method research design to investigate the impact of problem-posing activities in the walkSTEM program on high school students’ mathematical outcomes. The researcher analyzed students’ problem-posing work and compared the content complexity levels of student-generated problems in different activities. The result suggested that students posed the more complex problems in the Final Walk project and they also posed more complex problems in the post-survey compared to the pre-survey. Students’ responses in the pre- and post-survey were investigated along with the post-intervention interviews. There was no statistically significant difference between students’ mathematical interest in the pre- and post-survey. The qualitative analyses revealed that students started to think more, think deeper, ask more questions, and connect topics and content they learned about at school to everyday objects and real-life scenarios. The researcher also explored the relations among students’ problem-posing skills, problem-solving skills, mathematical dispositions, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency. According to the findings, problem-posing performance was positively correlated to students’ mathematical interest and problem-solving skills, and conceptual understanding was a significant predictor for students’ problem-posing performance. The online meeting recordings were analyzed qualitatively to identify instructors’ scaffold strategies to support students’ problem-posing. Scaffold strategies identified from the recordings were: modeling problem-posing, providing feedback to student-generated problems, and utilizing education technology to enhance students’ participation level. In conclusion, this study validated problem-posing’s positive effects in improving problem-posing skills and mathematical dispositions, and helping students connect school mathematics to real-world applications. The study also compared students’ performance and preferences in different types of problem-posing tasks and future research could investigate how to better incorporate and scaffold these tasks in problem-posing programs

Instruction of reading study skills in four academic content areas of California secondary schools

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of instruction of reading study skills as revealed by a state-wide survey of teachers. The problem was: To what extent are academic content area teachers in California secondary schools providing instruction in reading study skills as part of their instruction program? An analysis of the problem yielded eight questions related to the perceptions and practices of teachers in the four content areas of English, mathematics, science, and social science. Eleven hypotheses were proposed related to possible differences among sub-groups of teachers. The research was descriptive in nature and employed a survey design in which a questionnaire was the survey instrument. Questionnaires were distributed to 688 teachers in a randomly selected sample of 172 schools. The total number of respondents was 374 (54.5 percent). Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with twenty respondents. Teachers perceive reading study skills to be important to student success in their respective content areas. Teachers consider Identifying main ideas as the single most important reading study skill. They rate the ability level of students to perform reading study skills as neither high nor low. They report that they allocate time for reading study skills instruction. Respondents report that they use all of the recommended instructional procedures listed on the questionnnaire. The findings with respect to the perceived ability level of students and allocation of instructional time are in distinct contrast to the literature. Three recommendations were proposed: 1) That further research involving direct classroom observation be designed and conducted to investigate the allocation of time for teaching reading study skills in order to determine the ratio of process versus content instruction that is being provided for secondary students; 2) That at all educational levels, the issue of coverage of content versus the quality of teaching and learning be examined as a critical issue related to teacher effectiveness; 3) That school districts and other educational agencies provide in-service opportunities in order to promote a greater understanding of the importance of reading study skills for independent learning and to develop teacher expertise in the instruction of these skills

PREDICTING PERCEIVED DIFFICULTY OF ENGLISH MEDIUM INSTRUCTION (EMI) UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Despite extensive research on students’ language-related difficulties, there is still little known about the predictors of difficulty of undergraduate courses for English Medium Instruction (EMI) students. The aim of the study was to investigate the predictive effect of several variables on the perceived difficulty of EMI from undergraduate students’ perspectives. Data came from a questionnaire applied to 511 undergraduate students from three EMI universities in Turkey. A binary logistic regression was used for the analysis of multiple determinants that could predict the difficulty of undergraduate courses as perceived by students. Findings indicated that gender, department, type of secondary school, the amount of time for self-study in English, duration and perceived usefulness of English preparatory training, and perceived ability in writing, speaking, and grammar were not statistically significant predictors of perceived difficulty. However, age, grade level, perceived ability in reading, listening, and vocabulary as well as receiving additional language support were found to be the significant predictors of the perceived difficulty in undergraduate courses in Turkish EMI settings. EMI students may benefit from orientation programs that can assist them in adjusting to university life, as well as personal academic advising that provides strategies for developing learning skills in undergraduate courses. Keywords: EMI students, undergraduate courses, perceived difficulty, logistic regression analysis

Developing reading-writing connections; the impact of explicit instruction of literary devices on the quality of children's narrative writing

The purpose of this collaborative schools-university study was to investigate how the explicit instruction of literary devices during designated literacy sessions could improve the quality of children's narrative writing. A guiding question for the study was: Can children's writing can be enhanced by teachers drawing attention to the literary devices used by professional writers or “mentor authors”? The study was conducted with 18 teachers, working as research partners in nine elementary schools over one school year. The research group explored ways of developing children as reflective authors, able to draft and redraft writing in response to peer and teacher feedback. Daily literacy sessions were complemented by weekly writing workshops where students engaged in authorial activity and experienced writers' perspectives and readers' demands (Harwayne, 1992; May, 2004). Methods for data collection included video recording of peer-peer and teacher-led group discussions and audio recording of teacher-child conferences. Samples of children's narrative writing were collected and a comparison was made between the quality of their independent writing at the beginning and end of the research period. The research group documented the importance of peer-peer and teacher-student discourse in the development of children's metalanguage and awareness of audience. The study suggests that reading, discussing, and evaluating mentor texts can have a positive impact on the quality of children's independent writing

Preparing adolescents attending progressive and no-excuses urban charter schools to analyze, navigate, and challenge race and class inequality

Background/Context: Sociopolitical development (SPD) refers to the processes by which an individual acquires the knowledge, skills, emotional faculties, and commitment to recognize and resist oppressive social forces. A growing body of scholarship has found that such sociopolitical capabilities are predictive in marginalized adolescents of a number of key outcomes, including resilience, academic achievement, and civic engagement. Many scholars have long argued that schools and educators have a central role to play in fostering the sociopolitical development of marginalized adolescents around issues of race and class inequality. Other scholars have investigated school-based practices for highlighting race and class inequality that include youth participatory-action research, critical literacy, and critical service-learning. Objective of Study: The present study sought to add to the existing scholarship on schools as opportunity structures for sociopolitical development. Specifically, this study considered the role of two different schooling models in fostering adolescents' ability to analyze, navigate, and challenge the social forces and institutions contributing to race and class inequality. Setting: The six high schools participating in the present study were all urban charter public high schools located in five northeastern cities. All six schools served primarily low-income youth of color and articulated explicit goals around fostering students' sociopolitical development. Three of these high schools were guided by progressive pedagogy and principles, and three were guided by no-excuses pedagogy and principles. Research Design: The present study compared the sociopolitical development of adolescents attending progressive and no-excuses charter high schools through a mixed methods research design involving pre-post surveys, qualitative interviews with participating adolescents and teachers, and ethnographic field notes collected during observations at participating schools. Results: On average, adolescents attending progressive high schools demonstrated more significant shifts in their ability to analyze the causes of racial inequality, but adolescents attending no-excuses high schools demonstrated more significant shifts in their sense of efficacy around navigating settings in which race and class inequality are prominent. Neither set of adolescents demonstrated significant shifts in their commitment to challenging the social forces or institutions contributing to race and class inequality. Conclusions: Both progressive and no-excuses schools sought to foster adolescents' commitment to challenging race and class inequality, but focused on different building blocks to do so. Further research is necessary to understand the pedagogy and practices that show promise in catalyzing adolescents' analytic and navigational abilities into a powerful commitment to collective social action-the ultimate goal of sociopolitical development

Pre-service teacher’s mathematical disposition through problem-solving and problem-posing based ignatian pedagogy

Mathematical disposition is an important aspect that pre-service teachers must master to determine the success of mathematics learning. The objectives of this study were to show the statistical description and verify the research hypothesis regarding the comparison between problem-solving and problem-posing integrated with ignatian pedagogy as a novelty toward Elementary School Teacher Education students. Using a quantitative approach involving 84 students consisting of 9 males and 75 females as participants, used a comparison test between two learning models. The results of the parametric prerequisite test showed the value of Sig. 0.05 for normality and Sig. 0.05 for homogeneity. However, data analysis can not be continued parametrically but was tested using Mann-Whitney U (non-parametric). The hypotheses test results concluded that H0 was accepted or there was no significant difference from the state of the students' mathematical disposition either using problem-solving or problem posing based on ignation pedagogy. It was evidenced by the probability value, which showed 0.221, which was 0.05. The implications of this study directly recommend using appropriate learning models to improve the mathematical dispositions of pre-service teachers

Secondary School Students’ Errors in the Translation of Algebraic Statements

In this article, we present the results of a research study that explores secondary students’ capacity to perform translations of algebraic statements between the verbal and symbolic representation systems through the lens of errors. We classify and compare the errors made by two groups of students: one at the beginning of their studies in school algebra and another one completing their studies on algebra in compulsory education. This comparison allows us to detect errors which require specific attention in instruction due to its persistence and to identify errors that disappear as students advance in their study of algebra. The results and conclusions have pedagogic value to inform instruction and also lead to backed conjectures and research questions to push forwards research on student’s translation capacity and students’ knowledge of algebraic symbolism