Astronomical Math

1999 ◽  
Vol 92 (9) ◽  
pp. 786-792
Author(s):  
Robert Ryden

High school mathematics teachers are always looking for applications that are real and yet accessible to high school students. Astronomy has been little used in that respect, even though high school students can understand many of the problems of classical astronomy. Examples of such problems include the following: How did classical astronomers calculate the diameters and masses of Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the planets? How did they calculate the distances to the Sun and Moon? How did they calculate the distances to the planets and their orbital periods? Many students are surprised to learn that most of these questions were first answered, often quite accurately, using mathematics that they can understand.

Author(s):  
Isaac Bengre Taley ◽  
Matilda Sarpong Adusei

Helping junior high school students to use calculators and computers for problem solving and investigating real-life situations is an objective of the junior high school mathematics curriculum in Ghana. Ironically, there is a technological drought in junior high school mathematics instruction in Ghana, with a suspicion that mathematics teachers’ competency in the use of calculators for teaching may be the source of this lack of use. This study sought to establish a correlation between junior high school mathematics teachers’ competence and the motivation supporting the use of calculators in teaching.  A descriptive survey comprising of a test and questionnaire was used to collect data from junior high school mathematics teachers in an educational district in Ghana. Teacher characteristics such as educational attainment, age, and gender in relation to teachers’ competency in the use of calculators were discussed in the study. The results showed that about 70% of the teachers exhibited a low level of calculator competence. Besides, novice teachers outperformed expert teachers in the calculator competency-based test. Additionally, mathematics teachers’ enthusiasm for using calculators in teaching was directly associated with the teachers’ level of competency. The findings may send a signal to stakeholders in their efforts to revising the Ghana JHS curriculum in order to actualize the curriculum desire for the integration of technology in the teaching and learning of JHS mathematics.


2003 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-104
Author(s):  
Kathryn Risher

As high school mathematics teachers, my colleagues and I face this sad reality on a daily basis. After years of experience instructing teenagers in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, we have recognized a number of forces that impede the success of high school students in higher-level mathematics courses. Many students and their parents either fail to recognize these forces or refuse to face them.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tohir

The objective of this research is to describe the improvement of the competence of Olympic workshop participants in problem-solving of mathematics Olympiad for mathematics teachers of Junior High Schools in the Madiun Regency by using the qualitative descriptive approach. The subjects of this research were 66 participants of junior high school mathematics teachers workshop organized by Mathematics teachers in each junior high school or MGMP in collaboration with the Depatment of Education and Culture of Madiun Regency. The data collection were carried out with a written test in the description form consisting the results of pre-test, post-test, practice questions, presentations from each group and observation results during the workshop. The results indicated that the mathematics Olympiad workshop activities for Junior High School mathematics teachers in Madiun Regency could increase the understanding of workshop participants in solving mathematics Olympiad questions. This improvement could be seen from the answers of practice questions as well as from the presentations session whereas the teachers could clearly describe several topics such as an algebraic, number theory, geometry, combinatorics, and statistics. However, an advanced Olympics workshops are still needed to help the teachers of Junior High School mathematics Olympiad in Madiun Regency.


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