The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions and self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students towards mathematical connections before and after the process in a learning environment prepared in the context of connections with different disciplines and including modeling tasks. An embedded experimental mixed method design was used in…

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the model method is effective to assist primary students to solve word problems. The model method not only provides students with an opportunity to interpret the problem by drawing the rectangular bar but also helps students to visually represent problem situations and relevant relationships on the…

Using meta-analytic techniques this study examined the effects of applying mathematical modelling to support student math knowledge acquisition at the high school and college levels. The research encompassed experimental studies published in peer-reviewed journals between January 1, 2000, and February 27, 2013. Such formulated orientation called…

This article explores integrating place-based education with critical mathematics toward teaching mathematics for spatial justice. "Local Lotto," a curricular module with associated digital tools, was designed to investigate the lottery as a critical spatial phenomenon and piloted in urban high schools. This article describes findings…

This teaching experiment provided students with continuous engagement in a problem-solving based instructional approach during one mathematics unit. Three sections of sixth-grade mathematics were sampled from a school in Florida, U.S.A. and one section was randomly assigned to experience teaching through problem solving. Students' problem-solving…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of physics lessons that are taught through mathematical modelling on conceptual understanding and operational achievements of prospective science teachers in one and two dimensional motions. Through a quasi-experimental design "operational achievement test" (OAT) and "conceptual…

Mathematical modeling and directed learning groups were employed in a terminal mathematics course to encourage university students to conceptualize real-world mathematics problems. Multiple assessments were utilized to determine whether students' conceptual development is enhanced by participating in directed learning groups conducted in a…

Critical to many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career paths is mathematical modeling--specifically, the creation and adaptation of mathematical models to solve problems in complex settings. Conventional standardized measures of mathematics achievement are not structured to directly assess this type of mathematical…

A two-step procedure is developed for the analysis of pretest-posttest data. Nonlinear canonical correlation analysis is followed by covariance analysis of optimally scaled pretest and posttest measures. The procedure is available in the computer program CANALS. Advantages of the two-step procedure are discussed. (SLD)

The reliability of residual scores created in the analysis of covariance in pretest-posttest designs, adjusted for a singe covariate, is compared with that of simple difference scores as relevant parameters vary. Little gain in reliability is created by analysis of covariance, which also suffers from reliability problems. (SLD)

The purpose of this study was to determise the relative loss in statistical power of traditional methods of analysis when response-shift bias is present. Five methods of analysis (posttest scores only; postminus pretests; postminus retrospective pretest; postcovaried by pretest; postcovaried by retrospective pretest) were compared. (Author/BW)

The measurement of change in quasi-experimental educational research was discussed. Problems related to measuring change exist to varying degrees in all research designs; these issues are less troublesome in experimental studies because the investigator can manipulate the interest variables and observe their effects on other variables. Measuring…

Viewing the reliability for criterion-referenced tests as that of mastery classification decisions, three models for determining reliability were examined using two test administrations so that two estimates could be compared to a standard. A major purpose of the research was to determine how several reliability coefficients (coefficient kappa, an…

The four main approaches to measuring treatment effects in schools; raw gain, residual gain, covariance, and true scores; were compared. A simulation study showed true score analysis produced a large number of Type-I errors. When corrected for this error, this method showed the least power of the four. This outcome was clearly the result of the…

The role that measurement error plays in the regression effect is discussed with particular reference to the RMC models for evaluating the effects of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I programs. The norm referenced evaluation model assumes a theory of growth where the relative ranking of students remains the same from pretest to posttest…