Alternative School Principals’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Their School Setting

This session will present principal and teacher survey responses from a Georgia service area to show the level of existence of 40 effective alternative school characteristics and the importance of these same characteristics in their respective alternative schools. Principal and teacher interview data will be presented. Implications of the data will be discussed

Conceptualizing and Interpreting Mean and Median With Future Teachers

Mathematical Education of Teachers II (METII), echoed by the American Statistical Association publication, Statistical Education of Teachers, recommended teacher preparation programs support future teachers in developing deep understandings of mean and median, such that middle grades teachers may use them to “summarize, describe, and compare distributions” (Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences, 2012, p. 44; Franklin et al., 2015). Georgia Standards of Excellence require statistical reasoning from students beginning as early as 6-7 years old, including interpretation of measures of center and statistical reasoning about best measures of center (Georgia Department of Education, 2015). This level of understanding and interpretation of measures of center, however, has been a persistent struggle for students and their teachers (e.g., Jacobbe & Carvalho, 2011). Jacobbe and Carvalho argued that an over-reliance on computation with little focus on conceptual understanding has created these barriers to statistical reasoning. To impact students’ understanding, a starting point is to address teachers’ understanding, particularly by supporting conceptual understanding of measures of center in teacher preparation programs (Jacobbe & Carvalho, p. 207). Our research question was: What conceptual understandings of mean and median do preservice teacher candidates (PSTs) exhibit when presented with a mean and median statistical task? We present findings from a two-part study, comparing PSTs’ responses to a task written to elicit conceptual understandings and statistical reasoning in one semester, with PSTs’ responses to a revised task in a second semester, both given at the end of a senior-level Statistics for K-8 Teachers course

K-8 Preservice Teachers’ Statistical Thinking When Determining Best Measure of Center

The purpose of this study was to determine K-8 preservice teacher (PST) candidates’ statistical thinking when selecting the best center representation for the given data. Forty-four PSTs enrolled in a Statistics and Probability for K-8 Teachers course in a university located in the southeastern region of the United States were asked to complete a 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress test item. All 44 PSTs’ data were qualitatively analyzed for correctness and statistical thinking strategies used. Findings were that most PSTs either incorrectly selected the mean, rather than median, as the best measure of center for the given data or did not use appropriate statistical reasoning when explaining their answers. Future research includes modifying the explanation component so PSTs must better explain their statistical thinking for their choice of best measure of center using the context of the problem. Future research could also include implementing a pre- and post-test design with the post-test item embedded in the final exam. This design will provide additional understanding of how much knowledge PSTs bring to the course versus how much they learn in the course and provide incentive for giving thoughtful consideration for their answers

Interactive Whiteboards and Teaching: Are We Repeating History?

Article Excerpt: I sometimes reflect back to my secondary mathematics certification coursework, and I remember a course on integrating technology in the mathematics classroom. Topics included programming and tutorial software. Yes … The days of the Apple IIe, Commodore 64, etc. Today, topics for such a course could include teaching using social media, cell phones, virtual manipulatives, calculators, and interactive whiteboards (IWBs)

A US DOE MSP Grades 3 – 5 Project: Teacher Mathematical Content and Pedagogical Changes

This presentation was given during the International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education

Problem Solving in Geometry via the TI-92

This presentation was given during the International Teachers Teaching with Technology Conference

Mastering edTPA: Reflections on Student Work

This presentation was given during the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Annual Conference

Teaching Geometry via Paper Folding

This presentation was given during the Georgia Middle School Association Annual Conference