We're reaching back into the archives this week to bring back a fun one. WHAT IS A FLEEGLE? Jason and Scott will try and tell you!Jason Chamberlain and Scott Nielsen are a pair of Research Associates at the AIMS Center, they work together in our K-1 team studying how children of this age form their understanding of number concepts.  These two gave a Colloquium talk  on Monday February 26, 2018 (if you go watch the archive please note that we had a power outage for several minutes mid talk, but these two men kept right on rolling) that focused upon the Von Glasersfeldian concept of re-presentation as a portion of the process of understanding.  They join Chris in the studio to discuss this critical ability that all learners need to possess for deep conceptual understanding.  In their talk they take the attendees through an experience where we all built a concept of an object they called a Fleegle. 

The conversation in this podcast ranges across several topics but always returns to the main idea of learners needing to experience concepts so that they have a collection of those experiences to draw upon when they are asked to act upon that knowledge. The idea of collective understanding and the role of society in individual understandings is hinted at as well.

This week, Dr. Tiffany Friesen, one of our Senior Researchers, chats with Research Associates Jason Chamberlain and David Pearce about their recent presentation at the Early Math Symposium. They discuss the idea of subitizing and the important role it plays in students' construction of addition concepts.

Chris Brownell is still enjoying his Summer so Paul Reimer is guest hosting for us again this week.

This week we wrap up a quick 3-part series with our Early Math Team as they reflect on an opportunity they had to take their learning about Mathematical Play into the classroom. Hear how the kids engaged and some of the takeaways from their time.

Make sure to listen to Episodes 90 and 91 to get some context and understanding on the subject if you'd like to know more.

Chris Brownell is continuing to enjoy his well deserved vacation and stepping out from the shadows to host today is our producer, Chris Bennett.We continue our conversation about presentations that were given at the recent Early Math Symposium with Aileen and Liz. They gave teachers an opportunity to not only learn about the importance of play in their classrooms, but to experience examples of it for themselves. We discuss how teachers can incorporate play into their classrooms as well as how it might change the way they assess their students.

With Chris gone for the next few weeks at conferences, we're doing our best to fill his chair.

This week, Paul Reimer, one of our Senior Researchers, sits down with Jaclyn Russell and Wilma Hashimoto to discuss their presentation at the recent Early Math Symposium. They take the time to talk about their experiences with spatial reasoning in preschool classes and what brought them to put together a presentation about the importance of spatial reasoning and awareness for teachers in their classrooms.

In May 2018 FPU will graduate the first group of Master’s degree students, who have been scholarshipped by AIMS in the present manner.  During the Summer of 2018 we will be hearing from some of them on ZPC.

Chris is joined by Mr. Joseph Schuster who teaches mathematics in a small, rural, high school in Central California.  Joe completed his research this past academic year and graduated in May of 2018. He focused on the effects of first informing students of Georg Polya’s, Four Step Problem Solving Process, and then helping them to bring them to recollection while they are working though various problems in the curriculum. He conducted a quantitative study in which he assessed his students at the beginning and end of a period weeks of instruction. The assessment used was a validated and considered reliable Assessment of Student Attitudes Towards Mathematics battery. His results are reported here.

In May 2018 FPU will graduate the first group of Master’s degree students, who have been scholarshipped by AIMS in the present manner.  During the Summer of 2018 we will be hearing from some of them on ZPC.

Cassie Siesemore joins Chris via Zoom this week, there are some audio difficulties because of internet connection problems for this we apologize. Cassie recently conducted an active study in a classroom in which she attempted a Controlled experiment in which she taught students in a mode she characterizes as “Constructivist,” while another teacher maintained a more “traditional” approach. Both teachers taught a unit in the same content and topics, pre & post assessments were conducted and compared.

In May 2018 FPU will graduate the first group of Master’s degree students, who have been scholarshipped by AIMS in the present manner.  During the Summer of 2018 we will be hearing from some of them on ZPC.

Chris is joined by Laurie Duerksen via Zoom this week. Laurie recently graduated from FPU with her MA in Mathematics Education. Her thesis focused upon the impact of teacher “Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching,” a theory base championed by Dr. Debra Lowenburg Ball and Dr. Hyman Bass. It is specifically Dr. Ball who Laurie is referring to with the quote in the title. Laurie’s study focused upon conducting several Professional Development courses in which she narrowed her own focus to aspects of teacher content and pedagogical knowledge for teaching, and observed a noticeable improvement in teacher performance.

In May 2018 FPU will graduate the first group of Master’s degree students, who have been scholarshipped by AIMS in the present manner.  During the Summer of 2018 we will be hearing from some of them on ZPC.

David Pearce joins Chris in the studio this week to discuss his thesis work. David is a Research Associate at the AIMS Center and has been working with Kindergarteners all year to develop their sense of number. His thesis focused specifically on how students’ concepts can be enhanced through encouraging the use of counting on objects like their fingers. His results are encouraging to hear, and he is clearly convinced that this method is useful for furthering learning.

In May 2018 FPU will graduate the first group of Master’s degree students, who have been scholarshipped by AIMS in the present manner.  During the Summer of 2018 we will be hearing from some of them on ZPC.

 

Chris interviews Sandra Young today. Sandra’s thesis topic was inquiring about the use of Exploding Dots (a technique made popular by Dr. James Tanton and the Global Math Project www.explodingdots.org) to teach or enhance student understanding of the concept of Place Value. She describes her methodology, some findings and her conclusions. Interestingly enough, on top of the concept enhancement she did also notice expressions of enjoyment and joy in doing mathematics in her students; which is the primary focus of the Global Math Project.