a post by Jennifer Ruef for the Big Think blog
Even some teachers suffer from anxiety about math.
I teach people how to teach math, and I've been working in this field for 30 years. Across those decades, I've met many people who suffer from varying degrees of math trauma – a form of debilitating mental shutdown when it comes to doing mathematics.
When people share their stories with me, there are common themes. These include someone telling them they were “not good at math," panicking over timed math tests, or getting stuck on some math topic and struggling to move past it. The topics can be as broad as fractions or an entire class, such as Algebra or Geometry.
The notion of who is – and isn't – a math person drives the research I do with my colleagues Shannon Sweeny and Chris Willingham with people earning their teaching degrees.
Continue reading
I wonder how different maths teaching is in the UK. It was a subject I loved, I think that was because until you got into experimental mathematics the logic carried through to a right or wrong answer. No in between thinking!
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Tuesday, 25 October 2016
‘To tweet or not to tweet?’ A comparison of academics’ and students’ usage of Twitter in academic contexts
an article by Charles G. Knight and Linda K. Kaye (Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK) published in Innovations in Education and Teaching International Volume 53 Issue 2 (2016)
Abstract
The emergence of social media as a new channel for communication and collaboration has led educators to hope that they may enhance the student experience and provide a pedagogical tool within Higher Education (HE). This paper explores academics’ and undergraduates’ usage of Twitter within a post-92 university. It argues that the observed disparity of usage between academics and undergraduates can be attributed to a number of factors.
Namely, academics’ perceived use of the platform for enhancing reputation is an implied acknowledgement of the importance of research within HE and the increasingly public engagement agenda. Additionally, academics’ limited usage of Twitter to support practical-based issues may be explained by issues relating to accountability of information through non-official channels. Moreover, students made greater use of Twitter for the passive reception of information rather than participation in learning activities. The implications of these issues will be discussed in reference to the study findings.
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Abstract
The emergence of social media as a new channel for communication and collaboration has led educators to hope that they may enhance the student experience and provide a pedagogical tool within Higher Education (HE). This paper explores academics’ and undergraduates’ usage of Twitter within a post-92 university. It argues that the observed disparity of usage between academics and undergraduates can be attributed to a number of factors.
Namely, academics’ perceived use of the platform for enhancing reputation is an implied acknowledgement of the importance of research within HE and the increasingly public engagement agenda. Additionally, academics’ limited usage of Twitter to support practical-based issues may be explained by issues relating to accountability of information through non-official channels. Moreover, students made greater use of Twitter for the passive reception of information rather than participation in learning activities. The implications of these issues will be discussed in reference to the study findings.
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Wednesday, 19 June 2013
What are we to do with our ‘nice students’? The learning experience within the scholastic apartheid system of the research-led university
an article by Mike Marinetto (Cardiff University, UK) published in Organization Volume 20 Number 4 (July 2013)
Abstract
The Humboldtian educational ideal of the modern university based around an intellectual-based learning experience cannot be ignored. Indeed, this has been brought into sharp relief by the marketisation of higher education: there is a growing awareness in the university sector, particularly in research-intensive universities, that fee-paying students are entitled to a worthwhile learning experience.
This awareness has been further reinforced with the growth of consumer scrutiny in the higher education sector, principally through the introduction of the National Student Survey in 2005.
The concern of this article is to explore how research-focused institutions have used their supposed research excellence to pursue teaching excellence and whether this really has enhanced the student learning experience in practice.
Abstract
The Humboldtian educational ideal of the modern university based around an intellectual-based learning experience cannot be ignored. Indeed, this has been brought into sharp relief by the marketisation of higher education: there is a growing awareness in the university sector, particularly in research-intensive universities, that fee-paying students are entitled to a worthwhile learning experience.
This awareness has been further reinforced with the growth of consumer scrutiny in the higher education sector, principally through the introduction of the National Student Survey in 2005.
The concern of this article is to explore how research-focused institutions have used their supposed research excellence to pursue teaching excellence and whether this really has enhanced the student learning experience in practice.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: An international comparison using the FIT-Choice scale
an article by Helen M.G. Watt and Paul W. Richardson (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia), Uta Klusmann (Christian Albrechts University at Kiel, Germany), Mareike Kunter (Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Beate Beyer and Ulrich Trautwein (University of Tübingen, Germany) and Jürgen Baumert (Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany) published by Teaching and Teacher Education Volume 28 Issue 6 (August 2012)
Abstract
Motivations for preservice teachers’ choice of teaching as a career were investigated using the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice scale (FIT-Choice scale; Watt & Richardson, 2007 further information here).
This scale was initially developed and validated in the Australian context; our study applied it across international samples from Australia, the United States, Germany, and Norway.
Support for strong factorial invariance implied the scale functioned similarly, and could fruitfully be employed in different contexts. Sample comparisons revealed that motivations for teaching were more similar than they were different across these samples; whereas, perceptions about the teaching profession tended to reflect country differences.
Highlights
► First cross-cultural examination of teaching motivations using the FIT-Choice scale.
► Teaching motivations were similar in samples from Australia, US, Germany and Norway.
► Perceptions about the teaching profession tended to reflect country differences.
Abstract
Motivations for preservice teachers’ choice of teaching as a career were investigated using the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice scale (FIT-Choice scale; Watt & Richardson, 2007 further information here).
This scale was initially developed and validated in the Australian context; our study applied it across international samples from Australia, the United States, Germany, and Norway.
Support for strong factorial invariance implied the scale functioned similarly, and could fruitfully be employed in different contexts. Sample comparisons revealed that motivations for teaching were more similar than they were different across these samples; whereas, perceptions about the teaching profession tended to reflect country differences.
Highlights
► First cross-cultural examination of teaching motivations using the FIT-Choice scale.
► Teaching motivations were similar in samples from Australia, US, Germany and Norway.
► Perceptions about the teaching profession tended to reflect country differences.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Preventing young people from becoming NEET: A practical guide for headteachers
The NFER Research Programme: From Education to Employment
This short paper (PDF 8pp) provides bullet-point advice to head teachers in both primary and secondary schools as to what might help young people move successfully from education into employment.
Whilst written to meet the needs of teaching staff careers practitioners may find some of the points useful.
This short paper (PDF 8pp) provides bullet-point advice to head teachers in both primary and secondary schools as to what might help young people move successfully from education into employment.
Whilst written to meet the needs of teaching staff careers practitioners may find some of the points useful.
Friday, 3 July 2009
The Edgeless University: ...
... why higher education must embrace technology
This new report from the thinktank Demos has attracted a lot of comment in the blogosphere. The post that, to my mind, captures the essentials and explains the essentials of what this report covers is that from Brian Kelly (UK Web Focus).
Brian admits that he hadn't absorbed everything from the 90-page report when he wrote the post on the launch day and I have no doubt that the conversations will continue for quite a long time.
This new report from the thinktank Demos has attracted a lot of comment in the blogosphere. The post that, to my mind, captures the essentials and explains the essentials of what this report covers is that from Brian Kelly (UK Web Focus).
Brian admits that he hadn't absorbed everything from the 90-page report when he wrote the post on the launch day and I have no doubt that the conversations will continue for quite a long time.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Teaching intangibles with technology
via ICT Results Features
Teach students some facts, and they learn for one exam at a time. Teach students to think and they learn how to learn for the rest of their lives. Ambitious work from European and Israeli researchers is making it easier to help students learn to think for themselves. This is exciting stuff for teachers.
Monday, 29 December 2008
Turning to teaching: gender and career choice
an article by Andrea Raggl and Geoff Troman (School of Education, Froebel College, Roehampton University) in British Journal of Sociology of Education Volume 29 Issue 6 (November 2008)
Abstract
As the largest public sector institution in the United Kingdom, education is a key site for studying the context of “choice” and changes in the identities of professional workers in contemporary society. Recruitment and retention problems in education have led to the creation of new routes into teaching to attract career changers from other professions and occupations. In this paper we focus on career changers within the Economic and Social Research Council project “Primary Teacher Identity, Commitment and Career in Performative School Cultures” who have entered teaching from other private sector occupations. The authors analyse these career changes in terms of “turning points” in the participants’ lives in order to assess the extent to which choices are “self-initiated”, “forced” or “structural”. They are interested in the basis on which these choices were made and the impact of gender on career decisions.
Abstract
As the largest public sector institution in the United Kingdom, education is a key site for studying the context of “choice” and changes in the identities of professional workers in contemporary society. Recruitment and retention problems in education have led to the creation of new routes into teaching to attract career changers from other professions and occupations. In this paper we focus on career changers within the Economic and Social Research Council project “Primary Teacher Identity, Commitment and Career in Performative School Cultures” who have entered teaching from other private sector occupations. The authors analyse these career changes in terms of “turning points” in the participants’ lives in order to assess the extent to which choices are “self-initiated”, “forced” or “structural”. They are interested in the basis on which these choices were made and the impact of gender on career decisions.
Friday, 5 September 2008
A new IT curriculum is essential, says e-Skills
via Computing.co.uk Latest updates by Janie Davies on 27 August
UK IT education must change for young people to choose technology courses and careers, says the sector skills council.
Uninspiring curricula and a negative perception of IT are conspiring to turn students away from the subject and threaten the UK's ability to compete in the global economy, e-Skills UK has warned.
Read the full thought-provoking article
Hazel's comment:
Are we surprised? You might be but I'm not as I've just read an item about teachers not being able to keep up with all the new communication technologies. And not using them in their teaching.
UK IT education must change for young people to choose technology courses and careers, says the sector skills council.
Uninspiring curricula and a negative perception of IT are conspiring to turn students away from the subject and threaten the UK's ability to compete in the global economy, e-Skills UK has warned.
Read the full thought-provoking article
Hazel's comment:
Are we surprised? You might be but I'm not as I've just read an item about teachers not being able to keep up with all the new communication technologies. And not using them in their teaching.
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