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Colloquia | Brown Bags | Conferences | Graduates | Personal News Friday, Sept 10, 2004 For this presentation, we will share some of the findings from the third-year of the Pathways Project-A National Science Foundation's professional development research project. Our main research questions were: 1. In what ways does a sociotransformative constructivist (sTc) orientation to teaching and learning influence students' learning and participation in science? 2. In what ways, does an sTc orientation to teaching influence beginning teachers' feelings of preparedness to teach science for diversity and understanding during their second year of teaching? We have gathered and analyzed data using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Findings from the analysis of ethnographic interviews, classroom observations, and videotaped lessons indicate that the sTc approach had a positive impact on the teachers' pedagogy and implementation of culturally responsive curriculum. Similarly, t-test analyses of students' pre- and post instruction semi-structured concept maps showed significant cognitive growth. The students' academic growth and increased class participation was observed in the four different schools participating in the study and across the four curriculum areas being taught by the participating teachers (i.e., biology, physics, health education and physical science). The students' post-test semi-structured interviews, as well as numerous class visits and class artifacts, were used to triangulate findings and to further explore the students' perceptions. Given the time constraints for this presentation, I will focus on Gary Jones, the Physics/Astronomy teacher, and his students. 4:00, refreshments at 3:30 Friday, Sept 24, 2004 For many decades, the following dilemma accompanied the use of thinking-aloud and retrospective problem-solving interviews: On the one hand, the interviews where problem solvers are instructed to verbalize their thoughts provide a unique source of information about their knowledge, problem-solving behaviors and underlying cognitive processes. On the other hand, interview settings including verbal reports on problem-solving (unavoidably?) affect cognitive processes and behaviors under exploration, and, moreover, cannot be fully standardized. The questions "What interview designs seem result in valid and analyzable verbal reports?" and, "What kind of defensible research claims may be made on the basis of verbally reported thoughts?" are still in focus of the on-going affairs. In the talk I will discuss the attempts to address these questions under the constraints of the two empirical studies about: (1) development of in-service teachers' knowledge base through DNR-based instructions (on-going NSF-funded study); (2) middle school students' heuristic behaviors in problem-solving. Specifically, the model of step-wise analysis of thinking-aloud interviews taking into account effects of interviewer-interviewee interactions will be presented. 4:00, refreshments at 3:30 Friday, October 8, 2004 The poor performance of its students in mathematics has long concerned the US: the reformed
constructivist “new new math” curriculum, endorsed by the US Education Department in 1999, but
rejected as “fuzzy math” and “no correct-answer math” by its opponents, has sparked off a “Math War”.
Learning difficulties peculiar to mathematics are the root cause of this dispute, and this paper locates the
root cause of these learning difficulties in an epistemic schism within mathematics. The quarrel about what
and how mathematics should be taught reflects fundamentally divergent perceptions of what mathematics
is—and that cannot be decided by mathematical authority, but requires recourse to history and philosophy. 4:00, refreshments at 3:30 Friday, October 29 Doris Alvarez, Principal and Allison Liewer, math teacher at The Preuss School UCSD will describe The Preuss School, its mission and its focus on preparation of its students for college. The role of professional development will be highlighted , in particular the use of lesson study in mathematics to improve teaching and student learning. The Preuss School is a 6-12 school located on the campus of the University of California San Diego. Students are eligible to attend if they are low-income, neither parent graduated from a four year college and they are motivated to attend college. 4:00, refreshments at 3:30
Upcoming Colloquia Speakers Spring 2005
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