1,721,033 research outputs found
[email protected] 2020 PROJECT: A TEACHER TRAINING PATHWAY DURING THE COVID-19 HEALTH CRISIS IN ITALY
No full text“Ci deve essere qualche proprietà!” Proprietà delle potenze: contratto didattico e gender gap
No full textLe rilevazioni su larga scala nazionali e internazionali hanno mostrato che nella maggior parte delle nazioni i maschi ottengono risultati superiori rispetto alle femmine in matematica e, in Italia, si osserva uno dei divari maggiori. Nella presente ricerca vengono analizzati due quesiti INVALSI di grado 10 in cui vengono richieste manipolazioni algebriche di potenze con ugual base. L’analisi quantitativa, basata sul modello di Rasch, evidenzia un gap nella scelta di diverse opzioni; le interviste condotte in seguito in due classi dello stesso grado hanno fornito una chiave di lettura del fenomeno emerso in termini di contratto didattico
The Properties of Powers: Didactic Contract and Gender Gap
Full text linkNational and international large-scale assessments of mathematics show that, in most nations, males achieve better results than females and Italy is one of the countries with a greater gap. Many research studies in mathematics education have analysed this issue, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the sources and characteristics of this gap. This study focuses on a specific Grade 10 task that requires algebraic manipulations of powers with the same base. Item-level analysis enables the study of gender differences on specific content, before using the lenses of mathematics education theories to interpret macro-phenomena emergeing from standardized assessment results. The quantitative analysis, carried out using the Rasch statistical model, highlights a gender gap in favour of males in this task and, furthermore, a variance in choices of incorrect options between males and females; the interviews conducted provide a key to understanding this phenomenon in terms of didactic contract
Differenze di genere e misconcezioni nell’operare con le percentuali: evidenze dalle prove INVALSI
No full textInternational standardized assessments highlight the existence of gender differences in mathematics performances: male outperform female in many countries and in Italy this gap is remarkable. The results of Italian standardized assessment, called INVALSI test, confirm the existence and the importance of this gap. In this paper we examine three INVALSI items for Grade 10, similar in terms of mathematical content, item type and question intent. The quantitative analysis of each item, based on the Rasch Model, shows that male and female answers have distinctly different response behaviors, and these differences are similar in the three items. A pedagogical interpretation of the quantitative results led us to explain this gap in terms of a different influence of a specific misconception on males and females
Primitive Model of Partitive Division: A Replication of the Fischbein et al. Study
No full textWe present a replication study of one of the most renowned seminal works in the field of mathematics education, i.e., the Fischbein et al. (1985) study on implicit models of multiplication and division in solving word problems. The original instrument was administered to a sample of 902 grade 7 students, proposing some methodological variations. The discussion focuses on four items involving partitive division of integer numbers, and results are compared to the original study: the main results of the original study are confirmed, but we contribute further with considerations on the statistical significance of differences observed in item difficulty. Finally, through our new methodological approach, we broaden the results of the original study by analysing students’ behaviour on the basis of their general arithmetical problem-solving ability. Students with medium-level ability are more influenced by the primitive model than those with lower ability
A Teacher Training Project to Promote Mathematics Laboratory During the COVID-19 Health Crisis in Italy
Full text linkThe [email protected] project supported Italian teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic period, proposing activities based on the mathematics laboratory teaching method which are suitable for distance learning situations. The project resulted in the establishment of an online community of 1,500 teachers. In this paper we present an exploratory study based on an open-ended questionnaire assigned to teachers involved in the project, with the aim of analyzing the results of this training project in terms of mathematics teacher’s specialized knowledge. Results show that the project enriched teachers’ knowledge not only in terms of pedagogical content knowledge but also in mathematical knowledge
Beyond text comprehension: exploring items’ characteristics and their effect on foreign students’ disadvantage in mathematics
No full textNational and International standardized assessments have shown sharp differences between native and foreign students’ performance in both text comprehension and mathematics. Based on the data gathered yearly by the INVALSI (Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of Educational Systems) at the national level, we performed a two-step analysis: (1) a regression analysis was first performed to quantify the effect of students’ abilities in reading and text comprehension (and their interaction with students’ citizenship status) on mathematical ability, given a set of covariates; then, (2) a differential item functioning (DIF) analysis was performed to explore the differences between the students depending on their citizenship status. The analysis, performed from a pseudo-longitudinal perspective to account for possible variations in the relationship between citizenship and mathematical performance by age, involved students in grades five (primary school), six, and eight (lower-secondary school). The regression analysis confirmed the relationship between text comprehension and mathematical ability, but the differential item functioning (DIF) analysis individuated additional items, showing statistically significant differential functioning by citizenship status regardless of whether high or low reading demands were placed on students
The role of metaphors in interpreting students’ difficulties in operating with percentages: A mixed method study based on large scale assessment
Full text linkThe issue of students’ difficulties in processing operations with percentages has been addressed in several international research studies from a qualitative perspective. In this study, we analyze students’ difficulties on this topic, focusing on the transition from middle school to high school with a mixed methods research design. We focus on students’ responses in a specific task belonging to the Italian large-scale assessment analyzed through the Rasch model, and we deepen the task analysis thanks to interviews, which enlightened image schemas and metaphors underlying students’ reasoning. From the qualitative point of view, the Rasch model shows that students’ difficulties in dealing with percentages is a macrophenomenon that involves the higher levels of competences. From the qualitative point of view, the metaphoric approach outlines the image schemas that foster the correct conceptualization of percentage and those that hinder their correct learning and can be one of the possible causes of the emerging aforementioned macrophenomenon
The Didactic Contract to Interpret Some Statistical Evidence in Mathematics Standardized Assessment Tests
Full text linkIn this study we analyse results of Italian standardized tests in mathematics integrating quantitative analysis based on the Rasch Model and didactical interpretation. We use specific graphs to analyse the trend of each answer as function of the students' math ability. This approach led us to focus on specific items in which a wrong answer results particularly popular among medium/high level students and analyse this particular trend with the lenses of math education theories. The study reveals that these phenomena are particularly related to implicit and explicit rules governing classroom practices exist at all school levels and regard different mathematical content and skills
Dissipation function: Nonequilibrium physics and dynamical systems
Full text linkAn exact response theory has recently been developed within the field of Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics. Its main ingredient is known as the Dissipation Function, W. This quantity determines nonequilbrium properties like thermodynamic potentials do with equilibrium states. In particular, Ω can be used to determine the exact response of particle systems obeying classical mechanical laws, subjected to perturbations of arbitrary size. Under certain conditions, it can also be used to express the response of a single system, in contrast to the standard response theory, which concerns ensembles of identical systems. The dimensions of Ω are those of a rate, hence Ω can be associated with the entropy production rate, provided local thermodynamic equilibrium holds. When this is not the case for a particle system, or generic dynamical systems are considered, Ω can equally be defined, and it yields formal, thermodynamic-like, relations. While such relations may have no physical content, they may still constitute interesting characterizations of the relevant dynamics. Moreover, such a formal approach turns physically relevant, because it allows a deeper analysis of Ω and of response theory than possible in case of fully fledged physical models. Here, we investigate the relation between linear and exact response, pointing out conditions for the validity of the response theory, as well as difficulties and opportunities for the physical interpretation of certain formal results
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