Teacher Education
N. Faramarzpoor; M.R. Fadaii
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Mathematics is one of the courses that is contained in the curriculum for students in all fields. One of the concerns of educators and math teachers is that middle school mathematics students have many problems when faced with algebraic topics. In Iran, all students need to ...
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Background and Objectives: Mathematics is one of the courses that is contained in the curriculum for students in all fields. One of the concerns of educators and math teachers is that middle school mathematics students have many problems when faced with algebraic topics. In Iran, all students need to study algebra and teachers must help them build a deep and lasting understanding and skills for high school math. Hence, an important goal for teachers is to be aware of the mistakes in order to help students to understand concepts and procedures correctly. However, unfortunately, some teachers do not have enough knowledge to identify and correct the existing mistakes and their origin. So perhaps recognizing mistakes and their origins and informing teachers about these mistakes can help students succeed in learning algebra. Thus, the purpose of this research was to investigate the students' mistakes in simplifying the algebraic expressions and finding the origin of making such mistakes from the mathematics teachers’ viewpoint. Methods: This research is one of an “applied research” type and due to its purpose is considered as “qualitative research”. The research sample includes 14 math teachers of the middle school of Kerman province with teaching experience between 12 to 29 years who were selected by the targeted sampling method. Because teachers who had experience teaching algebra in middle school had to be selected. To collect the data, we first designed a test about simplifying algebraic expressions for eighth-grade students and extracting erroneous cases, through a semi-structured interview with math teachers. The qualitative content analysis method was used for data analysis. Findings: The findings of this research showed that from the viewpoint of mathematics teachers, 22 types of mistakes were made by students of middle school when simplifying algebraic expressions including exponentiation, positive and negative sign, addition, subtraction, multiplication of integers, conjoining, a variable related operating, use of brackets, similar terms, and the order of operations. The findings also showed that teachers believe that the causes of students' mistakes in simplifying algebraic expressions are as follows: The lack of understanding, misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of concepts such as variables, exponent, brackets, and similar terms; ignoring of algebraic symbols; students' self-made rules in dealing with exponent and brackets; interference of previously learned algebraic concepts with current learning and vice versa; and incorrect calculation of addition, subtraction, and multiplication of integers, causes making mistakes when simplifying algebraic expressions. Conclusion: Today, students are no longer isolated in a desert where the math teachers are the oasis of knowledge, but rather floating in an ocean of information. However, teachers are still needed to help them understand algebra in a meaningful way. In algebra, the concepts are formed hierarchically and the learning of each concept depends on the students' understanding of the prerequisite concepts, so, if teachers attend the algebra class fully aware of the reasons for students' mistakes, they attempt to make the prerequisite concepts understandable to the students correctly, and without any misunderstandings and errors. This helps students to make fewer mistakes in solving algebraic problems, increase their self-confidence, and ultimately, perform better.
Architecture
F. Abbaszadeh Diz; H. Rashid Kolvir; A. Rezaeisharif
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the important and influential issues of research is recognizing the components of the physical environment of schools as learning process can be influenced by the physical environment of the school. Paying attention to the architectural features of school buildings, ...
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Background and Objectives: One of the important and influential issues of research is recognizing the components of the physical environment of schools as learning process can be influenced by the physical environment of the school. Paying attention to the architectural features of school buildings, among other features, can be achieved by creating schools with successful students. What is commonly known today as the physical model of the school are the classrooms that are continuously connected through the corridor, and this pattern of building schools as a pattern continues. If the learning environment, whether classroom or school, is designed in such a way that students are the center of activity, it provides a very good ground for increasing students' interest in the school environment. In the collaborative learning method that is the goal of the research, students are placed in such an environment and engage in collaborative activity. The purpose of this study was to identify the physical environment components of schools with a participatory learning approach. Methods: This applied research is of descriptive-analytical type. The statistical population of the study was male middle school students in Tabriz. 356 male middle school students were randomly selected from four schools in different parts of the city. The data were analyzed by one-sample t-test and chi-square test. Findings: The results showed that the satisfaction of the physical environment in all four studied schools was low and the tendency for the environments in which the students could participate was very high. It can be deduced that the more the physical environment of the school has favorable conditions for participatory learning, the higher the level of satisfaction and interest in learning in students are, and also education and training take place properly. Conclusion: The results showed that the elements of physical environment such as furniture, green space, color, and space geometry are among the most important factors in learning, especially learning and cooperative activity in schools, which can have a significant effect on students’ satisfaction and their presence with enthusiasm at school. One of the suggestions of the present study is to design suitable and efficient spaces according to the aesthetic and psychological principles as well as the use of collaborative learning method for lecture-based teaching.