To promote understanding of and interest in working with data among diverse student populations, we developed and studied a high school mathematics curriculum module that examines income inequality ...in the United States. Designed as a multi-week set of applied data investigations, the module supports student analyses of income inequality using U.S. Census Bureau microdata and the online data analysis tool the Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP). Pre- and post-module data show that use of this module was associated with statistically significant growth in students' understanding of fundamental data concepts and individual interests in statistics and data analysis, with small to moderate effect sizes. Student survey responses and interview data from students and teachers suggest that the topic of income inequality, features within CODAP, the use of person-level data, and opportunities to engage in multivariable thinking helped to support critical data literacy and its foundations among participating students. We describe our definitions of data literacy and critical data literacy and discuss curriculum strategies to develop them.
The Power of Interviewing Students MacVicar, Theresa J; Brodesky, Amy R; Fagan, Emily R
The Mathematics teacher,
06/2021, Volume:
114, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Determining what students know and understand, as well as what misconceptions they have, is essential to planning and providing targeted intervention and support. In this article, a teacher uses ...formative assessment interviews to uncover evidence of students' understandings and to plan targeted instruction in a mathematics intervention class. The authors present an example of a student interview, a discussion of the benefits and challenges of conducting interviews, and actionable suggestions for implementing them. This narrative highlights the benefits of conducting interviews with students by using formative assessment probes and offers some implementation suggestions.
Start with a strategic process to gather and interpret evidence of students' mathematical understandings and misconceptions; then aim your teaching to address identified needs.
Systematically address common mathematical misunderstandings by children ages 8 to 11, with 20 easy-to-implement assessments for continuously monitored learning.
We present a 16-year-old boy with weakness, hypercortisolemia, and markedly elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone. Computed tomographic imaging revealed hepatic lesions and a calcified pancreatic ...mass. Biopsy of the hepatic lesions revealed moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma. The primary tumor could not be determined. The patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide followed by therapeutic bilateral adrenalectomy and tumor debulking. Despite significant clinical improvement, restaging revealed progressive hepatic disease. The patient died 9 months after diagnosis. Autopsy revealed disseminated neuroendocrine carcinoma. The rarity of this tumor compels a cooperative investigational model involving pediatric and adult oncologists.
The learning principle in NCTM'S
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
(2000) states: “Students must learn mathematics with understanding, actively building new knowledge from experience ...and prior knowledge.” Learning with understanding is defined as “being able to apply procedures, concepts, and processes” (NCTM 2000, p. 20). This view of learning represents a departure from a view that emphasizes a student's factual knowledge and ability to apply procedures. Although facts and procedures are important, they will not, in and of themselves, result in learning with understanding. Instead, factual understanding, procedural fluency, and conceptual understanding must coexist so that students reach learning with understanding. The extent to which a student can apply his or her learning to a new problem or situation is often an indicator of this understanding.
Quality classroom culture and discourse go a long way in fostering procedural fluency and conceptual understanding in mathematics. Opportunities to examine, extend, and generalize patterns enable ...students to learn algebra with understanding and set mathematics in a real-world context.
APPENDIX B: DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT PROBES Tobey, Cheryl Rose; Fagan, Emily R. (Roche)
Uncovering Student Thinking About Mathematics in the Common Core, Grades 3-5,
2013
Book Chapter
GEOMETRY AND GEOMETRIC MEASUREMENT PROBES Tobey, Cheryl Rose; Fagan, Emily R. (Roche)
Uncovering Student Thinking About Mathematics in the Common Core, Grades 3-5,
2013
Book Chapter