scholarly journals Building mathematical knowledge in an authentic mobile phone environment

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wajeeh Daher
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
School Students ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Authentic Activities

<blockquote>Although many researchers have examined knowledge building in traditional settings and distance learning, few have examined middle school students' building of mathematical knowledge using mobile phones. The present study uses two well-known models of knowledge building to carry out the examination: the interactive analysis model of knowledge building phases developed by Gunawardena, Lowe and Anderson (1997) and the six themes model of knowledge building characteristics developed by Scadamalia and Bereiter (2006). The findings show that the middle school students participating in this research went through all the knowledge building phases suggested by Gunawardena, Lowe and Anderson (1997). They further experienced other knowledge building phases that fit the authentic context in which they learned. Participants advanced their knowledge of ideas as a community, collaborating to carry out authentic activities using mobile phones. They demonstrated constructive and critical use of information in general and of authoritative information in particular. Participants worked as mathematicians, especially during the second part of the experiment, when they suggested real world phenomena to explore using the mobile phone. My conclusion suggests learning mathematics by carrying out authentic activities using mobile phones, to encourage and enrich the mathematics knowledge building of students in K-12.</blockquote><p> </p>

Mobile Phone Use by Middle School Students

2015 ◽  
pp. 528-540
Author(s):  
Kathleen Guinee ◽  
Gregory Mertz
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
School Students ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Mobile Phone Use

Mobile phones are prevalent in the daily lives of middle school students. They are useful for academic and informal learning, but may also facilitate cheating. Mobile phones can help foster student-centered learning and promote positive emotions and student motivation. Middle school students text and make calls using mobile phones to maintain friendships and make plans, as well as explore romantic relationships. Two social problems that can emerge with mobile phone use are cyberbullying and sexting. Mobile phones make middle school students feel safe, but can also put them in physical danger and facilitate risky behaviors. Using a mobile phone, particularly after bedtime, is associated with poor sleep and mental health.

Listening to Middle School Students' Algebraic Thinking

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-161
Author(s):  
John P. Smith ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
Algebraic Thinking ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Core ◽  
K 12

NO PART OF THE K–12 MATHEMATICS curriculum is more fluid and controversial than introductory algebra. Content and assessment issues lie at the core of this debate: What algebra skills and understandings are important? What kind of evidence suggests that students possess these skills? Neither question can be answered in simple terms; in fact, no single “right” answer may exist for either one.

Take Time for Action: Perimeter or Area? Which Measure Is It?

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Michaele F. Chappell ◽  
Denisse R. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
K 12

During the past twenty years, documents have recommended that the mathematics curriculum include measurement for all grades, K–12 (NCTM 1980, 1989). Indeed, students interact daily with measurement in their physical environment, for example, by finding the distance from home to school, their height and weight, and wall space for posters. Adolescents bring to the classroom varied conceptions of measurement, which may be in the form of basic applications or general formulas. All too often, a fundamental understanding of these ideas is sacrificed while students learn general formulas. This situation is particularly true for attributes of perimeter and area. To what extent do middle school students possess a conceptual understanding of these measurement concepts?

scholarly journals Exploring Indian Middle School Students’ Conceptions of the Environment Using the Draw-an-Environment Test

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-178
Author(s):  
Leslie Elizabeth Sprong ◽  
Sonya N. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Future Research ◽  
School Students ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Quality environmental education (EE) is key for supporting sustainable development and use of resources. Educators in rural India face considerable challenges to teach EE in K-12 school settings. This study took place in Assam in Northeast India where non-governmental organization (NGO) educators are working to develop an EE program for students in rural areas. To reveal students’ perceptions of the environment, researchers administered the Draw-an-Environment Test (DAET) to 277 middle school students in government schools. Analysis of students’ drawings of the environment revealed that while students recognized humans have an impact on the environment, they did not fully understand the impact could often be negative and drawings did not necessarily reflect the reality of the local environment. Implications for how these findings can be used to develop responsive EE curriculum that challenges and extends students’ conceptions of the environment and the need for future research are discussed.

The Effects of Prompting Appropriate Behavior on the Off-Task Behavior of Two Middle School Students

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Faul ◽  
Karoline Stepensky ◽  
Brandi Simonsen
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
General Education ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
School Students ◽  
Baseline Phase ◽  
Simple Strategy ◽  
Task Behavior ◽  
Study Results ◽  
K 12

Prompting is a simple strategy that has been demonstrated to increase appropriate (and decrease inappropriate) behavior when used (a) as a stand-alone strategy with preschool students and individuals with disabilities and (b) in combination with other strategies (e.g., active supervision) with K-12 students in general education settings. Until now, no studies have specifically investigated the effectiveness of prompting as a stand-alone strategy in a general education setting. This study used a single-subject alternating treatment design, with a baseline phase, to explore the relationship between the presence (or absence) of prompting and off-task behavior of two male middle school students in general education. Study results document a decrease in off-task behavior with prompting. Results and implications are discussed in light of limitations.

Perspectives on Middle School Esports

2021 ◽  
pp. 210-228
Author(s):  
Melissa Burns
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Young Female ◽  
School Students ◽  
Central Canada ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Competitive video games, or esports, have been making their way into high schools across Canada, though most middle school students have been left out of the game. This chapter will examine the identity and role of the various shared stakeholders at the middle years level, highlight the benefits of scholastic esports for middle school learners, and examine obstacles that may hinder the implementation of such programming, leaning on the experience of one such program in central Canada. The author will examine data collected over a span of four years on the impact of both coed and girls-only gaming environments in middle schools and how to support young female learners through gaming. Finally, this chapter will highlight the current landscape of K-12 scholastic esports with recommendations on how and why scholastic esports should have a place in Canadian schools.

scholarly journals Effects of Robotics Instructional Methods on Computational Thinking Skills of Middle School Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Patrick Cook
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Instructional Methods ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Peer Collaboration ◽  
School Students ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
K 12

As a tangible and motivating medium for students to engage in computational thinking, robotics has drawn interest from educators and researchers as K-12 schools continue to integrate STEM into curriculum. Through this mixed methods study, the researcher sought to explore the effects of robotics instructional methods (task-based and project-based) on the computational thinking skills of middle school students, including the problem-solving strategies used and the role of peer collaboration. The quantitative results of this study indicated no significant difference in the computational thinking skills of students participating in task-based or project-based robotics instruction. Interviews consisted of open-ended questions in which problem-solving and collaboration in robotics were explored from the perspectives of the participants. In both groups, problem-solving strategies encompassed all aspects of computational thinking as students took an iterative approach to problem-solving in both tasks and projects. Peer collaboration was naturally occurring and frequent among both groups. In task-based robotics instruction, peer collaboration and problem-solving strategies were primarily focused on the programming of the robot. In project-based robotics, peer collaboration and problem-solving strategies were applied throughout the entire design process, including the building and the programming of the robot. Through this study, the researcher hoped to provide a roadmap for the implementation of robotics in schools for K-8 students. As schools are increasingly seeking ways to integrate robotics into school curriculum, further research in this area on a larger scale is recommended.

scholarly journals Middle school students' and mathematicians' judgments of mathematical typicality

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-270
Author(s):  
Candace Walkington ◽  
Jennifer Cooper ◽  
Olubukola Leonard ◽  
Caroline Williams-Pierce ◽  
Chuck Kalish
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
School Students ◽  
Inductive Generalization ◽  
Mathematical Argumentation ◽  
Mathematical Properties ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Everyday Context

K-12 students often rely on testing examples to explore and determine the truth of mathematical conjectures. However, little is known about how K-12 students choose examples and what elements are important when considering example choice. In other domains, experts give explicit consideration to the typicality of examples – how representative a given item is of a general class. In a pilot study, we interviewed 20 middle school students who classified examples as typical or unusual and justified their classification. We then gave middle school students and mathematicians a survey where they rated the typicality of mathematical objects in two contexts – an everyday context (commonness in everyday life) and a mathematical context (how likely conjectures that hold for the object are to hold for other objects). Mathematicians had distinct notions of everyday and mathematical typicality – they recognized that the objects often seen in everyday life can have mathematical properties that can limit inductive generalization. Middle school students largely did not differentiate between everyday and mathematical typicality – they did not view special mathematical properties as limiting generalization, and rated items similarly regardless of context. These results suggest directions for learning mathematical argumentation and represent an important step towards understanding the nature of typicality in math.

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