The study aims to understand elementary school students' imaginations and perceptions about their mathematics teachers from their views. 44 first grade students were joined to the study. The study ...was conducted in a little village elementary school in Aydın city in Turkey. For understanding their perceptions and imaginations, the researchers evaluated the students' drawings and writings. Also, 5 students were selected for interviewing by considering the students' expressions. The data were analyzed by specifying and disseminating the drawn pictures by taking into consideration the determined themes. The writings were analyzed to the common themes in them. The results show that the children's imaginations about their math teachers would change to their age group, their prejudices and experiences.
By observing the hand-sewn running stitches of fifth grade 98 students, current characteristicsof students’ sewing skills were investigated. A more accurate method of evaluation was discussed ...bycomparing the visual evaluation by university students with the measurements of stitches. In addition, wediscussed the relationship between the sewing skill, visual evaluation, and skillfulness in fingers/hands byconducting a thread tying test. The results are as follows :1. Sewing skills were defined by representing the in and out of needles by coordinates and measuringthe number of stitches, length of the stitches, and distance from base line. As a result, the averagenumber of stitches in 15 minutes were 30.3 stitches, but it was found to vary greatly amongindividuals, with the front stitches generally matching the specified length, while the back stitchestended to be larger than specified.2. The validity of the visual evaluation method was examined by comparing the measured values of thestitch and the visual evaluation conducted by university students. In general, comprehensive visualevaluation tended to be based heavily on speed rather than on accuracy of the stitches. Addition allya point-of-view evaluation enables more comprehensive evaluation for both quality and quantity ofstitches.3. The results of the thread tying test were related to the accuracy of the hand-sewing stitches. Therefore,it is important to teach the students to learn how to sew correctly.
Mathematical problem solving is one of the most valuable aspects of mathematics education. It is also the most difficult for elementary-school students (Verschaffel, Greer, & De Corte, 2000). ...Students experience cognitive and metacognitive difficulties in this area and develop negative emotions and poor motivation, which hamper their efforts (Kramarski,Weiss, & Kololshi-Minsker 2010). The ages of nine through 11 seem to be the most critical for developing attitudes and emotional reactions towards mathematics (Artino, 2009). These metacognitive and motivational-emotional reactions are fundamental aspects of self-regulated learning (SRL), a non-innate process which requires systematic, explicit student training (Pintrich, 2000; Zimmerman, 2000). Most self-regulation studies about problem solving tend to focus on metacognition; few have explored the motivational-emotional component. This study developed, examined, and compared two SRL interventions dealing with two components of self-regulation: metacognitive regulation (MC) and motivational-emotional regulation (ME). The study conducted a two-group intervention to examine the possible effects on the self-regulation aspect of student problem-solving ability of increasing one group's metacognitive awareness, while leaving the motivational-emotional component alone, and of increasing the motivational-emotional awareness of the other group, while leaving metacognitive awareness alone. It also examined the contribution of these components to students' problem solving and self-regulation. Participants were 118 fifth-grade students randomly assigned to two groups. The groups completed self-regulation questionnaires before and after intervention to examine metacognition, motivation, and emotion. Students also solved two forms of arithmetic series problems: verbal and numeric. After intervention, a novel transfer problem was also examined. The intervention consisted of 10 hours over five weeks. Following intervention, the groups exhibited similar improvements in all problems. The MC group performed best in metacognitive self-regulation, and the ME group performed best in certain motivational-emotional aspects of self-regulation. Research implications are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to describe a group of fifth grade students as they engaged in process drama during their social studies class. The author found that students who engaged in process ...drama learned to combine texts to understand and create new texts. As they became engaged in the material, students collaborated with each other and became leaders in class while honoring the cultures they studied in their social studies textbooks.
The author investigated how training in small-group and interpersonal behaviors affected children's behavior and interactions as they worked in small groups 2 years later. The authors assigned 52 ...fifth graders, who had been trained 2 years previously in cooperative group behaviors, to the trained condition and 36 fifth graders, who had not previously been trained, to the untrained condition. Both were reconstituted from the pool of students who had participated previously in group activities. The results showed a residual training effect, with the children in the trained groups being more cooperative and helpful than their untrained peers.
The purposes of the present study were (a) to work out a program aimed at enhancing children's feelings of self-affirmation,(b) to execute experimental lessons with the children, and (c) to assess ...the effects of these lessons, based on the children's consciousness of self and their behavior. Whether the students were negatively affected by looking at themselves was also examined. Out of 206 5th graders in 6 classes, 4 classes (the experimental group) were given 4 lessons. Just before the lessons, after the lessons, and one month later, the children took the “Who am I?” test, giving ratings of feeling and significance for each description. Their answers were compared with those of another 2 classes (the control group) that did not receive the special lessons. The experimental group showed more positive descriptions and fewer negative ones. However, an influence on behavior was not found. In the group classified by attribution inquiries as self-deprecating, the description of looking at other people negatively decreased significantly.
Two experiments were conducted with 24 fifth-grade students participating. In the first experiment, quiz performance with study guides was compared to quiz performance without study guides. The group ...whose students received study guides always scored higher than the group who did not receive study guides. Experiment II assessed the feasibility of students scoring their own study guides. The reliability of student scoring was found to be 93% over all study guides and there were no significant differences between "self-scored" and "teacher-scored" groups on the weekly quizzes.
Two experiments were conducted with 24 fifth‐grade students participating. In the first experiment, quiz performance with study guides was compared to quiz performance without study guides. The group ...whose students received study guides always scored higher than the group who did not receive study guides. Experiment II assessed the feasibility of students scoring their own study guides. The reliability of student scoring was found to be 93% over all study guides and there were no significant differences between “self‐scored” and “teacher‐scored” groups on the weekly quizzes.
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