Difficulties in semantically congruent translation of verbally and symbolically represented algebraic statements

Educational Studies in Mathematics ◽

10.1007/s10649-021-10088-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Encarnación Castro ◽

María C. Cañadas ◽

Marta Molina ◽

Susana Rodríguez-Domingo

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Error Distribution ◽

Symbolic Language ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

School Students ◽

Verbal Language

AbstractThis paper describes the difficulties faced by a group of middle school students (13- to 15-year-olds) attempting to translate algebraic statements written in verbal language into symbolic language and vice versa. The data used were drawn from their replies to a written quiz and semi-structured interviews. In the former, students were confronted with a series of algebraic statements and asked to choose the sole translation, of four proposed for each, that was semantically congruent with the original. The results show that most of the errors detected were due to arithmetic issues, especially around the distinction between product and exponent or sum and product in connection with the notions of perimeter and area. As a rule, the error distribution by type varied depending on the type of task involved.

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The Hidden Shadow of Coronavirus on Education in Developing Countries

Online Learning ◽

10.24059/olj.v25i1.2287 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zuheir N Khlaif ◽

Soheil Salha ◽

Shahid Fareed ◽

Hadi Rashed

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Online Classes ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

School Students ◽

Digital Ethics ◽

Timely Feedback ◽

Digital Gap ◽

Teachers And Parents

The aim of this paper is to investigate the challenges associated with emergency remote teaching in the developing countries of Palestine, Libya, and Afghanistan, as reported by middle-school students, their parents, and teachers. These countries have been struggling with an unstable and violent situation for decades. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 participants from the three countries and 60 online classes were observed. Findings revealed that COVID-19 widened the digital gap among students and families, which created challenges in terms of online class attendance. In addition, violation of students’ and parents’ digital privacy emerged as another key challenge to emergency remote teaching. However, teacher presence and timely feedback in synchronous online sessions strengthened students’ engagement within the emergency remote teaching environment. Overall, emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 crisis deepened inequities across students and infringed upon the digital ethics of students, teachers, and parents.

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Opinions of Middle School Students on the Justice Concept within the Framework of Social Studies Education

International Journal of Higher Education ◽

10.5430/ijhe.v7n2p210 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 210

Author(s):

Sibel Oguz Hacat

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Social Studies ◽

Study Group ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

School Students ◽

Sample Group ◽

School Year ◽

Document Review ◽

The City

The aim of this study is to reveal the opinions of middle school students about the justice concept. The study was carried out in accordance with the document review technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The study group consists of 82 students attend in 7th grade receiving education at a middle school in the city of Kastamonu in the school year 2016-2017. Data was obtained using semi-structured interviews consisting of open-ended questions. This data was interpreted using content analysis and by way of coding. Middle school students’ opinions on justice concept are represented in 8 different categories and they use 7 different sayings relating to the justice concept. Whereas the justice concept is most often explained as “Rightfulness”, it is least often conceived as “Abstinence from Committing Crimes”. It is observed that the saying “Justice can do what swords cannot” is used by middle school students most often, and the saying “No merit can be more noble than justice” least often. In light of this information, middle school students can be provided with environments in which they can internalize the justice concept. Furthermore, results about justice can be drawn when its content is broadened. We can do scientific study about justice in more detail by increasing sample group.

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Reading and Writing Experiences of Middle School Students in the Digital Age: Wattpad Sample

International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies ◽

10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.6n.2p.89 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 89 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mazhar Bal

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Data Collection ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Digital Writing ◽

School Students ◽

Reading And Writing ◽

Turkish Language ◽

Out Of School

This study aimed to determine the in-school and out-of-school reading and writing experiences of middle school students. This study used phenomenology from qualitative research methods. All 12 participants (8 female, 4 male) were middle school grade 6 students. Various data collection techniques were employed: a survey and a semi-structured interview about the use of Wattpad, a semi-structured interview about the Turkish language subject, a semi-structured interview about the relationship between in-school and out-of-school reading and writing experiences, a diary of the students’ Wattpad reading list, a diary of the students’ Wattpad writing list, and the texts written by the students on Wattpad. Data collection lasted 16 weeks. The data collected from the survey questionnaire were analyzed descriptively. The data from the semi-structured interviews and diaries were analyzed using content analysis. The results indicated that most of the participants had a negative perception of in-school reading. Similar conclusions were drawn from the results in-school writing because most of the participants felt restricted and under pressure during the in-school writing process. Wattpad was considered a venue where participants can express themselves comfortably. The participants shared positive experiences characterized by willingness, diversity, meaningfulness, and entertainment. By contrast, in-school reading evoked negative experiences, such as feeling obliged, bored, and restricted, and perceiving the activity as meaningless. Out-of-school writing experiences were determined to promote internal motivation, to develop self-expression of one’s anxiety and enjoyment alike, and to develop digital writing skills in out-of-school writing experiences. Overall, no relationship was found between in-school and out-of-school reading and writing experiences.

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Middle school students’ conceptual understanding of earthquakes

SHS Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/shsconf/20184801024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 ◽

pp. 01024

Author(s):

Döne Toprak-Dereli ◽

Funda Savaşcı-Açıkalın

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Test Scores ◽

Alternative Conceptions ◽

Eighth Grade ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

School Students ◽

Low Level ◽

Grade Levels

The purpose of the study was to investigate middle school students’ conceptual understandings of earthquakes. Data were collected by using Understanding Earthquakes Test [1] and semi-structured interviews. Participants were a total of 1024 middle school students from the fifth to the eighth grade studying at ten different schools in Istanbul. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty six students selected based on their test scores for three levels of understanding as high, middle, and low level. Findings of the current study indicated that students have lack conceptual understanding of earthquakes with many alternative conceptions. Students mostly from all grade levels seemed to have more scientific understanding in terms of protecting ways from earthquakes damage rather than explaining what earthquakes are and how earthquakes happen.

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