Browsing by Subject "Problem solving strategies"

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    A Story of African American Students as Mathematics Learners
    (Ismail Sahin, 2014-07-01) Morton, Crystal Hill
    Educational systems throughout the world serve students from diverse populations. Often students from minority populations (i.e. racial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic) face unique challenges when learning in contexts based on the cultural traditions and learning theories of the majority population. These challenges often leave minority populations labeled as incompetent, unmotivated, and cognitively deficit. In the United States, African American female students are among minority populations who are often positioned as deficit when compared to the majority White population. This study investigates middle school African American female perceptions of themselves as learners and students’ knowledge of the meaning of ratio, proportionality, and how to apply and explain their application of proportionality concepts by examining written problem solving strategies over a three-year period. Students’ responses are analyzed according to the strategies they used to reach their final solution. The categories of strategies include no-response, guess and check, additive build up with and without a pictorial representation, and multiplicative. The majority of students in this study 86.5%, 69.2%, and 68.6% did not attempt or demonstrated no understanding in year one, two, and three respectively. Additionally, participants reported positive dispositions about themselves as mathematics learners.
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    An investigation into sixth grade students’ understanding of ratio and proportion
    (Sociedade Brasileira de Educação Matemática, 2014) Morton, Crystal Hill
    Drawing on written assessments collected from 58 sixth grade students, this article discusses the results of a study that examined patterns in middle-grade boy’s and girl’s written problem solving strategies for a mathematical task involving proportional reasoning and their level of understanding of ratios and proportions. This work is a part of a larger, longitudinal project, Mathematics Identity Development and Learning (MIDDLE), that focused on the impact of mathematics reform on students’ development as mathematics knowers and learners and identifying processes the explains changes in students’ mathematical learning and self-conceptions. Findings the current work speaks to student strategy use, errors, and levels of understanding.