The purpose of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of how to enhance teache... more The purpose of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of how to enhance teachers’ knowledge in student mathematics learning and assessment through implementing the Model, Strategy, and Application approach (MSA) in a teacher education program. Participants were 23 classroom teachers in a graduate program in mathematics education at a university in Southern California. The MSA approach was used weekly to support the participants’ learning and understanding of the three components of the MSA approach in each course of two advanced mathematics methods courses. The participants learned to develop the MSA assessment items at their grade levels and provided the assessment to evaluate their students’ mathematics proficiency course 2. They were also trained in coding and analyzing their students’ mathematics learning using the MSA rubrics. The results show that both groups of elementary and secondary teachers improved their knowledge of assessment, knowledge of student th...
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2015
The goal of this study was to examine the impact of the integration of global experiences on in-s... more The goal of this study was to examine the impact of the integration of global experiences on in-service teachers’ international perspectives in mathematics classroom teaching through offering a graduate course “Global Perspectives in Mathematics Teaching” in the form of the East Meets West Program. This program engages teachers in an interactive faceto-face learning process in a dual language immersion setting. The opportunity of learning effective teaching strategies from Chinese topranked mathematics teachers and applying these strategies in teaching mathematics by working with a group of Chinese and US children in the East Meets West Program has benefited classroom teachers in various ways. The results of the study show that observing Chinese teachers’ mathematics lessons, doing the case study on student learning, and observing and discussing the US colleagues’ mathematics lessons highly have benefited them as classroom teachers.
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2016
This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (... more This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (MSAR) in teaching and learning mathematics in linguistically and culturally diverse elementary classrooms. Through learning mathematics via the MSAR, students from different language ability groups gained an understanding of mathematics from creating visual models, developing procedural fluency from using various strategies, and building competence in problem solving from real world application. The findings demonstrate that the MSAR results in improved diverse student mathematics learning in urban areas.
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2012
A growing number of single-gender and after-school programs for youth continue to gain popularity... more A growing number of single-gender and after-school programs for youth continue to gain popularity within schools despite little empirical research regarding how these programs should be designed to achieve maximum success. The present study examined the effectiveness of a comprehensive middle school male academy program in terms of student achievement and attitudes toward learning. The results indicated that students who participated in the program improved their algebra readiness and interest in mathematics. Furthermore, there were gains in students’ perceived importance of assignment completion, attitudes toward learning, goals for college, and self-concept. Implications for similar programs and future studies are discussed.
grades at 37 schools in six cities/regions in four provinces in China participated in the study. ... more grades at 37 schools in six cities/regions in four provinces in China participated in the study. The findings showed that Chinese teachers’ knowledge of multi-digit division had multiple dimensions and they were able to use estimation as a main approach to foster students’ conceptual understanding and computation fluency in learning multi-digit division. The study provided a rigorous and empirical way to measure teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and provided statistical evidence of how teachers’ content knowledge connects to their pedagogical knowledge in the three areas of content and six areas of pedagogy in multi-digit division.
Research Anthology on Computational Thinking, Programming, and Robotics in the Classroom, 2022
United States education has experienced a big push for students to learn coding as part of comput... more United States education has experienced a big push for students to learn coding as part of computer science and more explicitly address computational thinking (CT). However, CT remains a challenging subject for many students, including pre-service teachers. CT, which overlaps mathematics and computer science, tends to be offered as an elective course, at best, in P-16 education. Pre-service teaching profession students usually do not have foundational knowledge to guide them in integrating computational thinking into the curriculum that they will eventually teach as instructors themselves. This chapter explains computational thinking in light of K-8 education, discusses issues and needs in integrating CT into K-8 curriculum, identifies relevant theories and models for teaching CT, describes current practice for integrating computational thinking into K-8 curriculum, and discusses pre-service teachers' preparation that can lead to their successful incorporation of CT into the cur...
Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 2020
PurposeThis study intended to provide such an opportunity to preservice teachers with a project-b... more PurposeThis study intended to provide such an opportunity to preservice teachers with a project-based learning (PBL) approach and an inquiry-based pedagogy to engage them in learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills of integration with adding an art component to STEM as science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) for K-8 children, and developing their own STEAM tasks. The purpose of this project was to explore how STEAM integration in mathematics methods courses influenced K-8 preservice teachers' disposition and knowledge of STEAM integration.Design/methodology/approachThis project used a mixed-research design in data collection and analysis to examine the effects of using the STEAM integration on preservice teachers' knowledge and disposition. The preservice teachers in two EDEL 462 classes in Spring 2019 participated in STEAM learning and development in the inquiry process of four steps of STEAM integration. D...
The purpose of this study was to find the beliefs of Chinese teachers in mathematics education an... more The purpose of this study was to find the beliefs of Chinese teachers in mathematics education and their impact on the practice of teaching. The objectives of the study were to recognize views of Chinese teachers on goals of education, especially goals of mathematics education, to explore how Chinese teachers prepare a lesson, examine how mathematics is taught in Chinese classrooms, and investigate how Chinese teachers instruct with different levels of students. The ultimate goal of this study was to focus on the importance of teachers' beliefs and their impact on the practice of teaching, and to provide data and recommendations which may be used to identify problems in mathematics in American and Chinese schools. Results indicate that teachers' beliefs about mathematics and its teaching play a significant role in shaping the teachers' ways of instruction, and cultural and social contexts affect teachers' belief systems. (Contains 10 references.) (ASK) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
The purpose of this study was to find the differences between middle school mathematics programs ... more The purpose of this study was to find the differences between middle school mathematics programs in China and the United States. More specifically, the objectives of the study were to compare how mathematics is presented in the curricula and textbooks in China and in the United States, and to compare how mathematics is taught in classrooms in these countries. The ultimate goal of this study was to provide data and recommendations which may be used to identify problems in mathematics programs in both U.S. and Chinese middle schools. It is concluded that there are problems in mathematics education in both China and the United States. China needs to find a way to reduce the high pressure from the exam-driven A Comparative Study of Middle School Mathematics Programs in Chi t a a d the U. S. ffntroduction During the past several decades, there has been considerable attention to cross national comparisons of education. There is a remarkable growth in international dimension in mathematics education (Bishop, 1992). According to Robitaille and Travers (1992), the reasons for the growth are varied. First, in every country, mathematics is an important part of the curriculum, usually considered the second most important subject after the native language. Second, there are many similarities in the content of mathematics curricula among countries. Third, the language of mathematics is truly universal. Different cultures and societies have different philosophies regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics. These variations of beliefs and values concerning mathematics education result in different education systems. The differences include the designing of curricula, the use of textbooks, and teaching methods. There are also similar issues in education that many countries share. For example, the search for how to develop effective and efficient education is a common goal in countries around the world (Spaulding, 1989). Therefore, as Robitaille (1992) notes, comparative study provides opportunities for the sharing, discussion, and debate of the important issues, in an international context. Stigler and Perry (1988) observe: Cross-cultural comparison also leads researchers and educators to a more explicit understanding of their own implicit theories about how children learn mathematics. Without comparison, teachers tend not to question their own traditional teaching practices and are not aware of the better choices in constructing the teaching process (p.199).
The Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education, 2015
The aim of TSG 25 at ICME-12 was to discuss the experiences and approaches developed in different... more The aim of TSG 25 at ICME-12 was to discuss the experiences and approaches developed in different countries to support the professional development of teachers for practice, in practice and from practice. The study group 25 received 74 paper submissions from scholars, graduates, and practitioners in various countries and regions, and accepted 69 papers. A total of 63 papers were presented at 10 sessions at ICME 12 conference. Participants discussed research based practices and stateof-the-art approaches to the in-service education and professional development of teachers from a multinational and globe perspectives. This report will address some key ideas in the following topics from TSG 25: • Research studies and projects in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers • Research studies and projects in in-service education and teacher education programs • Classroom teaching research and lesson study in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers • In-service education in STEM field in secondary school settings-Research studies and projects • Mentor and coaching programs in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers Organizers Co-chairs: Shuhua An (USA), Andrea Peter-Koop (Germany)
The theme of the Discussion Group was promoting classroom teaching research through the explorati... more The theme of the Discussion Group was promoting classroom teaching research through the exploration of effective instruction strategies to support mathematics learning for all students, including struggling, special needs, and excelling students, as well as between different educational systems and cultures. The presentations of the Discussion Group focused on three aspects: (1) Framework of classroom teaching research; (2) Examples of classroom teaching research by scholars and teacher researchers; (3) Technology in classroom teaching research. The Discussion Group discussed the classroom teaching research framework that focuses on linking research to classroom practice, making classroom research applicable and making sense to classroom teachers (Wu, 2016). All presentations have shown classroom teaching research plays a key role in understanding how to support effective mathematics classroom teaching and learning. A case study by Cheng (2016) addressed the features of expert secondary mathematics teachers' verbal presentation in Chinese mathematics classroom as using precise language, transition and variation strategies to help students well understand the clue and the purpose of teaching. An (2016) introduced a Model-Strategy-Application-Reasoning (MSAR) approach in teaching and learning mathematics, addressed the conceptual framework of the MSAR, demonstrated examples of the effects of the MSAR approach on the third graders' mathematics learning in US, and discussed the benefits of using the MSAR for diverse student groups. Chen, An, Cheng, and Sun's presentation (2016) demonstrated five types of modeling by Chinese 3rd Graders resulting from use of the MSAR for two-digit number multiplication in China: repeated model, area model, set model, and tree diagram model. The teacher-researcher has a pivotal role in classroom teaching research. A teacher-researcher, Dunia Zeineddine (2016) demonstrated a video lesson that S. An (&)
What strategies are used to help students understand quadratic functions in mathematics classroom... more What strategies are used to help students understand quadratic functions in mathematics classroom? In specific, how does Chinese teacher highlight a connection between algebraic representation and graphic representation? From October to November 2009, an experienced teacher classroom was observed. It was found that when students started learning a new type of quadratic function in lessons, the teacher used two different teaching strategies for their learning: (1) Eliciting students to plot the graphs of quadratic functions with pointwise approaches, and then construct the function image in their minds with global approaches; and (2) Presenting a specific mathematical problem, or introducing conception to elicit students to conjecture, and then encouraging them to verify it with appoint approaches.
Abstract: Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematic... more Abstract: Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematical word problems can be a daunting task for teachers in a regular classroom setting. Student challenges may include:(1) difficulty with vocabulary;(2) lack of confidence ...
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2012
This study focuses on teacher learning of student thinking through grading homework, assessing an... more This study focuses on teacher learning of student thinking through grading homework, assessing and analyzing misconceptions. The data were collected from 10 teachers at fifth-eighth grade levels in the USA. The results show that assessing and analyzing misconceptions from grading homework is an important approach to acquiring knowledge of students' thinking. By engaging in the inquiry process of the 4 steps of identifying errors, analyzing reasons for the errors, designing approaches for correction, and taking action for correction, the teachers made obvious progress in their knowledge of students' thinking, understood the difficulties and challenges their students had in learning mathematics, and enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge.
The purpose of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of how to enhance teache... more The purpose of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of how to enhance teachers’ knowledge in student mathematics learning and assessment through implementing the Model, Strategy, and Application approach (MSA) in a teacher education program. Participants were 23 classroom teachers in a graduate program in mathematics education at a university in Southern California. The MSA approach was used weekly to support the participants’ learning and understanding of the three components of the MSA approach in each course of two advanced mathematics methods courses. The participants learned to develop the MSA assessment items at their grade levels and provided the assessment to evaluate their students’ mathematics proficiency course 2. They were also trained in coding and analyzing their students’ mathematics learning using the MSA rubrics. The results show that both groups of elementary and secondary teachers improved their knowledge of assessment, knowledge of student th...
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2015
The goal of this study was to examine the impact of the integration of global experiences on in-s... more The goal of this study was to examine the impact of the integration of global experiences on in-service teachers’ international perspectives in mathematics classroom teaching through offering a graduate course “Global Perspectives in Mathematics Teaching” in the form of the East Meets West Program. This program engages teachers in an interactive faceto-face learning process in a dual language immersion setting. The opportunity of learning effective teaching strategies from Chinese topranked mathematics teachers and applying these strategies in teaching mathematics by working with a group of Chinese and US children in the East Meets West Program has benefited classroom teachers in various ways. The results of the study show that observing Chinese teachers’ mathematics lessons, doing the case study on student learning, and observing and discussing the US colleagues’ mathematics lessons highly have benefited them as classroom teachers.
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2016
This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (... more This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (MSAR) in teaching and learning mathematics in linguistically and culturally diverse elementary classrooms. Through learning mathematics via the MSAR, students from different language ability groups gained an understanding of mathematics from creating visual models, developing procedural fluency from using various strategies, and building competence in problem solving from real world application. The findings demonstrate that the MSAR results in improved diverse student mathematics learning in urban areas.
Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 2012
A growing number of single-gender and after-school programs for youth continue to gain popularity... more A growing number of single-gender and after-school programs for youth continue to gain popularity within schools despite little empirical research regarding how these programs should be designed to achieve maximum success. The present study examined the effectiveness of a comprehensive middle school male academy program in terms of student achievement and attitudes toward learning. The results indicated that students who participated in the program improved their algebra readiness and interest in mathematics. Furthermore, there were gains in students’ perceived importance of assignment completion, attitudes toward learning, goals for college, and self-concept. Implications for similar programs and future studies are discussed.
grades at 37 schools in six cities/regions in four provinces in China participated in the study. ... more grades at 37 schools in six cities/regions in four provinces in China participated in the study. The findings showed that Chinese teachers’ knowledge of multi-digit division had multiple dimensions and they were able to use estimation as a main approach to foster students’ conceptual understanding and computation fluency in learning multi-digit division. The study provided a rigorous and empirical way to measure teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and provided statistical evidence of how teachers’ content knowledge connects to their pedagogical knowledge in the three areas of content and six areas of pedagogy in multi-digit division.
Research Anthology on Computational Thinking, Programming, and Robotics in the Classroom, 2022
United States education has experienced a big push for students to learn coding as part of comput... more United States education has experienced a big push for students to learn coding as part of computer science and more explicitly address computational thinking (CT). However, CT remains a challenging subject for many students, including pre-service teachers. CT, which overlaps mathematics and computer science, tends to be offered as an elective course, at best, in P-16 education. Pre-service teaching profession students usually do not have foundational knowledge to guide them in integrating computational thinking into the curriculum that they will eventually teach as instructors themselves. This chapter explains computational thinking in light of K-8 education, discusses issues and needs in integrating CT into K-8 curriculum, identifies relevant theories and models for teaching CT, describes current practice for integrating computational thinking into K-8 curriculum, and discusses pre-service teachers' preparation that can lead to their successful incorporation of CT into the cur...
Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 2020
PurposeThis study intended to provide such an opportunity to preservice teachers with a project-b... more PurposeThis study intended to provide such an opportunity to preservice teachers with a project-based learning (PBL) approach and an inquiry-based pedagogy to engage them in learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills of integration with adding an art component to STEM as science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) for K-8 children, and developing their own STEAM tasks. The purpose of this project was to explore how STEAM integration in mathematics methods courses influenced K-8 preservice teachers' disposition and knowledge of STEAM integration.Design/methodology/approachThis project used a mixed-research design in data collection and analysis to examine the effects of using the STEAM integration on preservice teachers' knowledge and disposition. The preservice teachers in two EDEL 462 classes in Spring 2019 participated in STEAM learning and development in the inquiry process of four steps of STEAM integration. D...
The purpose of this study was to find the beliefs of Chinese teachers in mathematics education an... more The purpose of this study was to find the beliefs of Chinese teachers in mathematics education and their impact on the practice of teaching. The objectives of the study were to recognize views of Chinese teachers on goals of education, especially goals of mathematics education, to explore how Chinese teachers prepare a lesson, examine how mathematics is taught in Chinese classrooms, and investigate how Chinese teachers instruct with different levels of students. The ultimate goal of this study was to focus on the importance of teachers' beliefs and their impact on the practice of teaching, and to provide data and recommendations which may be used to identify problems in mathematics in American and Chinese schools. Results indicate that teachers' beliefs about mathematics and its teaching play a significant role in shaping the teachers' ways of instruction, and cultural and social contexts affect teachers' belief systems. (Contains 10 references.) (ASK) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
The purpose of this study was to find the differences between middle school mathematics programs ... more The purpose of this study was to find the differences between middle school mathematics programs in China and the United States. More specifically, the objectives of the study were to compare how mathematics is presented in the curricula and textbooks in China and in the United States, and to compare how mathematics is taught in classrooms in these countries. The ultimate goal of this study was to provide data and recommendations which may be used to identify problems in mathematics programs in both U.S. and Chinese middle schools. It is concluded that there are problems in mathematics education in both China and the United States. China needs to find a way to reduce the high pressure from the exam-driven A Comparative Study of Middle School Mathematics Programs in Chi t a a d the U. S. ffntroduction During the past several decades, there has been considerable attention to cross national comparisons of education. There is a remarkable growth in international dimension in mathematics education (Bishop, 1992). According to Robitaille and Travers (1992), the reasons for the growth are varied. First, in every country, mathematics is an important part of the curriculum, usually considered the second most important subject after the native language. Second, there are many similarities in the content of mathematics curricula among countries. Third, the language of mathematics is truly universal. Different cultures and societies have different philosophies regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics. These variations of beliefs and values concerning mathematics education result in different education systems. The differences include the designing of curricula, the use of textbooks, and teaching methods. There are also similar issues in education that many countries share. For example, the search for how to develop effective and efficient education is a common goal in countries around the world (Spaulding, 1989). Therefore, as Robitaille (1992) notes, comparative study provides opportunities for the sharing, discussion, and debate of the important issues, in an international context. Stigler and Perry (1988) observe: Cross-cultural comparison also leads researchers and educators to a more explicit understanding of their own implicit theories about how children learn mathematics. Without comparison, teachers tend not to question their own traditional teaching practices and are not aware of the better choices in constructing the teaching process (p.199).
The Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education, 2015
The aim of TSG 25 at ICME-12 was to discuss the experiences and approaches developed in different... more The aim of TSG 25 at ICME-12 was to discuss the experiences and approaches developed in different countries to support the professional development of teachers for practice, in practice and from practice. The study group 25 received 74 paper submissions from scholars, graduates, and practitioners in various countries and regions, and accepted 69 papers. A total of 63 papers were presented at 10 sessions at ICME 12 conference. Participants discussed research based practices and stateof-the-art approaches to the in-service education and professional development of teachers from a multinational and globe perspectives. This report will address some key ideas in the following topics from TSG 25: • Research studies and projects in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers • Research studies and projects in in-service education and teacher education programs • Classroom teaching research and lesson study in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers • In-service education in STEM field in secondary school settings-Research studies and projects • Mentor and coaching programs in professional development of primary and secondary school teachers Organizers Co-chairs: Shuhua An (USA), Andrea Peter-Koop (Germany)
The theme of the Discussion Group was promoting classroom teaching research through the explorati... more The theme of the Discussion Group was promoting classroom teaching research through the exploration of effective instruction strategies to support mathematics learning for all students, including struggling, special needs, and excelling students, as well as between different educational systems and cultures. The presentations of the Discussion Group focused on three aspects: (1) Framework of classroom teaching research; (2) Examples of classroom teaching research by scholars and teacher researchers; (3) Technology in classroom teaching research. The Discussion Group discussed the classroom teaching research framework that focuses on linking research to classroom practice, making classroom research applicable and making sense to classroom teachers (Wu, 2016). All presentations have shown classroom teaching research plays a key role in understanding how to support effective mathematics classroom teaching and learning. A case study by Cheng (2016) addressed the features of expert secondary mathematics teachers' verbal presentation in Chinese mathematics classroom as using precise language, transition and variation strategies to help students well understand the clue and the purpose of teaching. An (2016) introduced a Model-Strategy-Application-Reasoning (MSAR) approach in teaching and learning mathematics, addressed the conceptual framework of the MSAR, demonstrated examples of the effects of the MSAR approach on the third graders' mathematics learning in US, and discussed the benefits of using the MSAR for diverse student groups. Chen, An, Cheng, and Sun's presentation (2016) demonstrated five types of modeling by Chinese 3rd Graders resulting from use of the MSAR for two-digit number multiplication in China: repeated model, area model, set model, and tree diagram model. The teacher-researcher has a pivotal role in classroom teaching research. A teacher-researcher, Dunia Zeineddine (2016) demonstrated a video lesson that S. An (&)
What strategies are used to help students understand quadratic functions in mathematics classroom... more What strategies are used to help students understand quadratic functions in mathematics classroom? In specific, how does Chinese teacher highlight a connection between algebraic representation and graphic representation? From October to November 2009, an experienced teacher classroom was observed. It was found that when students started learning a new type of quadratic function in lessons, the teacher used two different teaching strategies for their learning: (1) Eliciting students to plot the graphs of quadratic functions with pointwise approaches, and then construct the function image in their minds with global approaches; and (2) Presenting a specific mathematical problem, or introducing conception to elicit students to conjecture, and then encouraging them to verify it with appoint approaches.
Abstract: Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematic... more Abstract: Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematical word problems can be a daunting task for teachers in a regular classroom setting. Student challenges may include:(1) difficulty with vocabulary;(2) lack of confidence ...
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2012
This study focuses on teacher learning of student thinking through grading homework, assessing an... more This study focuses on teacher learning of student thinking through grading homework, assessing and analyzing misconceptions. The data were collected from 10 teachers at fifth-eighth grade levels in the USA. The results show that assessing and analyzing misconceptions from grading homework is an important approach to acquiring knowledge of students' thinking. By engaging in the inquiry process of the 4 steps of identifying errors, analyzing reasons for the errors, designing approaches for correction, and taking action for correction, the teachers made obvious progress in their knowledge of students' thinking, understood the difficulties and challenges their students had in learning mathematics, and enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge.
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