Computational Thinking (CT) skills are increasingly recognized as essential for junior high school students, especially in addressing the demands of the digital era. This study explores how CT skills--decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking--manifest in learning statistics based on students' cognitive abilities. A…

This study explored 1634 Chinese eighth-grade students' domain- and task-specific self-efficacy and its relationship to their problem-posing performance. In particular, the linear regression model, generalized additive model (GAM), and piecewise regression model (PRM) were used to detail the linear and non-linear relationships between these…

According to the conceptual framework for K-grade 12 statistics education introduced in the 2007 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) report, students can be located at one of three developmental levels of statistical literacy: A, B, or C. These levels are independent of age and grade level, so, in theory,…

The aim of this research is to describe and explore the statistical literacy of middle school students in solving the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) problems. This research utilized the qualitative approach, with the research type being descriptive-explorative. The research subjects consisted of 6 Grade 8 students…

Algebra is an area of pressing national concern around issues of equity and access in education. Recent theories and research suggest that personalization of instruction can allow students to activate their funds of knowledge and can elicit interest in the content to be learned. This paper examines the results of a large-scale teaching experiment…

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics calls for the concurrent development of mathematical skills and mathematical reasoning. What are the big ideas of mathematical reasoning and is it possible to map their learning trajectories? Using rich assessment tasks designed for middle-years students of mathematics, this symposium reports on the…

Statistics is taught in mathematics courses in all school levels. We suggest that using rich tasks in statistics can develop statistical reasoning and create both intra and interdisciplinary links in students. In this paper, we present three case studies where middle school mathematics teachers used different tasks in lessons on pie charts. We…

Research has suggested that different strategies used when solving fraction problems are highly correlated with students' problem-solving accuracy. This study (a) utilized latent profile modeling to classify students into three different strategic developmental levels in solving fraction comparison problems and (b) accordingly provided…

Since 1973, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about student achievement in mathematics. Results of these periodic assessments, produced in print and web-based formats, provide valuable information to a wide variety of audiences. They inform citizens about the nature of students' comprehension of the…

"University of Chicago School Mathematics Project" ("UCSMP") is a core mathematics curriculum that emphasizes problem solving, real-world applications, and the use of technology. The curriculum is based on a student-centered approach with a focus on active learning that incorporates reading and uses a flexible lesson…

Motivating middle school students to learn can be challenging. One proven method for doing so is through an integrated curriculum. Educational philosophers and curriculum theorists have long noted the benefits of an integrated curriculum, which recognizes that the subject areas within the curriculum are connected to one another and to the real…

Digital games offer an appealing environment for assessing student proficiencies, including skills and misconceptions in a diagnostic setting. This paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian network modeling approach for observations of student performance from an educational video game. A Bayesian approach to model construction, calibration, and use in…

This longitudinal study analyzes survey responses in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade from diverse public school students (n = 482) to explore gender differences in engineering and science career preferences. Females were far more likely to express interest in a science career (31%) than an engineering career (13%), while the reverse was true for…

This study examines the role of salient external factors (family, peer and school caring relations) and internal factors (goals and aspirations, problem solving and self-efficacy, empathy, and self-awareness) in protecting adolescents experiencing interpersonal problems and academic pressure from depression. A total of 1,297 eighth and ninth grade…

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra is a one-year course covering three primary topics: (1) linear and quadratic expressions, sentences, and functions; (2) exponential expressions and functions; and (3) linear systems. Topics from geometry, probability, and statistics are integrated with the appropriate algebra.…