Internet Research for TechQuest
TechQuest Internet Research
Joyce Valenza stresses that students could immensely benefit from understanding how to utilize Boolean operators, and from realizing that “searching is an interactive and recursive process” (Valenza, 3). Through searching for resources that would aid me in implementing my techquest project, I was reminded of the complications and value of searching for the “best information”.
First, I began a search that would support the educational need that my project is hinged upon. Given that I would need scholarly information on the stark contrast between math academics in high school and college, I immediately began to search through the Michigan State University electronic resources. ProQuest led me to several rich resources, but required some thinking outside of the box. I searched for “college mathematics”, “high school mathematics”, “deficiency in mathematics”, “math fundamentals”, “study on high school math”, and utilized several Boolean operators to garner as many articles as I could.
One of the resources that I located was a study conducted by Nancy Kilian, a doctoral candidate from Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Kilian conducted a study on the tendencies of incoming freshman attempting to meet the college mathematics requirement. She concluded that there is a strong increase in the number of students taking math remediation courses, which prepare students for college-level courses “by learning basic concepts that should have been attained at the high school level” (Kilian, 13). According to Kilian, this placement immediately has a negative effect on student self-efficacy, as students begin to doubt their capabilities and have a higher dropout rate than student placed in higher mathematics courses (Kilian, 17).
ProQuest also supplied me with an article published by the New York Beacon, entitled “Study Shows Gap Between High School, College Expectations”. The article stated that the cause of the gap was a divergence in pedagogy; “college instructors rate a rigorous understanding of math fundamentals as being more important than brief exposure to advanced content” (Study).
These articles demonstrated to me the importance of hammering the fundamentals into my students. Furthermore, these articles showed to me the value of databases. Databases are superb resources when attempting to locate formal articles regarding research and theory. However, when I turned my focus to searching for resources that would directly aid my implementation of blogs and StAIRs, databases were not as giving.
Again, I attempted to use Boolean operators and several different phrases to yield resources, however I found “stand alone instructional resources” to be unrecognized by several different search engines. Resources on blogs were plentiful, however I was unable to find one that connected to teaching mathematics. I was able to locate one article from a database after my search evolved into a broader exploration for information on how to teach mathematics online.
Lexus Nexus led me to an article by Heather McClean. McClean interviews Tom Barrett, a veteran teacher who is a strong proponent of implementing mathematics computer games into the curriculum. Barrett states that “gaming is the simplest way to keep the students’ attention” (McClean). This demonstrated to me that creating hyperlinks to gaming sites could really draw the students to additional practice. Aside for this article, I was unable to find any other articles from the electronic resources that provided guidance on how to teach mathematics via the internet. Thus, I turned to more informal search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.
Google led me to a very valuable article from the Rochester Institute of Technology, entitled “Teaching Math Online”. A RIC faculty member, Tim Gilbert states that one of the issues that arises when taking a class to an online environment is that educators cannot perceive the visual cues from students when they misunderstand a complex concept (Teaching Math Online). Although tutoring will still not entirely consists of online individual work, I must take this into account. When creating resources on the website I need to provide immediate feedback, and offer several different alternative methods for students to learn complex concepts. Tim Gilbert additionally recommends that “examples have to be typed up and supported in great detail” (Teaching Math Online). No matter how simply I perceive the problems, it is imperative that I give an in-depth explanation of each step. Tim Goodwill, another RIC faculty member states that it is vital to make sure the content is “clear and concise” since follow up questions cannot be answered immediately (Teaching Math Online). This is another feature I will need to keep in mind when constructing the site.
Google additionally led me to a website entitled “The Future of Math”, which gave recommendations on ways to implement blogs for mathematics. The site recommended using blogs to give students writing prompts (The Future of Math). Having the students write sentences about how they are solving problems could definitely instill in them the processes of certain problems. The site also recommended using links and digital images on the blog (The Future of Math). This would be a great way for me to draw in the dynamic software program Geogebra. Students could follow the link to the site and create and post graphs. This would certainly engage the students. Lastly, this site presented a caveat. It suggested that you as the teacher must control all of the comments being posted on the blogs (the Future of Math). This seems like a tedious task, however simply accepting comments a few times a session can prevent cyber-bullying, and can exclude incorrect posts that may confuse students.
Via Yahoo I was able to locate several gaming sites that Tom Barrett would approve of. Cool Math, and Math Playground were the two most valuable website that I located.
This research reminded me of the benefits and pitfalls of search engines. Through the use of Boolean operators I was able to locate some very beneficial scholarly articles which detailed research on the current mathematics gap between high school and college. However, my search via ProQuest and LexusNexus for informal tips on educating students online was a failure. Next time I would consider more carefully what I am looking for. Research and scholarly articles are copious in databases. However, if I am looking for suggestions from other teachers, I should not be afraid to turn to more informal search engines. Google and Yahoo provided me with great resources from other educators.
Work Cited
"Classroom Blogs." http://futureofmath.misterteacher.com/classroom_blogs.html. Future of Math. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
Kilian, N.. Self-efficacy and remediation of higher education mathematics students. Ed.D. dissertation, Oklahoma State University, United States -- Oklahoma. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Dissertations & Theses: A&I.(Publication No. AAT 3387627).
McClean, Heather (19 Jan 2010). Do the maths: Technology/Comment/Resources: It's a
numbers game: Computer games are just one way technology can transform potentially
dry subjects into relevant and engaging experiences. Guardian NewsPrint Supplement;
Pg. 6
Study shows gap between high school, college expectations. (2007, April 12). New York Beacon, p. 34. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). (Document
ID: 1269724761).
"Teaching Math Online." http://online.rit.edu/about/newsletter/one_article.cfm?which=70. Rochester Institute of Technology. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
Valenza, j (2006 :2) Web 2.0 meets information fluency. Joyce Valenza’s
NeverEnding Search, blog. http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org/tag/informationfluency/
Joyce Valenza stresses that students could immensely benefit from understanding how to utilize Boolean operators, and from realizing that “searching is an interactive and recursive process” (Valenza, 3). Through searching for resources that would aid me in implementing my techquest project, I was reminded of the complications and value of searching for the “best information”.
First, I began a search that would support the educational need that my project is hinged upon. Given that I would need scholarly information on the stark contrast between math academics in high school and college, I immediately began to search through the Michigan State University electronic resources. ProQuest led me to several rich resources, but required some thinking outside of the box. I searched for “college mathematics”, “high school mathematics”, “deficiency in mathematics”, “math fundamentals”, “study on high school math”, and utilized several Boolean operators to garner as many articles as I could.
One of the resources that I located was a study conducted by Nancy Kilian, a doctoral candidate from Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Kilian conducted a study on the tendencies of incoming freshman attempting to meet the college mathematics requirement. She concluded that there is a strong increase in the number of students taking math remediation courses, which prepare students for college-level courses “by learning basic concepts that should have been attained at the high school level” (Kilian, 13). According to Kilian, this placement immediately has a negative effect on student self-efficacy, as students begin to doubt their capabilities and have a higher dropout rate than student placed in higher mathematics courses (Kilian, 17).
ProQuest also supplied me with an article published by the New York Beacon, entitled “Study Shows Gap Between High School, College Expectations”. The article stated that the cause of the gap was a divergence in pedagogy; “college instructors rate a rigorous understanding of math fundamentals as being more important than brief exposure to advanced content” (Study).
These articles demonstrated to me the importance of hammering the fundamentals into my students. Furthermore, these articles showed to me the value of databases. Databases are superb resources when attempting to locate formal articles regarding research and theory. However, when I turned my focus to searching for resources that would directly aid my implementation of blogs and StAIRs, databases were not as giving.
Again, I attempted to use Boolean operators and several different phrases to yield resources, however I found “stand alone instructional resources” to be unrecognized by several different search engines. Resources on blogs were plentiful, however I was unable to find one that connected to teaching mathematics. I was able to locate one article from a database after my search evolved into a broader exploration for information on how to teach mathematics online.
Lexus Nexus led me to an article by Heather McClean. McClean interviews Tom Barrett, a veteran teacher who is a strong proponent of implementing mathematics computer games into the curriculum. Barrett states that “gaming is the simplest way to keep the students’ attention” (McClean). This demonstrated to me that creating hyperlinks to gaming sites could really draw the students to additional practice. Aside for this article, I was unable to find any other articles from the electronic resources that provided guidance on how to teach mathematics via the internet. Thus, I turned to more informal search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.
Google led me to a very valuable article from the Rochester Institute of Technology, entitled “Teaching Math Online”. A RIC faculty member, Tim Gilbert states that one of the issues that arises when taking a class to an online environment is that educators cannot perceive the visual cues from students when they misunderstand a complex concept (Teaching Math Online). Although tutoring will still not entirely consists of online individual work, I must take this into account. When creating resources on the website I need to provide immediate feedback, and offer several different alternative methods for students to learn complex concepts. Tim Gilbert additionally recommends that “examples have to be typed up and supported in great detail” (Teaching Math Online). No matter how simply I perceive the problems, it is imperative that I give an in-depth explanation of each step. Tim Goodwill, another RIC faculty member states that it is vital to make sure the content is “clear and concise” since follow up questions cannot be answered immediately (Teaching Math Online). This is another feature I will need to keep in mind when constructing the site.
Google additionally led me to a website entitled “The Future of Math”, which gave recommendations on ways to implement blogs for mathematics. The site recommended using blogs to give students writing prompts (The Future of Math). Having the students write sentences about how they are solving problems could definitely instill in them the processes of certain problems. The site also recommended using links and digital images on the blog (The Future of Math). This would be a great way for me to draw in the dynamic software program Geogebra. Students could follow the link to the site and create and post graphs. This would certainly engage the students. Lastly, this site presented a caveat. It suggested that you as the teacher must control all of the comments being posted on the blogs (the Future of Math). This seems like a tedious task, however simply accepting comments a few times a session can prevent cyber-bullying, and can exclude incorrect posts that may confuse students.
Via Yahoo I was able to locate several gaming sites that Tom Barrett would approve of. Cool Math, and Math Playground were the two most valuable website that I located.
This research reminded me of the benefits and pitfalls of search engines. Through the use of Boolean operators I was able to locate some very beneficial scholarly articles which detailed research on the current mathematics gap between high school and college. However, my search via ProQuest and LexusNexus for informal tips on educating students online was a failure. Next time I would consider more carefully what I am looking for. Research and scholarly articles are copious in databases. However, if I am looking for suggestions from other teachers, I should not be afraid to turn to more informal search engines. Google and Yahoo provided me with great resources from other educators.
Work Cited
"Classroom Blogs." http://futureofmath.misterteacher.com/classroom_blogs.html. Future of Math. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
Kilian, N.. Self-efficacy and remediation of higher education mathematics students. Ed.D. dissertation, Oklahoma State University, United States -- Oklahoma. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Dissertations & Theses: A&I.(Publication No. AAT 3387627).
McClean, Heather (19 Jan 2010). Do the maths: Technology/Comment/Resources: It's a
numbers game: Computer games are just one way technology can transform potentially
dry subjects into relevant and engaging experiences. Guardian NewsPrint Supplement;
Pg. 6
Study shows gap between high school, college expectations. (2007, April 12). New York Beacon, p. 34. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). (Document
ID: 1269724761).
"Teaching Math Online." http://online.rit.edu/about/newsletter/one_article.cfm?which=70. Rochester Institute of Technology. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
Valenza, j (2006 :2) Web 2.0 meets information fluency. Joyce Valenza’s
NeverEnding Search, blog. http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org/tag/informationfluency/
Labels: boolean operators, fundamentals, Internet Research TechQuest, mathematics
posted by Brian Ericson at
9:37 AM
2 Comments:
Some really worthwhile research Brian. Like you I came across the pitfalls of searching through search engines that I was unfamiliar with and spend copious amounts of time trying to find like for like project. Your project looks well set out and ready to go. I think it will be quite difficult to monitor every blog entry unless you go down the road of 'buying into' a maths progam that gives immediate feedback and is self sufficient. I am with you on considering exactly what to be looking for but it looks like you have a good solid project.
Great research and yes, my research took triple the time I thought it would because I was exploring new search engines and sites as well. After conducting my research I actually changed my project focus to using a purchased math program because of the assessment tools it provided. Of course, I am now writing mine as a project for funding in the future so I am curious to see your feed back on this. Good job and good resources!
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