Looking at the data collected, there were clear strengths and common themes throughout the data. Doing a basic statistical analysis allowed me to analyze the quantitative data which allowed for easier identification of themes and conflicts.
Student Survey A total of 352 kindergarten through fifth graders participated on the student survey which is around 44.2% of the entire school building. Students answered 5,079 questions out of a possible 5,210 questions which results in a 97.5% of questions answered. Using class rosters and permission letter comparisons, the demographic of survey participants was as follows: 65% White, 11% Hispanic, 15% Black, and 9% other. This is a close reflection of the building demographics with a slight
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Examining the other questions on self-efficacy, the lowest question scored that was asked in a positive format was “I can usually solve any number problem” with a score of 3.64. This speaks that the students are being challenged and feel that the computation questions being presented during number talks requires students to become engaged to solve the problem. Looking at student’s motivation ratings, it was clear students felt in control when doing number talks with a score of 4.26. This was described in the student script as know what they should be doing and how to do it. As a strength among all grade levels, teachers have instilled the expectations and process to be conducted during number talks so students feel in control of the process of their learning. One data trend present in motivation was that as student’s got older, their interest in number talks decreased. Student engagement was lead with student’s attitudes clearly showing that students truly like number talks. On the statement “I like number talks”, an average of 3.98 showed a clear likeness for the program. This likeness would show an increase in engagement as well as motivation and self-efficacy. In regards to skill transfers, students strongly felt that they were transferring the skills and strategies in number talks to their math class with a score of 4.36. Student survey results are listed in Appendix H.
Staff Survey A total of 18 staff member out of 29 staff members who teach number talks
Psychometric Properties of Mathematics Self-efficacy. The following scales assessing self-efficacy in performing mathematical task and learning mathematics: Mathematics Self-efficacy Scale (MSES) by Betz and Hackett (1983), MSES Revised (MSES-R) by Kranzler and Pajares (1997), and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) by Carmichael and Taylor (2005). Langenfeld and Pajares (1993) provide evidence of the validity of the modified Mathematics Sel-efficacy Scale (MSES) and its three subscales: mathematics problems self-efficacy, mathematics task self-efficacy and college courses self-efficacy. The result of their study support the general proposal that the MSES is a multidimensional measure of mathematics self-efficacy with reliable
In the film, various students are shown to be quite vocal about what they believe they cannot accomplish, and this mainly revolves around Jaime Escalante’s math class. Many students claim that math is just not for them, that they do not understand it and are better off without it. The filmmaker specifically shows this through a scene in the beginning of the film when Escalante asks different students a simple question on a basic concept in math and given in return unsure answers. The filmmaker gives close up shots of the students looking down at their desks, seemingly unconfident in their own understanding of basic math. The students at first resist trying to take math seriously, but with time Escalante eventually succeeds at sparking their interest and showing them that they are capable of a lot more than they believe to be possible. Plenty of students today deal with low self-esteem and may even limit their own advancement and achievements simply because they do not believe in
Also within the school is a very diverse group of children with around fifty-seven percent of students identifying as white, nineteen percent identifying as black or African American, and seventeen percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
The setting is Washington Elementary School in West Orange, NJ. The grade I picked is first grade. The age group in the class is between the ages of five and seven. The subjects they learn are math, language arts, social studies, and writing. But they focus more on reading and math throughout the day. There are 8 girls and 8 boys in the classroom which makes 16 students in total. The class is divided into three racial and ethnic groups which are Latino or Hispanic, African Americans, and Asian American. There are about 1 Asian American, 6 Latino or Hispanic, and 9 African Americans.
Throughout the 77 responses survey, I noticed some unfair and bias things that changed the outcome of the survey. One example is that 60 out of 77 responses came from 9th graders. From a ninth grader’s perspective, we view things a lot differently than 10th through 12th graders. There is a big maturity gap between 9th and 12th graders, and that affects the survey a lot. For example we do not like the sophomores, which of course means the sophomores are going to be voted for most rude, we don’t care for them. Another thing that I noticed was that there is a lack of upperclassmen taking the survey. There are 15 seniores in the survey, which is not bad, but there are no juniores. Upperclassmen are the “head” of the high school, and it makes all
This included at least one teacher for each foreign language class offered as well. The survey provided no additional information about the research and required each student to select their grade level. Responses remained completely anonymous; however, it was required that each student be logged into their school gmail account to take the survey. This allowed Google to collect each email address before each attempt and verify that each student was a part of the district as well as confirmed that the student had not already taken the survey previously. This ensured each response was unique and that no one student was able to submit multiple responses. With over 250 submissions, I made sure that there were at least fifty respondents per each grade level and that the proportion of responders and their grade levels were proportional. There was a slight unbalance between junior and sophomore responses (sophomores representing about 30% of respondents and juniors 22%), but senior and freshman responses balanced near 25% of the sample population. This created an equal ground for collecting data, which ensured the data be statistically significant. Since quantitative results cannot directly respond to the research question, the method was additionally supplemented with
Analysis of data is important because it allows the researchers to derive meaning from the data collected. Numerous research studies are published online and while the internet is a great resource place to find an article, it is also contain innumerable information that are irrelevant to topic being searched. After scrutiny of the papers selected at the first part of this assignment, two published research studies were selected.
This survey spans across the mid-level and high-level schools of United States, which are believed to represent a cross-section of the national population. About 66 – 80% of the American schools participate in the survey on an average, and the students’ participation rate stands at an average of 79 – 83%.
The aim of the Australian Curriculum is to ensure students become confident mathematical communicators who are creatively able to investigate and interpret situation in a variety of context (ACARA, 2015). The are 6 areas of maths covered in the Australian Curriculum and discussing this paper are number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. Through the curriculum students are guided to an increased understanding of the “concepts and fluency with process” as well as pose and solve problems (ACARA, 2015). This paper discusses my personal experience, strengths and weakness when working with each of the 6 mathematical areas, as well how my confidence and anxiety influences my attituted toward working in each area.
After reviewing student work and collecting data about their progress in this learning segment, I centered in on what topics students needed more assistance on and which they had mastered. Students tended to understand simple decimal subtraction (question 1a), decimal point placement (question 2a) in a multi-digit number and simple decimal multiplication (question 6). All three of my selected students correctly answered 1a and 2a proving that students across all ability levels were able to master this specific content. As for number six, two out of these three students answered it correctly.
Children encounter messages about mathematic beginning very early in life. Their parents may say, “Oh, it’s okay. I wasn’t any good at math either,” or their siblings may say, “I loved multiplication! It’s so easy.” Because of this, by the time students are in upper elementary grades, they develop attitudes toward math including whether they enjoy it and how capable they believe they are in the subject. The research in this study was conducted with the 13 students in TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School’s 4th grade math classroom over the course of 5 weeks. From the beginning of the school year, the 4th graders in the classroom lacked motivation and enthusiasm for mathematics. It was apparent that students did not feel confident in mathematics and this was a contributor to the decline in their intrinsic math motivation. The most immediate answer to the problem was to teach students test-taking strategies that would allow them to be more confident in their test-taking while also raising their scores to motivate them at the same time. This brought about the question for the action research: What test-taking strategies will improve TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School’s 4th grade math test scores to a baseline average of 80 percent to promote their intrinsic
The school population consist of 45 % African Americans, 40% Hispanics, 9% whites, 2% other or more races, 1% Asians, 1% American Indians and 1% Hawaii Natives.
One of the difficulties that educators face is creating a learning environment that is not only receptive to students, but provides safety so that they can learn without added obstacles. In order to thrive in an educational setting, it is important that an individual believes that he/she is valued, needed, and that their input is appreciated. This is why I chose the article, “Building a Positive Mathematics Community” by authors, Hoyun Cho and Gary Lawrence. As a mathematics educator, it is my strong desire that all students tap into all of the mathematical potential they have and make discoveries that they never dreamed possible. I want each of my students to know that they do not only have an assigned desk in my classroom, but that I value what they have to offer to my class and that, even though they may often make mistakes, those mistakes can sometimes be more beneficial than if they were never made. It is the goal of this paper to explore characters and traits that were identified in the article that are elements that are “keys to their [students] success” (Cho & Lawrence, 2015, p. 499) including: perseverance, cooperative work skills, reflection, self-assessment, self-confidence, decision making, and risk taking.
There are two types of research methods, which are qualitative, and quantitative each of which is focused towards diverse aspect. It is noticed that qualitative research method is used for the studies that are dependent on the use of theoretical data or content instead of collecting statistical or empirical evidence to support the discussion. The aim of this method is to consider the use of general data or theories to make sure that research aim and objectives are evaluated specifically (Taylor et al., 2015). While on the other hand, quantitative research method is used by the studies that are reliant on the utilisation of facts and figures in the numerical or statistical format in order to support the arguments or discussion. In this considered, the quantitative research method is emphasised as it will consider using numerical or empirical evidence to support the discussion. This depicts the fact that nature of the study is quantitative (Scruggs & Mastropieri, 2006).
For my survey, I tested guys and girls ranging from each grade level, so 14- 18 year olds and I allowed anyone to take it, so race wasn’t part of it. I tried to get at least 5 students from each grade, but ended up surveying 26 students. The population was the student body and the sample was the students from each grade level.