Alternative Modes for Teaching Mathematical Problem Solving: An Overview

Various modes are proffered as alternatives for teaching mathematical problem solving. Each mode is described briefly, along with general purposes, advantages and disadvantages. Combinations of modes are suggested; general issues identified; recommendations offered; and feedback from teachers summarized

When win-argument pedagogy is a loss for the composition classroom

Despite the effort educators put into developing in students the critical writing and thinking skills needed to compose effective arguments, undergraduate college students are often accused of churning out essays lacking in creative and critical thought, arguments too obviously formulated and with sides too sharply drawn. Theories abound as to why these deficiencies are rampant. Some blame students’ immature cognitive and emotional development for these lacks. Others put the blame of lackadaisical output on the assigning of shopworn writing subjects, assigned topics such as on American laws and attitudes about capital punishment and abortion. Although these factors might contribute to faulty written output in some cases, the prevailing hindrance is our very pedagogy, a system in which students are rewarded for composing the very type of argument we wish to avoid — the eristic, in which the goal is not truth seeking, but successfully disputing another’s argument. Certainly the eristic argument is the intended solution in cases when a clear‑cut outcome is needed, such as in legal battles and political campaigns when there can only be one winner. However, teaching mainly or exclusively the eristic, as is done in most composition classrooms today, halts the advancement of these higher‑order inquiry skills we try developing in our students

From Kansas to Queensland: Global learning in preservice elementary teacher education

Communication of information between groups of humans has been extended through out history progressing from smoke signals, drum beats, message couriers, post, telegraph, telephone and now the ICT. The time between the utterance of a message and the reception of that message has progressively decreased. We are now able to communicate relatively cheaply, simultaneously sharing and responding to ideas and thoughts on a scale never previously possible. Although the technology exists to make possible easy access to people in all parts of the world, we still lack understandings of the aspirations and sensitivities of other cultures with whom we can communicate. This project supported pre-service elementary teachers in two countries – Australia and the United States – to engage in collaborative learning through Internet communications. The purpose of the project was to develop greater understanding of other’s cultures, and practices in teaching elementary students. Students attending an Australian preservice primary science methods course were matched with a cohort of undergraduate preservice elementary student teachers from a university in the United States studying an integrated mathematics science methods course. Over a six-week period the students engaged in the computer-mediated communication and were encouraged to learn about mutual cultural practices and primary/elementary science education in both countries. The outcomes demonstrated that students involved in the project benefited from an array of different and enriching learning experiences. Students benefited through enhanced understanding of the teaching of science and an appreciation of the common problems confronting science education in both countries. However, there was little engagement in debate or discussion of individual differences and the cultural context of each other’s country even when opportunities presented themselves. Nevertheless, the on-line tasks provided the pre-service teachers with the experience and confidence to engage their own students in similar global learning initiatives when they become teachers

Scaffolding School Pupils’ Scientific Argumentation with Evidence-Based Dialogue Maps

This chapter reports pilot work investigating the potential of Evidence-based Dialogue Mapping to scaffold young teenagers’ scientific argumentation. Our research objective is to better understand pupils’ usage of dialogue maps created in Compendium to write scientific ex-planations. The participants were 20 pupils, 12-13 years old, in a summer science course for “gifted and talented” children in the UK. Through qualitative analysis of three case studies, we investigate the value of dialogue mapping as a mediating tool in the scientific reasoning process during a set of learning activities. These activities were published in an online learning envi-ronment to foster collaborative learning. Pupils mapped their discussions in pairs, shared maps via the online forum and in plenary discussions, and wrote essays based on their dialogue maps. This study draws on these multiple data sources: pupils’ maps in Compendium, writings in science and reflective comments about the uses of mapping for writing. Our analysis highlights the diversity of ways, both successful and unsuccessful, in which dialogue mapping was used by these young teenagers

E-Learning as a Cultural Artifact. An empirical study of Iranian Virtual Institutions

Choice, design and use of technology in education settings can be dependent on culturally embedded norms, i.e., assumptions about the nature of knowledge, ways of communications, kinds of teaching and learning strategies\ud and methods, etc. By discussing the culturally inscribed norms in this article, it is argued that on the design and use of e-learning in the perspective of globalization it is critically important to recognize, understand and thus take into account the cultural situatedness. Drawing on the literature, we present a model of culturalpedagogical paradigms in higher education in general and e-learning in particular. We use this model to explore cultural-pedagogical orientations in Iranian Virtual Institutions as an instance of a developing country. This is done in a comparative perspective, looking for similarities of the teacher’s and learner’s points of view

Mobility and the digital page

As digital media and computers have become essential components in contemporary communication, the field of composition and rhetoric must re-evaluate its focus in composition classrooms due to increasing student literacy in multimedia environments. This dissertation investigates how students compose multimodal composition in a research study of a First Year Composition course. Students in this study created comic books on an issue of social concern and were surveyed on their experience both using computers to write before entering college and using a computer to create comic books during the assignment. This study informs the process of digital mobility, a process of conceptual and performative interaction on the digital screen, that students undergo in creating multimodal composition. This study also undergirds a need to expand the field of composition to accommodate such multimodal composition and give students increased opportunities to make meaning in other modes beyond alphabetic text while studying the ways students compose in a digital interface

The Challenges, Reforms, and Future Prospects of Elementary and Lower Secondary Mathematics Education in Germany

Keeping its original form of an interview, this article presents a discussion about the challenges, reforms, and the prospects of mathematics education in Germany. The interview addresses aims and goals, contents and processes of mathematics teaching. Compared with the guiding ideas some years ago, more emphasis is put on modeling today. The idea that every student should have enough mathematics knowledge and the disappointing results of Germany in the PISA-2000 comparison may have caused this change. Moreover, Germany faces, like other countries do, some basic problems in mathematics teaching, addressed here as the balance problem, the coherence problem, the curriculum problem, the classroom organization problem, the computer problem, and the teacher education and development problem. The interview also tries to show how these problems are going to be tackled in Germany. For the prospects, being able to apply mathematics in the real world, being able to understand the mathematical concepts and rules, and having the potential of cultivating the own thinking are the main concerns of mathematical literacy in Germany

A WebQuest Example for Mathematics Education

AbstractIn this research a WebQuest that can be used in mathematics education is prepared. It was designed to teach coordinate system to seventh grade students in an entertaining way. The prepared WebQuest is published in mathematicswebquest.sitemynet.com web site. The aim of this project is to increase the effectiveness of learning process and enrich the course visually and provide interaction of students. Literature survey method is used in the research. The emergence of WebQuest, preparation process, design steps, important points for effective usage, usage of it in Turkey, advantages & disadvantages and limitations of the system are indicated. The history of WebQuest in Turkey, teacher and student perspectives are also implied in the study. The general view defends that this kind of activities can make a positive contribution on affective and cognitive abilities of learning environments. On the other hand, when the existing structure of studies taken into consideration, some negative situations about the technical deficiencies and teacher/student competence are observed