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Education Sciences
Special Issues
Innovations in Mathematics Education: Evaluation, Research and Practice
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Innovations in Mathematics Education: Evaluation, Research and Practice

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "STEM Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2024 | Viewed by 4481

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christopher R. Rakes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Department of Education, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
Interests: mathematics education; teacher knowledge; teacher preparation and professional development; education technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Robert N. Ronau

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Emeritus: College of Education and Human Development, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
Interests: mathematics education; education technology; STEM evaluation; professional development
Dr. Jon Saderholm

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Education Studies Department, Berea College, Berea, KY 40404, USA
Interests: STEM education; teacher preparation; program evaluation; STEM outreach

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Professional practice in mathematics education demands explicit attention to equity (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), 2018). Professional development discussions about equity might include systemic issues such as tracking. In classroom practice, the focus is on developing robust mathematics lessons that open the conceptual space for all students (e.g., increased student communication, multiple representations, climate of respect; Sawada et al., 2002) and providing instructional supports to ensure the success of all students (e.g., additional time; NCTM, 2018). Equitable, meaningful assessment is an indispensable component of classroom practice, for example, aligning expectations with assessments, providing multiple forms of assessment, giving high-quality and consistent feedback, consciously attending to the influence of biases and assumptions about student ability, and distinction of assessment from grades (Copur-Gencturk et al., 2020; Porter et al., 2007; Webb, 1997).

Teachers regularly carry out research in their classrooms (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012) and seek out research that is directly applicable to the classroom (Drill et al., 2012). Teachers may at the same time think of “research” as a hands-off activity with little connection to the classroom (Drill et al., 2012). Methods such as design-based research are especially useful to support partnerships between researchers and practitioners with a goal of generating outcomes that are both practical and contribute to theory (Anderson and Shattuck, 2012). Viewing research as a seamless component of professional practice adds access, richness and complexity to the process and has been shown to improve professional learning outcomes for teachers (e.g., Atay, 2008; Elliot, 1990; Savoie‐Zajc and Descamps‐Bednarz, 2007; Zeichner, 2003).

This Special Issue provides the opportunity to present original research and evaluation of mathematics education innovation. Research-to-practice articles are also highly valued. Potential themes for papers include (but are not limited to) some of the following:

  • Effective mathematics teaching through theoretical and conceptual framework foundations
  • Culturally relevant pedagogy in mathematics education
  • Student leadership in mathematics learning
  • Portraying mathematics phenomena through non-linguistic representations
  • Supporting special populations in mathematics
  • Building authentic mathematics connections
  • Engaging students through collaborative mathematics learning
  • Strengthening meta-cognition in mathematics
  • Promoting mathematical thinking and reasoning
  • Teaching mathematics through inquiry, discovery, experimentation, and simulation
  • Engaging students in technology explorations in mathematics
  • Assessment in mathematics education
  • Research and evaluation in mathematics education
  • Future directions in teacher research partnerships

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Christopher R. Rakes
Prof. Dr. Robert N. Ronau
Dr. Jon Saderholm
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mathematics education
  • professionalism
  • research
  • evaluation
  • research-to-practice

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2402 KiB  
Article
Interactive Homework: A Tool for Parent Engagement
by Laura Moore and Robert N. Ronau
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010103 - 17 Jan 2024
Viewed by 812
Abstract
Families have largely been excluded from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), reducing their ability to extend their child’s mathematics learning. CCSSM emphasizes different instructional elements (e.g., pictorial representations, problem solving, multiple strategies for solving) that may differ [...] Read more.
Families have largely been excluded from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), reducing their ability to extend their child’s mathematics learning. CCSSM emphasizes different instructional elements (e.g., pictorial representations, problem solving, multiple strategies for solving) that may differ greatly from how parents learned mathematics. In addition, many school officials have ineffectively engaged parents in the changes, further diminishing their capacity to participate in their child’s learning. This case study examined parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching, factors that influence the effectiveness of their engagement in their child’s mathematics learning. This study was also implemented to identify elements that the parent participant found helpful for their child’s mathematics learning. A thematic analysis was performed on the data sources, the interactive homework assignments, a survey, observations, a researcher’s journal, and an interview to conclude that the interactive homework assignments improved parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching. The parent participant also identified the assignments’ side-by-side examples, additional practice, and the easy access of the assignments as features of the intervention that enhanced her ability to support her child. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Mathematics Education: Evaluation, Research and Practice)
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13 pages, 891 KiB  
Article
Concrete–Representational–Abstract (CRA) Instructional Approach in an Algebra I Inclusion Class: Knowledge Retention Versus Students’ Perception
by Sherri K. Prosser and Stephen F. Bismarck
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 1061; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13101061 - 22 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1904
Abstract
Mathematical manipulatives and the concrete–representational–abstract (CRA) instructional approach are common in elementary classrooms, but their use declines significantly by high school. This paper describes a mixed methods study focused on knowledge retention and perceptions of students in a high school Algebra I inclusion [...] Read more.
Mathematical manipulatives and the concrete–representational–abstract (CRA) instructional approach are common in elementary classrooms, but their use declines significantly by high school. This paper describes a mixed methods study focused on knowledge retention and perceptions of students in a high school Algebra I inclusion class after a lesson on square roots using a novel algebra manipulative. Twenty-five students in a high school Algebra I inclusion class engaged in an interactive lesson on square roots paired with the manipulative to support their conceptual understanding. Participants completed a pretest, a post-treatment questionnaire, and a delayed post-test. The two-sample t test showed a significant difference in students’ pretest–post-test scores. However, conventional content analysis of the questionnaires showed that most students did not believe the CRA instructional approach supported their learning. Implications include increased use of manipulatives to teach abstract algebraic topics to support students’ conceptual understanding and destigmatizing the use of manipulatives in secondary mathematics classrooms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Mathematics Education: Evaluation, Research and Practice)
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20 pages, 2531 KiB  
Article
Building Mathematics Learning through Inquiry Using Student-Generated Data: Lessons Learned from Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles
by Christopher R. Rakes, Angela Wesneski and Rebecca Laws
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(9), 919; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090919 - 09 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1035
Abstract
This paper describes how plan-do-study-act cycles engaged a classroom mentor teacher and student teacher in a professional collaboration that resulted in two inquiry activities for high-school geometry classes. The PDSA cycles were carried out in four high school geometry classes, each with 30 [...] Read more.
This paper describes how plan-do-study-act cycles engaged a classroom mentor teacher and student teacher in a professional collaboration that resulted in two inquiry activities for high-school geometry classes. The PDSA cycles were carried out in four high school geometry classes, each with 30 to 35 students, in a mid-Atlantic urban school district in the U.S. The four geometry classes were co-taught by the second and third authors of this paper. The data consisted of classroom documents (e.g., activity prompts, tasks), classroom observations, student feedback about activities, and monthly PDSA reports. The PDSA cycles had a direct effect on the professional learning of the teachers. The resultant classroom activities used a data collection approach to engaging students in inquiry to learn about trigonometry functions and density. Student learning behaviors were noticeably improved during these activities compared with traditional mathematics instruction. We concluded that the data collection sequence provided an accessible entry point for students to begin scientific inquiry in mathematics. The process opened the conceptual space for students to develop curiosity about mathematical phenomena and to explore their own research questions. The use of culturally relevant topics was especially compelling to students, and the open-ended nature of these exploratory activities allowed students to see mathematics through their own cultural lenses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Mathematics Education: Evaluation, Research and Practice)
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