Tag: M4 Transforming Education

Online Supplemental Learning

Online Supplemental Learning

Presenter: Zachary Taylor

Mentor: Carolyn Knox

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M4 Transforming Education

Location: Metolius Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

In this age of information, students and virtually anyone with access to a computer and the Internet have terabytes of valuable educational material at their fingertips. Yet, the current literature and formal educational practice has focused only on authoritative academic sources to determine the benefits of online learning. This study examines the potential of several widely used but non-academic websites as educational tools to help prepare high school and college students for coursework in various subjects. Building on Rand J. Spiro’s Cognitive Flexibility Theory of teaching ill-structured concepts in a hypermedia environment, video and text-based resources from websites such as YouTube and Wikipedia will be used to establish knowledge schema necessary for learners to assimilate new knowledge. In cooperation with the Center for the Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon, this study will describe and evaluate strategies for the use of these online resources as means to establish context and assist in students’ acquisition and comprehension of knowledge.

Real Math: Bringing Proof into the Classroom

Presenter: Zach Chalmers

Mentor: Chris Sinclair

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M4 Transforming Education

Location: Metolius Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

The study of mathematics is frequently an institutional requirement for all majors, which can drive pedagogy to focus on technical applications rather than the discipline itself. Mathematics is not exclusively the study of data manipulation; rather, it is a discipline that examines why we observe certain patterns and how to verify claims with certainty. It is this notion of mathematical rigor we suggest is currently lacking in lower-division undergraduate courses. This work intends to explore the possibility of improving proof-based mathematical learning within these undergraduate classes. We programmed interactive, web-based modules designed to introduce mathematic reasoning to first-year undergraduates. The plasticity of online media provided the ability to introduce a topic at the student’s own pace, providing exposure to proof-based mathematical ideas without requiring reorganization of curriculum. Initial testing consisted of optional participation in Calculus I modules, as well as extra-credit questions drawn from the modules on quizzes and exams. Participant and non-participant performance on exams and future courses will be recorded and used to further analyze the merit of this concept. While the small initial sample size limits broad conclusions from the existing data, results are promising, suggesting a positive correlation between participation in modules and overall scores. Future expansion to other lower-division courses and possible mandatory participation is planned.

Signaling for Attention: Mobility and Student Performance in United Way’s Promise Neighborhoods

Presenters: Neil Cronkrite and Ian O’Gorman

Mentor: Joe Stone

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M4 Transforming Education

Location: Metolius Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

A fixed effects linear leastsquares statistical regression model was used to explore the relationship between student academic performance and student mobility in the Bethel School District in Eugene, Oregon. Our United Way of Lane County, as struggled with student mobility as the organization refines its new Promise Neighborhoods project, aimed at distressed neighborhoods in Lane County. Student mobility may limit United Way’s ability to improve the educational and developmental outcomes of students. We use voter registration data to estimate total mobility in Lane County and in the Promise N4eighborhoods. We also use Bethel School District student transfer codes and statewide state test scores as data. Due to the structure of our data, we cannot draw a definitive conclusion regarding the direction of causality between mobility and learning. However, we can say with confidence that, at a minimum, there is a significant relationship between disruption to learning and high levels of mobility – a good starting point for United Way as they continue to explore mobility and refine its Promise Neighborhood project.