Integrating applications and algebraic problem solving: Development and evaluation of a teacher education manual.

摘要

Mathematics teachers need appropriate and validated instructional resources and classroom activities that facilitate connecting and applying mathematics in hands-on problem-solving situations. The purpose of this study in teacher education was twofold. First, a teaching manual of copy-ready hands-on activities to integrate into high school mathematics courses was developed. The second part of the study involved the evaluation and validation of this manual.; The manual was constructed using activities from the CORD (Center for Occupational Research and Development) Applied Mathematics series. A laboratory activity reporting sheet was constructed for each of the selected activities. The manual also contains a correlation between the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Goals and Objectives for Pre-Algebra, Algebra IA, Algebra IB, and Algebra I and the objectives for the CORD Applied Mathematics units.; The evaluation of the manual was performed by two groups. The first group consisted of ten mathematics education specialists from across North Carolina who were provided a copy of the manual and the survey instrument to evaluate the manual. The second group consisted of fourteen mathematics teachers in North Carolina who participated in a week-long teacher development workshop. The focus of the workshop was on integrating the activities from the manual into Pre-Algebra and Algebra I. These teachers had at least one semester to utilize the activities from the manual before being interviewed by the investigator. The purpose of the interviews was to evaluate the usefulness of the manual as a resource for teacher development.; The evaluation of the teaching manual from the mathematics education specialists and workshop participants was favorable. Both groups consistently described the manual as an appropriate resource of activities for mathematics teachers to use in integrating applications into Algebra I. The laboratory activity reporting sheet was determined to be very useful in providing structure to the activity and a written record of each student's responses. The notebook format of copy-ready materials was also highly rated as a helpful feature of the manual.