High School Students\u27 Perceptions of the Relationship between Music and Math

While there is little doubt that engaging in musical or mathematical activities stimulates brain activity at high levels and that increased student involvement fosters a greater learning environment, questions remain about whether musical ability and mathematics performance are related. This study took a qualitative approach that allowed 24 high school students to share their direct experiences with music and mathematics, as well as their perceptions of how the two fields are related. Participants were divided into four groups based on school music participation and level of mathematic achievement. Using a multiple intelligence lens, this study addressed the following question: How do students perceive the fields of music and mathematics relating to each other? Interestingly, most of the students saw math as a foundation for musical ability, which suggest a different direction than most previous studies. The musical element of rhythm seemed to have the most mathematical connection. This implies several possibilities for educators, including encouraging students in both areas of study to recognize the connections between the two, if not particularly the influence of one over the other. Additionally, teachers in both fields may begin more collaborative efforts to support the learning in both content areas. Future studies include looking at the specific perceptions of students based on ethnicity, gender, and SES status, as well as exploring the motivation of students in both music and mathematics

Mudança nas práticas de ensino de matemática em um programa internacional do intercâmbio de professores

Changing mathematics teaching practices among elementary and secondary teachers was studied across two groups of teachers, one from Guatemala and the other from the United States. Teachers participated in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange program that offers teachers in the two countries an opportunity to explore each other's cultures and mathematics teaching methods, for the purpose of changing instructional practices. Researchers examined individual action research plans, implementation, reporting strategies, and perceived changes of teachers. Concerns Based Adoption Model instrumentation was used to determine stages of concerns and levels of use of the Action Research innovation. Results of document analysis, interviews, and observations indicated that five of six teachers changed practices with variance across the group, with only four changing practices in mathematics. All teachers reported they benefited from the exchange and noted that the changes they made were a direct result of the experiences gleaned from the exchange.El presente estudio se enfocó en el cambio de las prácticas docentes en el área de matemáticas en dos grupos de maestros de enseñanza primaria y secundaria, uno de Guatemala y otro de los Estados Unidos. Los docentes participaron en un programa de intercambio de maestros que les dio la oportunidad de explorar las culturas y métodos de enseñanza de las matemáticas respectivos. En sus centros educativos de origen los docentes, durante un periodo de seis meses, implementaron un plan de acción investigadora orientado a promover el cambio de métodos pedagógicos. A fin de determinar las etapas de preocupación y el nivel de uso de la acción investigadora, el estudio utilizó instrumentación basada en el Concerns Based Adoption Model. El análisis de documentos, entrevistas y observaciones indica que cinco de los seis maestros participantes cambiaron sus prácticas docentes, aunque con variaciones entre unos y otros. Todos los maestros declararon haberse beneficiado del intercambio y expresaron que los cambios fueron un resultado directo de las experiencias obtenidas durante el intercambio.O presente estudo focalizou-se na mudança das práticas docentes na área de matemática em dois grupos de professores do ensino primário e secundário, um da Guatemala e ou outro dos Estados Unidos. Os docentes participaram de um programa de intercâmbio de professores que lhes deu a oportunidade de explorar as culturas e os métodos de ensino das matemáticas nas respectivas instituições. Em seus centros de ensino de origem os professores, por um período de seis meses, eles implementaram um plano de acção investigadora orientada para a promoção de câmbios de métodos de pedagógicos. Com o fim de determinar as fases da preocupação e o nível de utilização da acção de pesquisa, o estudo utilizou instrumentação baseado no Concerns Based Adoption Model. A análise de documentos, sondagens e observações indica que cinco dos seis professores participantes mudaram suas práticas de ensino, embora com variações entre uns e outros. Todos os docentes declararam que se tinham beneficiado com o intercâmbio e disserem que as mudanças foram um resultado direto das experiências obtidas durante o intercâmbio

Solving Electrical Engineering Puzzles Using Spatial Reasoning

The precursor of any problem-solving strategy is the visualization of the problem at hand. When dealing with problems pertaining to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas, visualization plays a very significant role in addressing the same. Several initiatives are being taken to improve the visualization skills of the students and spatial reasoning techniques have proved to be one of the most widely accepted tools for addressing the problems in the STEM field. In this paper, we specifically address the use of spatial reasoning to solve problems in the form of puzzles taken from electrical engineering and analyze the fruitfulness of employing such a strategy. The puzzles are hosted in an online interactive framework called UNTANGLED and classified into different categories on the basis of the nature of the puzzles and their difficulties. The results indicate that spatial reasoning technique indeed helped the players to successfully complete the puzzles. The interpretation of the data led to the conclusion that spatial reasoning techniques are imperative when it comes to discerning and resolving a problem, especially in the STEM domain

University Scholars Day

This paper explores the experience of 30 university students in their final year of the teacher education program

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation in an Interactive Engineering Game

In this paper, we study intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation in players playing an electrical engineering gaming environment. We used UNTANGLED, a highly interactive game to conduct this study. This game is developed to solve complex mapping problem from electrical engineering using human intuitions. Our goal is to find whether there are differences in the ways anonymous players solved electrical engineering puzzles in an electronic gaming environment when motivated to play competitively, as compared to self-regulated play. For our experiments, we used puzzles from four games from UNTANGLED. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated on participants’ scores, type of plays, number of plays, and time spent playing, as both self-regulated and competitive players. We also examined difference between the type of moves used by the competitive and self-regulated players. Our results support the theory of motivation as being internally embedded in learners. The results also demonstrate that a self-regulated learner does not require motivation to improve one’s performance

The Effect of Training in Test Item Writing on Test Performance of Junior High Students

Students in an inner city junior high school in North Central Texas participated in a study whose purpose was to examine the effect of training in test item construction on their later test performance. The experimental group underwent twelve weeks of instruction using the Test Item Construction Method (TICM). In these sessions students learned to develop test items similar to those on which they were tested annually by the state via the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The TICM aligned with state mandated test specifications

Change in mathematics teaching practices through an international teacher exchange program

Changing mathematics teaching practices among elementary and secondary teachers was studied across two groups of teachers, one from Guatemala and the other from the United States. Teachers participated in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange program that offers teachers in the two countries an opportunity to explore each other's cultures and mathematics teaching methods, for the purpose of changing instructional practices. Researchers examined individual action research plans, implementation, reporting strategies, and perceived changes of teachers. Concerns Based Adoption Model instrumentation was used to determine stages of concerns and levels of use of the Action Research innovation. Results of document analysis, interviews, and observations indicated that five of six teachers changed practices with variance across the group, with only four changing practices in mathematics. All teachers reported they benefited from the exchange and noted that the changes they made were a direct result of the experiences gleaned from the exchange.O presente estudo focalizou-se na mudança das práticas docentes na área de matemática em dois grupos de professores do ensino primário e secundário, um da Guatemala e ou outro dos Estados Unidos. Os docentes participaram de um programa de intercâmbio de professores que lhes deu a oportunidade de explorar as culturas e os métodos de ensino das matemáticas nas respectivas instituições. Em seus centros de ensino de origem os professores, por um período de seis meses, eles implementaram um plano de acção investigadora orientada para a promoção de câmbios de métodos de pedagógicos. Com o fim de determinar as fases da preocupação e o nível de utilização da acção de pesquisa, o estudo utilizou instrumentação baseado no Concerns Based Adoption Model. A análise de documentos, sondagens e observações indica que cinco dos seis professores participantes mudaram suas práticas de ensino, embora com variações entre uns e outros. Todos os docentes declararam que se tinham beneficiado com o intercâmbio e disserem que as mudanças foram um resultado direto das experiências obtidas durante o intercâmbio.El presente estudio se enfocó en el cambio de las prácticas docentes en el área de matemáticas en dos grupos de maestros de enseñanza primaria y secundaria, uno de Guatemala y otro de los Estados Unidos. Los docentes participaron en un programa de intercambio de maestros que les dio la oportunidad de explorar las culturas y métodos de enseñanza de las matemáticas respectivos. En sus centros educativos de origen los docentes, durante un periodo de seis meses, implementaron un plan de acción investigadora orientado a promover el cambio de métodos pedagógicos. A fin de determinar las etapas de preocupación y el nivel de uso de la acción investigadora, el estudio utilizó instrumentación basada en el Concerns Based Adoption Model. El análisis de documentos, entrevistas y observaciones indica que cinco de los seis maestros participantes cambiaron sus prácticas docentes, aunque con variaciones entre unos y otros. Todos los maestros declararon haberse beneficiado del intercambio y expresaron que los cambios fueron un resultado directo de las experiencias obtenidas durante el intercambio

University Scholars Day

This paper discusses an analysis of action research projects completed in the UNT/Denton Independent School District (ISD). Action research is the inquiry part of a Professional Development School (PDS) model that all UNT elementary education, pre-service teacher/student interns complete with mentor teachers during student teaching

Mudança nas práticas de ensino de matemática em um programa internacional do intercâmbio de professores

Changing mathematics teaching practices among elementary and secondary teachers was studied across two groups of teachers, one from Guatemala and the other from the United States. Teachers participated in the International Teacher to Teacher Exchange program that offers teachers in the two countries an opportunity to explore each other's cultures and mathematics teaching methods, for the purpose of changing instructional practices. Researchers examined individual action research plans, implementation, reporting strategies, and perceived changes of teachers. Concerns Based Adoption Model instrumentation was used to determine stages of concerns and levels of use of the Action Research innovation. Results of document analysis, interviews, and observations indicated that five of six teachers changed practices with variance across the group, with only four changing practices in mathematics. All teachers reported they benefited from the exchange and noted that the changes they made were a direct result of the experiences gleaned from the exchange.El presente estudio se enfocó en el cambio de las prácticas docentes en el área de matemáticas en dos grupos de maestros de enseñanza primaria y secundaria, uno de Guatemala y otro de los Estados Unidos. Los docentes participaron en un programa de intercambio de maestros que les dio la oportunidad de explorar las culturas y métodos de enseñanza de las matemáticas respectivos. En sus centros educativos de origen los docentes, durante un periodo de seis meses, implementaron un plan de acción investigadora orientado a promover el cambio de métodos pedagógicos. A fin de determinar las etapas de preocupación y el nivel de uso de la acción investigadora, el estudio utilizó instrumentación basada en el Concerns Based Adoption Model. El análisis de documentos, entrevistas y observaciones indica que cinco de los seis maestros participantes cambiaron sus prácticas docentes, aunque con variaciones entre unos y otros. Todos los maestros declararon haberse beneficiado del intercambio y expresaron que los cambios fueron un resultado directo de las experiencias obtenidas durante el intercambio.O presente estudo focalizou-se na mudança das práticas docentes na área de matemática em dois grupos de professores do ensino primário e secundário, um da Guatemala e ou outro dos Estados Unidos. Os docentes participaram de um programa de intercâmbio de professores que lhes deu a oportunidade de explorar as culturas e os métodos de ensino das matemáticas nas respectivas instituições. Em seus centros de ensino de origem os professores, por um período de seis meses, eles implementaram um plano de acção investigadora orientada para a promoção de câmbios de métodos de pedagógicos. Com o fim de determinar as fases da preocupação e o nível de utilização da acção de pesquisa, o estudo utilizou instrumentação baseado no Concerns Based Adoption Model. A análise de documentos, sondagens e observações indica que cinco dos seis professores participantes mudaram suas práticas de ensino, embora com variações entre uns e outros. Todos os docentes declararam que se tinham beneficiado com o intercâmbio e disserem que as mudanças foram um resultado direto das experiências obtidas durante o intercâmbio