Harari Collage (original) (raw)
Related papers
MATHEMATICS ANXIETY WITHIN DEVELOPMENTAL MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS by Jessica Faith Vialva, Ed.D
Many students are entering college academically underprepared to be successful in credit-bearing mathematics courses. Developmental mathematics courses are provided to bridge the gap for students by sufficiently preparing them for the work they will encounter; however, the effectiveness of these courses is not consistent. Many initiatives have been implemented and some are successful in addressing the ineffectiveness of developmental mathematics courses, with others less so. There is a clear component that the majority of students in these courses possess which is mathematics anxiety. The purpose of this study is to identify the response to inquiry-based instruction, a type of mathematics reform pedagogy, from students with mathematics anxiety in developmental mathematics courses. The research questions investigated in this study are: 1) how do students in developmental mathematics courses perceive an inquiry-based classroom? 2) In what ways does inquiry-based instruction heighten and/or de-escalate mathematics anxiety in a developmental mathematics course? 3) Which approach to teaching and learning is preferred among students with mathematics anxiety, traditional (lecture-based) or inquiry-based? The abbreviated version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (A-MARS) was used to identify and analyze levels of mathematics anxiety over the course of the semester. Also, interviews were conducted at the beginning and end of the semester to identify students’ perceptions, preferences, and experiences related to mathematics teaching and learning. The majority of participants were primarily taught through traditional methods throughout their K-12 education and were more likely to have negative perceptions of inquiry-based instruction at the beginning of the semester due to having little to no exposure to the pedagogy. The A-MARS indicated a statistically significant decrease in overall mathematics anxiety, and, more specifically, mathematics test anxiety over the course of the semester for participants in the inquiry-based, developmental mathematics courses. After experiencing a semester of inquiry-based mathematics instruction, the majority of participants preferred that method of instruction, while the majority of participants who experienced traditional methods of being taught mathematics still preferred traditional methods. The implementation of inquiry-based instruction within developmental mathematics courses may help to lower mathematics anxiety by encouraging conceptual understanding and, thus, helping to lower test anxiety.
Impacts of Instruction by Undergraduate Interns on Developmental Mathematics Students1
csuchico.edu
A significant problem facing all 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU) is the fact that each year over 50% of the entering freshmen require some form of mathematics remediation. California State University, Chico has embarked on a very bold and controversial approach to solving this problem with a developmental program that simultaneously provides a significant student-centered learning experience for senior mathematics majors. Each semester 100-200 developmental students are enrolled in remedial coursework taught solely by undergraduate mathematics majors who are planning careers in teaching at the secondary level.
Key findings • Slightly more than half of California high schools had adopted the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) as of 2016/17. The adoption rate was lower in rural schools than in city, suburban, and town schools. The larger the schoolwide enrollment, the more likely a school was to adopt the course. • Among schools that reported having students in the ERWC and students in at least one other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English course, a higher percentage of Hispanic students and a lower percentage of White students were in the ERWC than in the other English courses. • Among these same schools, class sizes were larger, on average, for ERWC classes than for other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English classes. At WestEd