Culturally Sensitive IS Teaching: Lessons Learned to Manage Motivation Issues

This paper seeks to raise awareness of culturally sensitive teaching that is largely overlooked in the IS teaching community. In a global, networked environment commonly faced by the contemporary business or academic world, it is imperative to prepare future IT professionals with adequate cultural understanding of such a multicultural environment in which their future work practice will engage. Derived from a teaching case situated in the context of HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the US, this paper narrates and reflects cultural issues and challenges that are increasingly prevalent in today‟s education systems. More specifically, the study analyzes motivational issues that are commonly observed in a homogeneous student group and provides practice lessons to help educators who might face similar issues in their teaching context to manage those issues. Insights gained from the study help reflect the significance of developing culturally sensitive pedagogy that might require future IS educators‟ and researchers‟ attention

Cultivating cultural capitals in introductory algebra-based physics through reflective journaling

At a large, diverse, hispanic-serving, master’s-granting university, the Alma Project was created to support the rich connections of life experiences of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students that come from racially diverse backgrounds through reflective journaling. Utilizing frameworks in ethnic studies and social psychology, the Alma Project aims to make learning STEM inclusive by affirming the intersectional identities and cultural wealth that students bring into STEM classrooms. Approximately once per month students who participate in the Alma Project spend 5–10 min at the beginning of class responding to questions designed to affirm their values and purpose for studying STEM in college. Students then spend time in class sharing their responses with their peers, to the extent that they feel comfortable, including common struggles and successes in navigating through college and STEM spaces. For this study, we analyze 180 reflective journaling essays of students enrolled in General Physics I, an algebra-based introductory physics course primarily for life science majors. Students were enrolled in a required lab, a self-selected community-based learning program (Supplemental Instruction), or in a small number of instances, both. Using the community cultural wealth framework to anchor our analysis, we identified 11 cultural capitals that students often expressed within these physics spaces. Students in both populations frequently expressed aspirational, attainment, and navigational capital, while expressions of other cultural capitals, such as social capital, differ in the two populations. Our findings suggest that students bring rich and diverse perspectives into physics classrooms when asked to reflect about their lived experiences. Moreover, our study provides evidence that reflective journaling can be used as an asset-based teaching tool. By using reflective journaling in physics spaces, recognizing students’ assets has the potential for physics educators to leverage students’ lived experiences, goals, and values to make physics learning more meaningful and engaging

Justice and the Mathematics Classroom: Realizing the Goals of the AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics

This chapter is an introduction to justice in the post-secondary context of mathematics courses for prospective teachers. The chapter is a research-to-practice report (i.e., it describes an aspect of instruction and discusses how it is informed by, connects to, or is illustrative of findings from research). While the reader might be any type of mathematics teacher educator, the focus here is supporting those who teach mathematics content courses for elementary school teacher candidates. In addition to having an effect on discipline-specific knowledge, college mathematics classes contribute to the ways candidates communicate in/with/through mathematics in working with children. The chapter includes discussion of the keys of mathematical literacy: mathematics for and of justice and examples of what the ideas look like in practice. The examples include information from research and a reference case presented as the accumulation of experiences for Kara Thomas and Dr. Rhodes. The case is a means for exemplifying issues such as equity, agency, and identity in the mathematics classroom

The Experiences of African American Students Engaging in Culturally Relevant Cognitively Demanding Mathematical Tasks

This study investigated the experiences of African Americans students engaging in culturally relevant cognitively demanding mathematical tasks. Culturally relevant cognitively demanding (CRCD) mathematical tasks are high-level demanding tasks that explore mathematical concepts embedded with culture related to phenomena in their current lives (Mathews & Parker, 2013). The purpose of this study was to capture the students\u27 experiences and to engage students in mathematical tasks that constitute doing mathematics or procedures with connections (Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver, 2009). This qualitative case study is situated in critical race theory and constructivist theory of learning. In the study, I observed, recorded classes, and completed a content analysis about cognitively demanding mathematical tasks (Merriam, 2009; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Yin, 2014). The African American students completed the culturally relevant cognitively demanding mathematical tasks in a virtual environment. It is expected that this study will contribute to the research surrounding the teaching and learning of mathematics for African American students. Additionally, the study will contribute to research about the usefulness of culturally focused lessons. Furthermore, this study is a counter-narrative surrounding African American students and mathematics

Toward Culturally Responsive Online Pedagogy: Practices of Selected Secondary Online Teachers

Proponents of K-12 online learning claim that it can provide more equitable learning opportunities by offering access to courses that might not otherwise be available to students, and by providing personalized learning experiences. Despite the growth of online learning in K-12 public schools, very little is known about what constitutes good online teaching. The purpose of this interpretivist investigation was to learn about some of the ways in which culturally responsive teaching can occur online. This study focused on the practices of four full-time online high school teachers. Using the methods of grounded theory research, I analyzed data generated through observations of online courses, interviews with teachers, and teacher-written narratives in order to learn how four instructors practiced culturally responsive online pedagogy in one state-supported online program. Results indicated that the teachers engaged in frequent and ongoing dialogue with their students. The teachers used multiple strategies to get to know their students, to build class community, to adapt instruction to students’ learning needs and preferences, and to make learning relevant. Teachers also discussed contextual factors (e.g., program structure and student enrollment) that impacted their practice. However, some characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogy, including infusing students’ cultures into the curriculum and helping students to challenge power and hegemony, did not emerge. A discussion of these results includes potential implications for educational leaders at the state, district, and program levels, as well as recommendations for future research on culturally responsive online pedagogy (CROP)

Proceedings of the CUNY Games Conference 5.0

The CUNY Games Network is an organization dedicated to encouraging research, scholarship and teaching in the developing field of games-based learning. We connect educators from every campus and discipline at CUNY and beyond who are interested in digital and non-digital games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching and inquiry-based learning. The CUNY Games Conference distills its best cutting-edge interactive presentations into a two-day event to promote and discuss game-based pedagogies in higher education, focusing particularly on non-digital learning activities that faculty can use in the classroom every day. The conference will include workshops lead by CUNY Games Organizers on how to modify existing games for the classroom, how to incorporate elements of play into simulations and critical thinking activities, as well as poster sessions, play testing, and game play. For the digitally minded, we will also offer a workshop in creating computer games in Unity

Standards-Based Instruction: A Case Study of a College Algebra Teacher

ABSTRACT STANDARDS-BASED INSTRUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF A COLLEGE ALGEBRA TEACHER by Anthonia Ekwuocha The lecture method has dominated undergraduate mathematics education (Bergsten, 2007). The lecture method promotes passive learning instead of active learning among students, thus contributing to attrition in undergraduate mathematics. Standards-based instruction has been found to be effective in reducing students’ attrition in undergraduate mathematics (Ellington, 2005). College algebra is gatekeeper for higher undergraduate mathematics courses (Thiel, Peterman & Brown, 2008). Research indicates that if college algebra is taught with standards-based teaching strategies, it will help reduce students’ attrition and encourage more students to take higher level mathematics courses (Burmeister, Kenney, & Nice, 1996). Standards-based instructional strategies include but are not limited to real life applications, cooperative learning, proper use of technology, implementation of writing, multiple approaches, connection with other experiences, and experiential teaching (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC), 2006). Despite all effort to improve undergraduate mathematics instruction, there are still limited empirical studies on standards-based instruction in college algebra. Research in undergraduate mathematics education is a new field of study (Brown & Murphy, 2000). Research reported that overall students’ attrition in college algebra could be as high as 41% in a community college (Owens, 2003). This high attrition rate in college algebra may impact students’ continuation in higher mathematics courses and their interest in the field of mathematics. As a result more research efforts must be focused on ways to improve college algebra instruction. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the teaching practices of a college algebra teacher who adopts standards-based techniques in his classroom. The research questions that guided the study were: What teaching practices are used in the mathematics classroom of a college algebra teacher? How are the teaching practices of the teacher aligned with the characteristics of standards-based instruction? The participant of the study was a college algebra teacher who was identified as a standards-based teacher. The teaching practices of the teacher were analyzed and presented using a qualitative single case study method. Data were collected from interviews with the teacher, classroom observations, and artifacts. The research project was drawn from the frameworks of culturally relevant pedagogy theory, symbolic interaction theory, experiential teaching theory, and standards-based instruction. Analysis of the data showed that the teaching practices of the participant were mathematical communication, proper use of technology in instruction and assessment, building mathematical connections, multiple representations, motivating students to learn mathematics, and repetition of key terms. The teaching practices aligned with the characteristics of standards-based instruction. Findings from the study suggest that standards-based instruction strategies should be used in undergraduate mathematics education, especially in teaching college algebra to alleviate some of the problems. Moreover, university administrators at college level should organize workshops and professional development about standards-based instruction strategies for their teachers

2021 SERA Annual Meeting Program and Abstracts

Southwest Educational Research Association www.sera–edresearch.org 2021 Annual Meeting Program and Abstracts February 3 - 5, 202

LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE INNOVATIVE LEARNING GLASS / LIGHTBOARD IN HYBRID EDUCATION

This article provides a review of recent literature regarding the use of the innovative Learning Glass-type technologies in different educational settings. Learning Glass “LG” / Lightboard in Hybrid education, a modern educational tool produced in the United States (Western Michigan University, Southeastern University, San Diego State University & Cornell University) which works a two-sided flip board proven to promote learning growth and keeps students of typical and non-typical development engaged. Our purpose is to investigate the potential of this technology to serve as a supplement tool in a range of specifically targeted education settings, including culturally diverse learners, hybrid education and social media involvement. Preliminary evidence indicates the capabilities of LG to help instructors retain their students’ attention in the meta COVID-19 era. Αυτό το άρθρο παρέχει μια ανασκόπηση της πρόσφατης βιβλιογραφίας σχετικά με τη χρήση των καινοτόμων τεχνολογιών τύπου Learning Glass σε διαφορετικά εκπαιδευτικά περιβάλλοντα. Το Γυαλί Μάθησης "LG" / Lightboard στην υβριδική εκπαίδευση, είναι ένα σύγχρονο εκπαιδευτικό εργαλείο που παράγεται και χρησιμοποιείται στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες (Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικού Μίτσιγκαν, Πανεπιστήμιο Southeastern, Πολιτειακό Πανεπιστήμιο του Σαν Ντιέγκο & Πανεπιστήμιο Κορνέλ), λειτουργεί με μια πλακέτα διπλής όψης που αποδεδειγμένα προωθεί τη γνωστική ανάπτυξη και κρατά αφοσιωμένους μαθητές τυπικής και μη τυπικής ανάπτυξης. Σκοπός μας είναι να διερευνήσουμε τις δυνατότητες αυτής της τεχνολογίας και το πώς χρησιμεύει ως συμπληρωματικό εργαλείο σε μια σειρά ειδικών στοχευμένων εκπαιδευτικών πλαισίων, συμπεριλαμβανομένων πολιτιστικά διαφορετικών μαθητών, μέσω της υβριδικής και δια ζώσης εκπαίδευσης και της συμμετοχής στα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Τα πρώτα στοιχεία υποδεικνύουν τις ποικίλες δυνατότητες του LG, το οποίο βοηθά τους εκπαιδευτές να διατηρήσουν την προσοχή των μαθητών τους στην εποχή της μετα COVID-19.  Article visualizations

Mathematics Funds of Knowledge Survey: A Development and Validation Study

“Real-world” contextualization of mathematics is derived from curriculum and educator experiences which lean heavily into White middle-class contexts which are not reflective of many U.S. schools. Using students’ frames of knowledge with which they are interested or familiar promotes an enhanced and more engaging learning experience in the mathematics classroom. This dissertation outlines the development and validation of an instrument that collects and quantifies students’ mathematics funds of knowledge in various areas. This study not only provides a new validated instrument for practitioner and researcher use but contributes to the field regarding the importance of the authentic connection between student experiences and interests outside of the classroom and mathematics learning inside of the classroom and acknowledging that knowledge as essential