It is difficult to incorporate long term studies such as ecology into classroom settings. Discusses how to reach and download research center data available on the web. Recommends Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites for downloading and interpreting data. Explains the downloading procedure using a Netscape browser, and uses Excel and Lotus…

Identifies conceptions that students have with regard to the construction of graphs representing everyday situations in a computer learning environment using a GRAPHIC plotter, and examines the resistance of alternative conceptions to formal instruction. Following instruction, no significant improvement in students' performance was observed.…

Reports on a continuing investigation of intertextual networks. Describes how intertextual networks can be modeled as directed graphs and extends this to matrix representations. Discusses topological index values of these networks and speculates how topological index values might be used in the estimation of retrieval values in information…

In this article, we will describe the results of a study of 6th grade students learning about the mathematics of change. The students in this study worked with software environments for the computer and the graphing calculator that included a simulation of a moving elevator, linked to a graph of its velocity vs. time. We will describe how the…

The study explored how Grade 10 science students learned from scientific graphs. This paper explores (a) students' abilities to interpret graphical information; (b) students' abilities to represent information graphically; (c) factors that could impede the process of interpretation and construction of graphs among secondary school science…

We present a card trick that can be used to review or teach a variety of topics in discrete mathematics. We address many subjects, including permutations, combinations, functions, graphs, depth first search, the pigeonhole principle, greedy algorithms, and concepts from number theory. Moreover, the trick motivates the use of computers in…

Research on graphing presents its results as if knowing and understanding were something stored in peoples' minds independent of the situation that they find themselves in. Thus, there are no models that situate interview responses to graphing tasks. How, then, we question, are the interview texts produced? How do respondents begin and end…

We have concluded that teaching undergraduate students to use spreadsheet software to analyze, interpret, and communicate spreadsheet data through a graph is an information technology exercise in whole brain thinking. In investigating why our students have difficulty constructing proper graphs, we have discovered that graphing requires two…

Although the process of doing social network analysis (SNA) is similar to traditional research and evaluation design, it is in the details that the two traditions diverge. This article describes two areas of differences: (1) the framework for doing SNA; and (2) data collection, analysis, and specific measures. SNA is about relationships and how to…

Created by teachers for teachers, the Math Academy tools and activities included in this booklet were designed to create hands-on activities and a fun learning environment for the teaching of mathematics to the students. This booklet contains the "Math Academy--Play Ball! Explorations in Data Analysis & Statistics," which teachers can use to…

The Houston Community College (HCC) 2010-2011 Fact Book provides statistical information about the college district. It is important for the reader to be aware that data presented in this publication may differ slightly from statistics found in other district reports. Such variances may result from differences methodology including the source of…

This paper proposes a design framework for constructing Digital Rights Management (DRM) that enables learning objects in legal usage. The central theme of this framework is that any design of a DRM must have theories as foundations to make the maintenance, extension or interoperability easy. While a learning objective consists of learning…

Problems of scale typically arise when comparing test score trends, gaps, and gap trends across different tests. To overcome some of these difficulties, we can express the difference between the observed test performance of two groups with graphs or statistics that are metric-free (i.e., invariant under positive monotonic transformations of the…

The learning difficulties for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary education institution in the South Pacific were investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The instrument contained 25 items distributed across three themes: scientific reasoning, numeracy and scientific language literacy. The…

Statistical literacy is defined as "the ability to read and interpret data: the ability to use statistics as evidence in arguments. Statistical literacy is a competency: the ability to think critically about statistics" (Schield, p. 2). When a definition of statistical literacy is considered it can be seen that all students can manage a…