Word problems versus image-rich problems: an analysis of effects of task characteristics on students’ performance on contextual mathematics problems

This article reports on a post hoc study using a randomised controlled trial with 31,842 students in the Netherlands and an instrument consisting of 21 paired problems. The trial showed a variability in the differences of students’ results in solving contextual mathematical problems with either a descriptive or a depictive representation of the problem situation. In this study the relation between this variability and two task characteristics is investigated: (1) complexity of the task representation; and (2) the content domain of the task. We found indications that differences in performance on descriptive and depictive representations of the problem situation are related to the content domain of the problems. One of the tentative conclusions is that for depicted problems in the domain of measurement and geometry the inferential step from representation of the problem situation to the mathematical problem to be solved is smaller than for word problems

Changing representation in contextual mathematical problems from descriptive to depictive: The effect on students’ performance

Research on solving mathematical word problems suggests that students may perform better on problems with a close to real-life representation of the problem situation than on word problems. In this study we pursued real-life representation by a mainly depictive representation of the problem situation, mostly by photographs. The prediction that students perform better on problems with a depictive representation of the problem situation than on comparable word problems was tested in a randomised controlled trial with 31,842 students, aged 10–20 years, from primary and secondary education. The conclusion was that students scored significantly higher on problems with a depictive representation of the problem situation, but with a very small effect size of Cohen's d = 0.09. The results of this research are likely to be relevant for evaluations of mathematics education where word problems are used to evaluate the mathematical capacity of students

Preoperative cerebrospinal fluid cytokine levels and the risk of postoperative delirium in elderly hip fracture patients

Aging and neurodegenerative disease predispose to delirium and are both associated with increased activity of the innate immune system resulting in an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in the brain. We examined whether hip fracture patients who develop postoperative delirium have altered levels of inflammatory mediators in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) prior to surgery. Patients were 75 years and older and admitted for surgical repair of an acute hip fracture. CSF samples were collected preoperatively. In an exploratory study, we measured 42 cytokines and chemokines by multiplex analysis. We compared CSF levels between patients with and without postoperative delirium and examined the association between CSF cytokine levels and delirium severity. Delirium was diagnosed with the Confusion Assessment Method; severity of delirium was measured with the Delirium Rating Scale Revised-98. Mann-Whitney U tests or Student t-tests were used for between-group comparisons and the Spearman correlation coefficient was used for correlation analyses. Sixty-one patients were included, of whom 23 patients (37.7%) developed postsurgical delirium. Concentrations of Fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 (P=0.021), Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (P=0.032) and Interleukin-6 (P=0.005) were significantly lower in patients who developed delirium postoperatively. Our findings fit the hypothesis that delirium after surgery results from a dysfunctional neuroinflammatory response: stressing the role of reduced levels of anti-inflammatory mediators in this process. The Effect of Taurine on Morbidity and Mortality in the Elderly Hip Fracture Patient.Registration number: NCT00497978. Local ethical protocol number: NL16222.094.0

De mathematisering van de samenleving: Openbare les

De toenemende mathematisering van de samenleving stelt nieuwe en hoge eisen aan de vaardigheden van (aanstaande) professionals in complexe en steeds meer gedigitaliseerde beroepspraktijken. Het lectoraat Wiskundig en Analytisch Vermogen van Professionals onderzoekt het gebruik van gecijferdheid, wiskunde, statistiek en analytische vaardigheden in hedendaagse beroepspraktijken vanuit de ambitie om de resultaten van het onderzoek te verbinden met het beroepsonderwijs. Het ontwikkelen van denkvaardigheden, zoals interpreteren, analyseren, communiceren, kritisch beschouwen, modelleren, mathematiseren en probleemoplossen wordt steeds relevanter. Een blik op het Corona-dashboard kan dit treffend illustreren. Het onderzoek van het lectoraat zal ook bijdragen aan een meer toekomstgerichte invulling van rekenvaardigheid in het funderend onderwijs, zodat deze meer toegespitst is op de hedendaagse ontwikkelingen in de maatschappij. Op deze manier levert het lectoraat een bijdrage aan een doorlopende ontwikkeling van kind tot gecijferde volwassene die met zelfvertrouwen de kwantitatieve aspecten van de samenleving tegemoet treedt als beroepsbeoefenaar en als burger

Zeker weten?!: Onderzoekspraktijk rekenen-wiskunde basisonderwijs

In deze rubriek bespreekt Kees Hoogland op een toegankelijke manier recent relevant wetenschappelijk onderzoek

The relationship between self-rated health and proficiency in numeracy and technological problem solving in the OECD countries

Presentation at the ALM28 Conference: Numeracy and Vulnerability, 5-7 july, Universität Hamburg, Germany

Measuring numeracy skills mismatch with PIAAC data

International audienceWe assess the incidence of numeracy skills mismatch in five countries: Belgium, Chile, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States of America. To do this, we make use of a new approach (Brun-Schamme & Rey, 2021), namely by identifying someone as being mismatched if the score for numeracy skills is outside the interval [median-SD , median + SD]. We make use of the PIAAC dataset, collected by the OECD, a survey that measures adults' proficiency in numeracy among other type of skills. We find that 14% of the workers are over-skilled, whereas 16% are under-skilled. Being over-skilled is more likely for men, younger age-groups, having a high level of education, using numeracy skills often at work, and having studied science, mathematics, and engineering

Computer-based assessment of mathematics into the twenty-first century: Pressures and tensions

In recent decades, technology has influenced various aspects of assessment in mathematics education: (1) supporting the assessment of higher-order thinking skills in mathematics, (2) representing authentic problems from the world around us to use and apply mathematical knowledge and skills, and (3) making the delivery of tests and the analysis of results through psychometric analysis more sophisticated. We argue that these developments are not pushing mathematics education in the same direction, however, which creates tensions. Mathematics education—so essential for educating young people to be creative and problem solving agents in the twenty-first century—is at risk of focusing too much on assessment of lower order goals, such as the reproduction of procedural, calculation based, knowledge and skills. While there is an availability of an increasing amount of sophisticated technology, the related advances in measurement, creation and delivery of automated assessments of mathematics are however being based on sequences of atomised test items. In this article several aspects of the use of technology in the assessment of mathematics education are exemplified and discussed, including in relation to the aforementioned tension. A way forward is suggested by the introduction of a framework for the categorisation of mathematical problem situations with an increasing sophistication of representing the problem situation using various aspects of technology. The framework could be used to reflect on and discuss mathematical assessment tasks, especially in relation to twenty-first century skills