2000 Annual Colloquium Journal on Research in
Mathematics and Science Education
Editorial
On the threshold of a new
century and a new millennium we scrutinize what have been done in the
educational research and where we are going as a mathematics and science
education research community. The Graduate School of Education students and
graduates being actively involved in their own professional development
experiment and investigate new research directions and the methods of
addressing research questions. Some outcomes of their efforts have been
presented in this issue of the Colloquium Journal.
The articles included in the
fourth issue of the Journal critically examine topics related to the
development of number sense in elementary school students, laboratory
activities in secondary science classrooms, assessment in elementary science
education and teacher pedagogical content knowledge.
The science laboratory is the
setting where students can be engaged in the process of investigation, inquiry
and verification of science concepts. Lisa Dana argues that laboratory activities based on student interaction
with materials and observation of phenomena are the means for developing students’
scientific thinking and understanding.
Rebekah Ravgiala discusses
pedagogical content knowledge of expert and novice teachers and their
subsequent performance. She addresses the nature of expertise in teaching, the
characteristics of alternative and traditional teachers
certification programs, and the significance of pedagogical content knowledge
in the training of prospective teachers.
The assessment reform movement
puts strong emphasis on the quality of assessment instruments as well as the
knowledge of those who use the instruments. Michelle Scibner-Maclean has examined the
assessment literacy levels of elementary teachers who utilized science kit. She
found that effective assessment is linked to effective overall teaching. The
evidence provided by her study indicates that experience in using assessment
kits is not enough to enable teachers to become assessment literate.
Jeff Todd is in the process of planning his study. He is
interested in how students generate written external representation and
understand these representations when they work in pairs. He will examine how
middle school students working in pairs on a non-routine problem use
inscriptions when solving problems together.
Our guest from
Bradford Allen, who received his Ed. D. in 1998 from the UML has continuously shared with his research interests and
findings. His article, published in the rubric Educational Resources, describes how to create a web course to
allow students the Internet access to syllabi, schedules, libraries and other
educational information.
All the
articles are the result of a scrupulous and thoughtful work, and contain
valuable information and insights about important aspects of educational
research. Many thanks to all contributors for their efforts
and support in the development of the Mathematics and Science Education
Doctoral Program.
Consider
submitting your manuscript to the next issue to advance the field and to
strength you writing skills.
Table of Contents
Pedagogical Content
Knowledge: Implications for Alternatively and Traditionally Trained Teachers
Rebekah Ravgiala,
Lisa Dana,
Ann Goodrow,
Michelle
Scribner-MacLean,
Pondering Students’ Genesis and Understanding of
Written External Representations Generated While Problem Solving in Pairs
Jeff Todd,
Bradford Allen, Florida Institute of
Technology