Educational Computer Games in Math Teaching

In this study, the effect of educational computer games on students' academic success and their attitudes towards mathematics were investigated. The study was designed as a mixed method. The results revealed that after the implementation, no significant variation was observed between both groups in terms of academic test scores and attitude points. However, qualitative findings indicated that students in the experimental group got more pleasure from the lessons and their attitudes towards mathematics were positively affected. Also, educational computer games are effective learning tools and create a positive affirmation on students. Although this study was conducted in the face to face classrooms, the findings would be transferred to other learning settings such as distance and online education. Therefore, the experience obtained from such technologically enriched learning environments is discussed in the context of distance and online learning.

The Future of Math Teacher Professional Learning

We summarize the results of a field scan that set out to describe the current state of math teacher learning and promising future directions for improving math teaching and learning for all learners, particularly those most underestimated by the education system. We share five key learnings: (1) math teacher learning is in a "steady state," where schools and districts generally use three approaches to support math educators: professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional coaching, and professional learning workshops, (2) researchers have not been able to document a strong link between each of these three approaches and teacher and student learning, with the exception of coaching which shows benefits for teachers but not direct evidence of student learning, (3) comprehensive programs that apply several of these approaches simultaneously with sufficient supports can improve math outcomes for students, but gains often dissipate when supports decline, (4) there are a few "points of light" of innovative new approaches including teacher-led learning innovations, teacher pipeline initiatives, practice-embedded models, and digital clinical simulations, and (5) there are opportunities for new initiatives in math education to pay greater attention to the implications for teacher learning. We discuss important critiques of our report and offer a "call to action" for stakeholders in the field.

Teacher Mindsets and Student Sense of Classroom Belonging

We investigate how teachers’ mindsets—or their beliefs about learning and school—relate to adolescents’ individual and collective reports of classroom belonging. Our pre-registered analyses of 1,200 middle school students show that teachers’ growth mindset and confidence in teaching positively relate to students’ math class belonging—explaining 40 percent of belonging among classes. Yet a teacher’s own sense of school belonging is unrelated to the belonging students feel in class. We also find that the conditional association between math teaching confidence and students’ classroom belonging is twice as strong for Black adolescents as it is for their White peers, and a teacher’s growth mindset has no bearing on Asian adolescents’ math class belonging.

Student Engagement as the Factor of Math Mastery in University: The Relationship Between Social Factor and Learning Practices

The main aim of math teaching at the higher level is to form students’ competency to prepare them for other courses that require mathematical skills and professional task solving. The challenge today is to develop student engagement in math learning. Thus, this study examined the relationship between social factors, student learning practices, and student engagement in math learning. A survey through questionnaires was distributed to 284 bachelor's degree students at a private university in Malaysia. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and Structured Equation Modeling were applied. The results obtained revealed that there were significant relationships between: a) teaching practices and attentive listening, note-taking, working on in-class problems, b) peer influence and attentive listening, c) parental involvement and working on in-class problems, and the amount of homework completed. The results also show that seating location, attentive listening, note-taking, working on in-class problems, and homework completion have a significant relationship with student engagement in math learning.

Chapter 6: “I Have Gotten Braver”: Growing and Sustaining Critical Mathematics Pedagogies through a Teacher Community of Praxis

Background Mathematics education is not often identified as the locus of radical social change work, with these topics assumed instead as fodder for social studies or language arts lessons. As such, teachers of mathematics can struggle to find avenues for their commitments to social and educational justice in their mathematics teaching spaces. Purpose This study examined the practice and experiences of 10 math educators participating in a voluntary teacher learning community focused on critical pedagogies and math. The purpose was to identify the core learnings and challenges made possible through this learning community. Setting and Participants The Critical Mathematics Teacher Collaborative (CMTC) consists primarily of preservice and early career K–12 teachers, all of whom teach math and seek to develop their own math teaching practices through frameworks of critical pedagogy and social justice. An informal, nonhierarchical learning community, CMTC uses a cycle of critical reflection and action: We read and discuss theory to inform visions for critical mathematics teaching, and we workshop participant-designed lesson plans to support moving from vision to action. Research Design The study was collaboratively designed among members of the group as a self-study. Bidirectional interviews were conducted among 10 participants, transcribed, and analyzed. Conclusions Four core insights were identified. Participating teachers (1) desired to be able to engage in critical work in mathematics teaching spaces, (2) were nurtured by accountability to a community that supports putting ideals into practice and continuing to examine these ideals, (3) benefitted from praxis—having a space to connect theory to the practices of daily classroom teaching, and (4) provided allyship to each other in the face of challenges to teaching for social justice, shaping not only their mathematics teaching but also teaching in spaces beyond mathematics. Examples of critical mathematics pedagogies in action in the classrooms of participating teachers are included, as well as appendices with readings and a sample agenda for use by teachers wishing to model a learning community of their own after this one.

Permission to Add: Math-teaching Limericks

Throughout my years and decades of being a teacher, I have written limericks about every course I’ve taught, and sometimes courses I haven’t taught but reviewed textbooks in. Here I share several of these limericks.

Equity Issue in Pakistan: A Study on Higher Education

This study has examined the equity issue in higher education in Pakistan that boys and girls have treated based on equitable access to education. While the social status of female students is very diverse in higher education than males. If compared with around the world, the current educational status of women has increased in the different fields on the bases of equity. Because women play a vital role in the growth of the economy by the dint of their professional skills. However, the role of women in Pakistan is different from around the world. If the compared relationship between urban and rural female students or women in Pakistan that women still face difficulties in several areas. Such as field engineering and math teaching as well as a public place. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the equity issue in already published literature by taking into account higher education in Pakistan. To, different studies’ findings have shown that there are many problems present in the educational system of Pakistan, such as a policy implementation with an international perspective, curriculum standards, and the use of technology in education. However, equity is also a core issue in higher education, which impact on female students. In this regard, those female students cannot reward easily their fundamental rights. Because of restrictions and some, important factors have linked to equity barriers. This study has used different sources of methods and materials through Google Scholar, Research Gate, and an Elsevier journal. Finally, significant results have described in this study by the dint of discussion and conclusion, which have drawn in the light of previously published literature.