This article addresses the current state of the mathematics education system in the United States and provides a possible solution to the contributing issues. As a result of lower performance in primary mathematics, American students are not acquiring the necessary quantitative literacy skills to become successful adults. This study analyzed the impact of the FoodMASTER Intermediate curriculum on fourth-grade student’s mathematics knowledge. The curriculum is a part of the FoodMASTER Initiative, which is a compilation of programs utilizing food, a familiar and necessary part of everyday life, as a tool to teach mathematics and science. Students exposed to the curriculum completed a 20-item researcher-developed mathematics knowledge exam (Intervention n=288; Control n=194). Overall, the results showed a significant increase in mathematics knowledge from pre- to post-test. These findings suggest that students engaged in food-based science activities provided them with the context in which to apply mathematical concepts to an everyday experience. Therefore, the FoodMASTER approach was successful at improving students’ mathematics knowledge while building a foundation for becoming quantitatively literate adults.
The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) reported more than just numerical achievement data. The study also contained information on teachers' lives, students' lives, and curricula, as well as a videotape of eighth-grade mathematics classes (OERI 1996a). These data, especially the videotaped study, go beyond comparisons of achievement scores and allow for cross-cultural comparisons of mathematics instruction in the United States and other countries. In particular, we can learn many lessons from examining instructional methods in the United States and comparing them with those of Japan. This comparison has significant implications for implementing NCTM's Standards in U.S. classrooms and teaching our students as if they were young mathematicians.
Mobile devices pose a challenge for most faculty members in higher education as they view the device as disruptive and in competition with the work to be completed in the classroom. The goal of this chapter is to examine the implementation of HTC tablet devices and the changing roles of the faculty instructor and learners when using this device in an undergraduate business management course in a business college and a graduate course in early childhood in a college of education in a large Midwestern university. The chapter describes the classroom setting, instructor and student perspectives of the implementation, and the use of the tablet both in class and out of class as well as the barriers associated with tablet use when embedded in a higher education course.
Consistent, prolonged, and nurturing interactions of a primary caregiver with an infant is necessary for optimal development of the infant. Lowering parental stress can promote positive caregiver-infant social interaction behaviors. Studies show that when caregivers use rhythm-based music and movement strategies during interactions with their infants, non-verbal communication, mutual attunement, and self-reported stress levels improve. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine caregiver benefits (stress hormones and positive interaction behaviors) when learning rhythm-based music with movement strategies while interacting with their infant. This was achieved through randomization of caregiver/infant dyads to a treatment (instructional intervention) or control condition with no instruction. Significantly lower salivary cortisol levels and lower salivary cortisol/DHEA ratio values pre-post were observed for the treatment condition as compared to control. These findings suggest that learning and using rhythm-based music and movement interventions are promising for lowering stress in caregivers. The impact of the intervention with families at risk due to stress-related environmental factors should be further investigated. In addition, observing social emotional behaviors and stress hormone levels of the infant is suggested.
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