The problems under investigation included (a) Did a directed study of mathematics vocabulary significantly affect student performance levels on standardized mathematical questions? and (b) Did the strategies used in this study significantly affect student performance levels on standardized mathematical questions? The population consisted of…

This study examined the differences in knowledge of mathematical modeling between a group of elementary preservice teachers and a group of elementary inservice teachers. Mathematical modeling has recently come to the forefront of elementary mathematics classrooms because of the call to add mathematical modeling tasks in mathematics classes through…

Understanding mathematics is an essential part of everyday life and can range from simple tasks such as using basic math skills to more complex tasks. Success in mathematics is a requirement for success in today's modern world. A gap in developing mathematical skills can create complications and interfere with job opportunities. Another basic…

This study examined the effect of the eight Common Core mathematical practices on math achievement and math attitudes for a sample of low-performing students in Grade 6. The treatment sample (n = 63) consisted of four classes of Grade 6 students who had scored below proficient levels in state math assessments. This study was conducted in a…

This quantitative research study investigates South Dakota middle school (grades 5-8) mathematics teachers' perceptions of teaching competencies including general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) and mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK). The study also considered how teacher characteristics relate to teacher competencies. The study…

Calls for better preparation of STEM teachers have been prominent in educational communities and among the public for the past several years (e.g. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2007). Some research suggests one way to improve mathematics instruction is to increase elementary pre-service teachers' "mathematical…

Many developmental mathematics programs at community colleges in recent years have undergone a process of redesign in an attempt increase the historical poor rate of student successful completion of required developmental coursework. Various curriculum and instructional design models that incorporate methods of avoiding and accelerating the…

In order to change the direction of mathematics education, the training of elementary teachers in the United States needs to be of equal or higher quality than top preforming countries. However, pre-service elementary teachers in the United States fall behind their peers in other countries in mathematical content knowledge and mathematical…

This dissertation focuses on examining the use of mathematical cartoons as a teaching tool in middle school mathematics classroom. A mixed methods research design was used to answer how the use of cartoon activities affects teacher and student perceptions of teaching and learning and student intrinsic motivation, interest, and mathematics anxiety…

Moving Beyond the Ordinal Methodological Controversy: A Systematic Review (Manuscript 1): Ordinal outcome data is a common byproduct of education research. Yet more than seventy-five years after the development of Stevens' original measurement framework, the permissibility of select analytic techniques to ordinal outcome data remains a topic of…

The purpose of this study was to examine Kuwaiti mathematical elementary teachers' perceptions about their ability to integrate M-learning (mobile learning) into their current teaching practices and the major barriers hindering teachers' ability to create an M-learning environment. Furthermore, this study sought to understand teachers' perceptions…

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, public school districts in the United States are working to improve the achievement of students on state standardized tests for accountability. Teachers, administrators, and districts need to find ways to get all students to pass standardized tests. Mathematical concepts appear throughout…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the placement of ninth-grade students within advanced mathematics courses. High school counselors are often criticized for being an ineffective resource in the placement of students of color and low-income students into such classes; even though their professional mandates state that they…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether multiple-choice and constructed-response items assessed prospective secondary mathematics teachers' understanding of the concept of function. The conceptual framework for the study was the Dreyfus and Eisenberg (1982) Function Block. The theoretical framework was Sierpinska's (1992, 1994)…

This study addressed how different instructional strategies affected preservice elementary teachers' levels of math anxiety and their achievement in a math content course while considering descriptions of their experiences in the course in relation to their math anxiety and achievement. The instructional strategies used were traditional teaching…