Incorporating Engineering Into High School Algebra And Trigonometry: An Initiative Of The Georgia Tech Student And Teacher Enhancement Partnership (Step) Program

It was once suggested that beginning the study of freshman high school algebra is not totally unlike embarking upon the sea of matrimony. Both are milestones in one's life, involving opportunities for excitement, adventure, growth, and rich and lasting reward; but, nonetheless, both tend to necessitate some different approaches to problems, some new ways of thinking, and certainly, in more than a few cases, some amount of adjustment. Without intending to attach social implication to algebra, we as teachers cannot fail to recognize that the first exposure to high school algebra can be a foreboding experience to many elementary school graduates, particularly in the light of the statistical evidence for the high fatality rate of students taking algebra for the first time.

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“Plus” Work for “Plus” Pupils

The Arithmetic Teacher ◽

10.5951/at.6.5.0251 ◽

1959 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 251-256

Author(s):

Eunice Lewis ◽

Ernest C. Plath

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Binary System ◽

Sixth Grade ◽

Number System ◽

College Of Education ◽

Base Number ◽

High School Algebra ◽

Second Year ◽

The University

One plus one equals “10” for the members of a special arithmetic class at the University School, College of Education, Norman, Oklahoma. Of course, the members of this class were working with a number system of base two, commonly referred to as the binary system. Students also readily stated that three plus three equals “12” if the base is four. Changing the base number was not only fascinating to these highly talented fifth and sixth grade youngsters, but also provided a launching platform for the development of complicated formulas (patterns to them) which are normally developed in a second year high-school algebra course.

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Aspects of Teacher Discourse and Student Achievement in Mathematics

Journal for Research in Mathematics Education ◽

10.5951/jresematheduc.8.3.0195 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 195-204

Author(s):

Lyle R. Smith

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Student Achievement ◽

First Year ◽

Teacher Discourse ◽

High School Algebra ◽

Several Variables ◽

The Mean ◽

Achievement In Mathematics ◽

Algebra Class

Each of 20 high school algebra teachers taught a lesson on direct variation to one first-year algebra class. The students (N=455) had not previously been taught this topic in class. Before the lessons were taught, each teacher was given a list of lesson objectives. Immediately after each lesson, a posttest that focused on the lesson objectives was administered. The teachers were not shown the posttest before they taught their lessons. Correlations were found between the mean posttest scores for the classes and several variables pertaining to teacher discourse.

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