The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics calls for an increased emphasis on proof and reasoning in school mathematics curricula. Given such an emphasis, mathematics teachers must be prepared to structure curricular experiences so that students develop an appreciation for both the value of proof and for those strategies that will assist them…

This study was designed to examine the impact of participating in an after-school robotics competition on high school students' attitudes toward science. Specifically, this study used the Test of Science-Related Attitude to measure students' social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitude toward scientific inquiry, adoption of…

Policymakers and industry leaders are calling for a 21st century education that is more interdisciplinary in nature, including the ability to solve problems and think creatively. Traditional teaching practices that present subjects as separate and distinct disciplines do not encourage students to make connections between subjects in school and in…

This paper describes a subset of results from a large-scale two-year independent evaluation study conducted with the "Scientists in School" (SiS) outreach program and two large school boards in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it explores the responses of elementary students (n= 811) from typically underrepresented groups in science (English…

Substantial recent focus has been placed upon the competitiveness of American students in increasingly global economies and entrepreneurial enterprises. As concerns center on students' educational preparedness and their efforts at continued learning, researchers acknowledge the importance of student engagement with school. In order to foster…

The study examined relationships among key domains of science instruction with English language learning (ELL) students based on teachers' perceptions of their classroom practices (i.e., what they think they do) and actual classroom practices (i.e., what they are observed doing). The four domains under investigation included: (1) teachers'…

The purpose of this paper is to show the similarities as well as the differences of fundamental fraction knowledge owned by preservice elementary teachers from the United States (N = 89) and Taiwan (N = 85). To this end, we examined and compared their performance on an instrument including 15 multiple-choice test items. The items were categorized…

The aim of this study was to examine whether there are gender differences in mathematics achievement and in beliefs about mathematics of preservice teachers over a period of four years. Data were collected from preservice teachers (156 males and 155 females) from the Adiyaman University Faculty of Education in Turkey. The Mathematics as a Gendered…

In this technology-oriented age, teachers face daily decisions regarding the use of advanced digital technologies--graphing calculators, dynamic geometry software, blogs, wikis, podcasts and the like--to enhance student mathematical understanding in their classrooms. In this case study, the authors use the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content…

The purpose of this study was to understand the mathematical content knowledge new teachers have both before and after taking a mathematics methods course in the NYCTF program. Further, the purpose was to understand the attitudes toward mathematics and concepts of self-efficacy that Teaching Fellows had over the course of the semester. The sample…

This article presents exploratory research investigating the integration of music and a mathematics lesson as an intervention to promote preservice teachers' attitude and confidence and to extend their beliefs toward teaching mathematics integrated with music. Thirty students were randomly selected from 64 preservice teachers in a southern…

In his last book, "Toward a Logic of Meanings" (Piaget & Garcia, 1991), Jean Piaget describes how thought can be categorized into a form of propositional logic, a logic of meanings. The intent of this article is to offer this analysis by Piaget as a means to understand the language and teaching of science. Using binary propositions, conjunctions,…

The context and nature of teacher efficacy beliefs provide a method upon which to explore science teachers' perceptions of their teaching effectiveness and student achievement as a function of ethnicity. Promotion of a more in-depth knowledge of science teaching efficacy requires cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations. In this study, a…

This study investigated preservice elementary teachers' achievement goal orientations for learning mathematics and the relationship of those goals to their attitudes toward mathematics. Self-report instruments were administered to assess three achievement goals--mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoid, and three constructs of…

Issues related to college access and the need for a pipeline of STEM teachers, provided the impetus for the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) to issue a call for Ohio universities to design pre-college experiences for high school students with three major goals in mind: (a) improvement in mathematics, science, or foreign language learning; (b) increased…