Browsing by Subject "Mathematics education."
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Item How African American children respond to culturally relevant stories in mathematics : an ethnographic case study.(2014-09-05) Corp, Amy K.; Cooper, Sandra Bennett.; Curriculum and Instruction.; Baylor University. Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction.This study examined the responses of African American students in two third grade mathematics classes to the use of African American stories that were utilized as a pedagogy to teach mathematics. All 41 students in the two classes received mathematics instruction that began with an African American story, followed by mathematical discourse and concluded with solving problems that correlated with the story. The focus of this study was on the responses of the seventeen African American participants. The researcher conducted field observations during these lessons. The researcher recorded responses by these students on protocols; while the story was read aloud, during mathematical discourse and problem-solving times. Students reflected weekly by answering five questions that gave them an opportunity to share their perspective on the African American stories. The teacher reflected on each lesson as well, describing thoughts on how students responded to the story in the lesson. Results revealed that African American students responded to the use of African American stories with engagement and enjoyment, and the stories helped them think about mathematics to some degree. Results further indicated that students perceived the cultural relevance of the stories.Item Voices of reform : an oral history of the impact of mathematics reform on Texas public schools : 1960 - 2010.(2011-01-05T19:45:19Z) Sizemore, Cheri Brown.; Williamson, James Lonnie, 1934-; Educational Administration.; Baylor University. Dept. of Educational Administration.Since the launch of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, rocked America's confidence as a strong nation, mathematics education reforms have been the focus of much debate in public schools for more than fifty years. Math education received blame through the years for threats to national security, a struggling economy, and a slide in international assessment rankings. Although students are taking more high school math courses now and the number of students enrolling in colleges and universities continues to increase, American students, particularly Texas students for this study, have not shown significant improvement on the state assessments. In the midst of these concerns, "math wars" between the traditionalists and the reformists have been raging, fueled by political and societal struggles over what and how mathematics should be taught. As in all wars, there are casualties; in this case, our youth have suffered. The solution to the problem is finding the middle ground - the balance - between the two approaches to math education. Reform research was brought to life by interviews of many high profile educational leaders, politicians, and reformers who wrote, led, or participated in math reforms in K-12 education between 1960 and 2010. Through the process of oral history methodology, experiential recollections from this select group were archived in Baylor University's Institute for Oral History, and significant recommendations were offered to current and future educational leaders for the improvement of mathematics programs in schools and districts across the state. Recommendations include: (1) University level: to increase the number of mathematics education programs; to encourage partnerships between university and public schools; (2) Public schools: to hire teachers with degrees in mathematics education to reduce anxiety levels and to increase confidence in teachers and students, especially at the elementary level; to sustain training and support for teachers, especially for those who work with reform curriculum; (3) Curriculum developers: to balance the math curriculum with traditional and reform methods; (4) Legislators: to review the accountability system to discover better methods to measure student growth.