Examining the Relationship among State College Mathematics Instructors' Demographics, Perceptions and Practices Concerning Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding, and Epistemic Beliefs with Respect to Student Achievement

Examining the Relationship among State College Mathematics Instructors' Demographics, Perceptions and Practices Concerning Procedural Fluency and Conceptual Understanding, and Epistemic Beliefs with Respect to Student Achievement. -- This study examined the relationship among three research factors with respect to student achievement:  instructors’ demographics, perceptions and practices concerning procedural  fluency and conceptual understanding, and epistemic beliefs of how students learn mathematics and the nature of mathematics.

The study was a replication of Sicignano (2011) and focused on MATV 0028, a developmental mathematic course commonly taught at state colleges, which confer 2- and 4-year degrees. The study was grounded in attribution, expectancy, and cognitive dissonance theories.

The study’s findings were based on responses from  19 instructors who taught MATV 0028 during the fall 2012, spring 2013, and fall 2013 semesters. Instructors responded to a 31-item online researcher-developed questionnaire and provided students’  final examination scores (N = 528). Cronbach’s alphas for the questionnaire sections were a =  .71  and  .75, respectively, and  .825  for the 46-item, dichotomously scored final examination.

The study’s hypotheses were tested using path analysis. Three paths had a significant direct effect on student achievement: years teaching mathematics overall, Bu = -0.14,p = .0002; years teaching mathematics at the state college, B12 = 0.23, p  = .0010; and whether an instructor took an educational course, B13  = 2.51, p  =  .0106. Results were confirmed by a multiple regression analysis, which yielded an overall significant model, R2  =  .044, F(6, 520) = 4.01, p  < .001.

Overall findings were consistent with Sicignano (2011) and suggest instructors’  epistemic beliefs do not guide practices, instructors are unable to distinguish between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding, and instructor demographics are essential  to student achievement. Recommendations for practice include: developmental mathematics instructors are encouraged to enroll in graduate-level education courses, and colleges should develop an in-house teaching culture for instructors, provide them with inservice workshops that address the distinction between procedural fluency and conceptual understanding, and create procedural and conceptual assessment items in mathematics that reflect the upper levels of Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy.

Source : Schiff, Rahna. Florida Institute of Technology, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3662780. 

https://search.proquest.com/openview/06a5b1c86505d7e648cc9ab947a2332e/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Conceptual Understanding of Science Through Archaeological Inquiry

Conceptual understanding of science through archaeological inquiry - Abstract. Since the launch of Project 2061 in 1985, an effort to improve science education, educators have searched for engaging ways to teach science inquiry in the classroom.  While archaeology is inherently interesting, it is an underused vehicle for teaching to national standards, especially science inquiry, in pre-collegiate education.

This case study examined students’ conceptual understanding of five science inquiry concepts (observation, inference, classification, context, and evidence) and the Nature of Science (NOS), the differences between science and history, and the similarities in science inquiry and historical inquiry through the study of archaeology.

This qualitative case study included 27 subjects, all fifth grade students who were studying American history through archaeological inquiry.  Data was collected through a series of learning assessment probes and a performance task designed specifically for this study.  Interviews, observation of the performance task, and examination of classroom work completed data collection.

With only minor exceptions, students were conversant in all five of the inquiry concepts, however, their understanding of each concept was highly individual. In many cases, students retained so me misconceptions, misunders tandings, or incomplete understandings of the concepts.

Identification of the cognitive processes underlying student understanding helped trace the origin  of misconceptions, misunderstandings, and incomplete understandings.  All of the students demonstrated some understanding of the Nature of Science and the relationships between science, history, and archaeology.  

The study has implications for learning, for curriculum development, and for teaching and teacher preparation.  Students can easily retain misconceptions throughout a course of study or can fail to reach complete conceptual understanding.

Identification of misconceptions and their source can provide teachers with a clear starting point to dispel misconceptions and to create deeper and more accurate conceptual understanding of science processes.  Results can be used immediately to improve the curriculum used in this study and to design better science inquiry curricula.  

Future research could be designed to confirm the results of this study and to expand the sample to a larger and more diverse group of subjects.

Moe, Jeanne Marie. Montana State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011. 3454521. 

Source : https://search.proquest.com/openview/7641616d0edf189be7442350d8b9510e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y