Spatial intelligence is deeply related to success in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math) yet teachers are unaware of the concept. This paper reports on a teacher, researcher, and designer collaboration focused on translating research shown to improve spatial thinking practice. This translation is supported through a spatial “toolkit” of activities designed to raise...

In the last years many mathematical software applications, that provide powerful tools for both numerical and symbolic calculations, have been developed. Although computer programs like Matlab, Mathematica or Maple are widely used in Lab classes at the university, they are seldom used as tools for teaching at university level. Also many dynamic geometry programs as Sketchpad or Cabri were devel...

For a three-year time period beginning in 2001, North Carolina awarded an annual bonus of $1800 to certified math, science and special education teachers working in public secondary schools with either high-poverty rates or low test scores. Using longitudinal data on teachers, we estimate hazard models that identify the impact of this differential pay by comparing turnover patterns before and a...

In this article the authors compare two phases of an ongoing, annual online peer observation project at the Open University. Adopting a non-managerialist approach, the project aims to give teachers a renewed sense of collegiality, allowing them to take responsibility for aspects of their professional development and share practice points. While the first phase focused on a single discipline gro...

In this paper we propose a new electronic whiteboard system for teaching fractions, a fundamental math topic that is often problematic for students. A field interview with an elementary school teacher and an examination of a math textbook that is common in Japanese public schools produced a set of usage scenarios that motivated our tool. The result, FractionSketch, allows teachers to sketch sha...

In this work we describe an architecture that supports the composition of web based lesson plans for math based on a database of fine grained mathematical components. Lessons can be tailored for different communities of users. For this research, the principal target community of users is middle school mathematics teachers. Our goal is to build a web accessible resource of pedagogical material f...

Effective art integration in K-12 curricula has clear benefits for classroom teachers (i.e. student achievement on standardized tests, student engagement, improving critical thinking). This paper proposes a framework based off of Claudia Cornett's levels of art integration. Teaching With About and In Through (WAIT) the arts can serve as a model for teachers who want to transform their science l...

The theory of problem posing in mathematics education suggests that there are motivational and cognitive benefits for students from creating their own problems, yet such activities are not typically integrated into the traditional classroom. A field study was conducted to learn if middle school students (N = 224) could successfully create math and science problems using a web-based content-auth...