Science and Mathematics Equity Issues at a Local School District Level

Many reports to the nation have revealed differences in the educational experiences of males and females. This is especially true in mathematics and science where females are not receiving the necessary educational background to develop the skills and understanding required to be citizens and employees in today's technological world. As a result, females are underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering professions. This study compares one school district's data with the data in national reports and then attempts to analyze what factors exist in the community and school district that reinforce and perpetuate inequitable situations for females. This study also provides a model for other school districts to conduct a self-study of gender equity education issues.     

Book review of Thinking Practices in Mathematics and Science Learning

The goal of this project, an animation-based tutor for algebra word problems, is to build instructional software to improve estimation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. In this study, we focused on the 2nd (task completion) module, which uses tank-filling problems in which the unknown variable is the time it will take to fill a tank. Students build on the answers to a simple (no leak) problem to estimate, and then calculate, answers to problems in which there is a leak in the bottom of the tank, a leak in the side of the tank, and a delay in starting one of the pipes. We evaluated the software in an intermediate algebra class consisting of a diverse group of students at a community college. We use the findings to discuss what works (estimation and the solution of the simpler problems) and to make recommendations on how to improve use of the decomposition method for solving the more complex problems.     

Mathematics Education as a Design Science

We propose re-conceptualizing the field of mathematics education research as that of a design science akin to engineering and other emerging interdisciplinary fields which involve the interaction of “subjects”, conceptual systems and technology influenced by social constraints and affordances. Numerous examples from the history and philosophy of science and mathematics and ongoing findings of M&M research are drawn to illustrate our notion of mathematics education research as a design sicence. Our ideas are intended as a framework and do not constitute a, “grand” theory (see Lester. 2005, this issue). That is, we provide a framework (a system of thinking together with accompanying concepts, language, methodologies, tools, and so on) that provides structure to help mathematics education researchers develop both models and theories, which encourage diversity and emphasize Darwinian processes such as: (a) selection (rigorous testing), (b) communication (so that productive ways of thinking spread throughout relevant communities), and (c) accumulation (so that productive ways of thinking are not lost and get integrated into future developments).     

The Integration of Science,Mathematics, and Technology in a Discipline-Based Culture

The culture of the middle years of schooling in Western Australia, as in many parts of the world, is predominantly discipline based. This paper focuses on exceptions to this norm by describing examples of integrated teaching of science, mathematics, and technology in seventh- to ninth-grade classrooms. Several different forms of integration were found in the 16 Western Australian schools examined in this study, including thematic approaches, cross-curricular approaches, technology-based projects, and local community projects. Interviews with teachers in these schools raised several implementation issues, including the process of getting started, implications for teachers and students, implications for schedule structure, and implications for departmental structure. All the forms of integration observed in this study were through secondary means, in which the discrete subject discipline boundaries were being maintained. The deep culture of subject disciplines, underwritten by curriculum documents organized in terms of subjects, means that there may be few incentives for teachers to teach and students to learn in an integrated manner.     

A Longitudinal Look at Attitudes and Perceptions Related to the Integration of Mathematics,Science, and Technology Education

The purpose of this study is to provide an in‐depth analysis of attitudes and perceptions related to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education of preservice teachers preparing to teach STEM disciplines. Longitudinal data by individual cohort and across 7 years of the Integrated Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MSAT) Program are reported, analyzed, and interpreted to help design and improve preservice teacher education programs and improve teaching and learning in STEM classrooms. Results of quantitative analyses indicate that there was generally no change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to the value of the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education—they clearly valued integration at the onset and at the completion of the program. However, there was a significant change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to integration feasibility in terms of inefficiency and difficulty. Implications for teacher education programs include: (a) more exposure to concepts, processes, and skills in STEM that are similar, analogous, complementary, or synergistic; (b) familiarity with instructional strategies and access to resources; (c) deeper understanding of content across STEM; and (d) strategies for collaboration and team work to make integrated instruction time more efficient and less difficult to manage.     

Wearing the Letter Jacket: Legitimate Participation in a Collaborative Science,Mathematics, Engineering,and Technology Education Reform Project

This study examines one NSF‐funded Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation and describes the complexities of such a science education reform effort. A theoretical model based in community, culture, and identity is used to address key questions: How did institutional ideologies, structures, policies, and practices influence the Collaborative's success? What unique problems were associated with the university and school partnership? How did K‐12 teachers' participation affect their development and the success of the Collaborative? Findings indicate that though K‐12 participants were deemed as “pedagogy experts” and shared the inquiry‐based culture espoused in the Collaborative, they felt both as project insiders and outsiders. This was due to issues of status between university faculty and K‐12 teachers; teachers' less‐than‐active role in the Collaborative; and the constraints and narrow focus that resulted from long‐established institutional, social, and political structures and that marginalized, delegitimized, excluded, and proved unattractive to teachers.     

Mathematics and Science Integration: Models and Characterizations

The squeeze on instructional time and other factors increasingly leads educators to consider mathematics and science integration in an effort to be more efficient and effective. Unfortunately, the need for common understandings for what it means to integrate these disciplines, as well as the need for improving disciplinary knowledge, appears to continue to be significant obstacles to an integrated approach to instruction. In this study we report the results of a survey containing six instructional scenarios administered to thirty-three middle grades science and math teachers. Analysis of teacher responses revealed that while teachers applied similar criteria in their reasoning, they did not possess common characterizations for integration. Furthermore, analysis suggested that content knowledge serves as a barrier to recognizing integrated examples. Implications for professional development planners include the need to develop and provide teachers with constructs and parameters for what constitutes mathematics and science integration. Continued emphasis on improving teacher content knowledge in both mathematics and science is also a prerequisite to enabling teachers to integrate content.