3-D Graphing, Contour Graphs, Topographical Maps, and Matrices Using Spreadsheets

1999 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-174
Author(s):  
Louis Feicht
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
First Year ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Hands On ◽  
College Calculus ◽  
Topographical Maps

Modern spreadsheets can make powerful mathematical concepts accessible to students at a younger age than ever before. Contours and three–dimensional graphing are topics that were previously reserved until well into the first year of college calculus. Three–dimensional graphing now can be successfully taught to middle school students with the assistance of a computer spreadsheet. This combination of the computer with hands-on activity exposes students to numerical and graphical representations of data on the same spreadsheet “page” and forces them to make connections between the two forms of data.

Teacher to Teacher: Letting Your Students “Fly” in the Classroom

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 348-349
Author(s):  
Thomas Adams
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Hands On Learning ◽  
Real Action

Teachers are always looking for new ways to help their students explore mathematical concepts. Many worthwhile activities use cooperative groups and hands-on learning, but few involve any real action. This article presents an activity for middle school students that really moves-in fact, it flies!

The Arcs of Archaeology

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 688-693
Author(s):  
Bonnie S. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Real World ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hands On ◽  
New Ideas

For the past several years, i have sought out opportunities outside mathematics for personal enrichment and enjoyment. These experiences have caused me to become more aware of the connections between mathematics and other areas. As a result, I have begun developing lessons to show my students how mathematics is used in the real world. One summer I joined another teacher and twelve middle school students and decided to brave the eighteen-hour drive from Oklahoma to the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Co1tez, Colorado. The mathematical lesson discussed in this article emerged from one week of learning about the Anasazi culture and experiencing hands-on archaeology. Throughout the years, this lesson has been revised and expanded as both students and experience have given me new ideas.

Fishy Fun under the Sun

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-82
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Moore ◽  
Maria C. Schwarz
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
The Sun ◽  
School Students ◽  
Ratio And Proportion ◽  
Hands On ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Integrate Science

MY FAVORITE SEQUENCE OF LESSONS involves fun and creative activities that are both interesting and accessible to middle school students. The activities described in this article give a teacher one week's worth of lessons that allow geometry and measurement as well as ratio and proportion to be addressed in a cooperative learning environment. These lessons integrate science and mathematics with hands-on exploration using manipulatives.

Cognitive Effects of a Logo-Enriched Mathematics Program for Middle School Students

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra V. Turner ◽  
Michael L. Land
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Minimal Amount ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Logo Programming

This study investigated the effect of learning Logo on middle-school students' understanding of specific mathematical concepts and on their level of cognitive development. Students in the Logo Group ( n = 91) learned Logo for one hour a week for sixteen weeks as part of their regular mathematics curriculum. The Control Group ( n = 90) did not participate in the Logo program but received the full allotted time for their regular mathematics curriculum. No significant differences were found between the two groups in their understanding of mathematics concepts or in their growth in cognitive development. However, among the students in the Logo Group, those who learned the most Logo gained significantly more than those who learned a minimal amount of Logo both in their understanding of the mathematics concepts and in their level of cognitive development. When the High Logo group was compared to the Control Group, and also to a matched subset of the Control Group, there were large differences in favor of the High Logo group, but the results were not significant. The findings of this study suggest that cognitive development, achievement in mathematics, and achievement in Logo programming all share a common factor and that students who do well in one area are also likely to do well in the other two areas.

In-Game Actions to Promote Game-Based Math Learning Engagement

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-885
Author(s):  
Jewoong Moon ◽  
Fengfeng Ke
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Sequential Analysis ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cognitive Engagement ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
Learning Engagement

Game-based learning (GBL) has increasingly been used to promote students’ learning engagement. Although prior GBL studies have highlighted the significance of learning engagement as a mediator of students’ meaningful learning, the existing accounts failed to capture specific evidence of how exactly students’ in-game actions in GBL enhance learning engagement. Hence, this mixed-method study was designed to examine whether middle school students’ in-game actions are likely to promote certain types of learning engagement (i.e., content and cognitive engagement). This study used and examined the game E-Rebuild, a single-player three-dimensional architecture game that requires learners’ application of math knowledge. Using in-depth gameplay behavior analysis, this study sampled a total of 92 screen-recorded and video-captured gameplay sessions attended by 25 middle school students. We adopted two analytic approaches: sequential analysis and thematic analysis. Whereas sequential analysis explored which in-game actions by students were likely to promote each type of learning engagement, the thematic analysis depicted how certain gameplay contexts contributed to students’ enhanced learning engagement. The study found that refugee allocation and material trading actions promoted students’ content engagement, whereas using in-game building tools and learning support boosted their cognitive engagement. This study also found that students’ learning engagement was associated with their development of mathematical thinking in a GBL context.

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