Donna Alford
Patty Benitez
-Harold Wiggs Middle School
Martha Costanzo
-Richardson Middle School
Julio Escajeda
-Henderson Middle School
Rosa Loya
-Magoffin Middle School
Richard O’Malley
-Canyon Hills Middle School

University mentors: Dr. Art Duval, Lien Diaz, Mariano Silva

Investigation of Collegial Campus-Based Professional Development and Teacher Isolation in Conceptual Mathematics Classes at Predominantly Mexican-American Populated Middle Schools
The focus of this project was to determine how teachers react to lesson study as a staff development model that they help construct. Lesson study is a professional development process in which teachers work collaboratively on planning, teaching, observing, and critiquing a small number of "study lessons." In this project, six teachers engaged in lesson study to implement the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP; a conceptually-based curriculum) in seventh-grade math classrooms. Two teachers implementing CMP in their classrooms, but not engaging in lesson study, were included in the project for comparison. All teachers will participate in interviews and assessments of their pedagogical content knowledge. Also, students in all teachers' classrooms will be administered pre- and post-assessments on problem solving. Lesson study teachers reported greatest satisfaction with critical reflection on lessons, as in one case where they revised a lesson on probability based on observational evidence of students' thinking processes.

Maria Luisa Arroyo
Leslie Gardner
El Dorado High School

University mentor: Dr. Eric Hagedorn

Creating a Scientific Community Using Local Ecological Awareness
This project was developed with the goal of increasing students' interest in science as well as to educate them and their community about the science around them and how it affects them on a personal level. Participants (n = 129) include seventh, eighth, and ninth graders who are involved with the development of a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem within their school. The campus ecosystem will serve as an outdoor classroom in which students will develop scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills. Before beginning the ecosystem project, participants completed a survey to assess their attitudes toward science based on their past experiences with learning science. Results showed the survey measured multiple factors, corresponding to the variety of science learning experiences the participants have had. Participants' interest in science has increased with engagement in activities such as the production of a lab manual and websites pertaining to the Chihuahuan Desert.

*Antonio Borunda
Bowie High School

University mentors: Dr. Eric Hagedorn, Eva de la Riva, Dr. Sally Blake, Dr. Mourat Tchoshanov, Dr. Kastro Hamed

Implementation of a Balanced Conceptual and Procedural Curriculum at a Predominantly Hispanic High School to Improve Performance on the State-Mandated Algebra End of Course Exam
This project examines the influence of the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) on ninth grade algebra classes at a predominantly Hispanic high school. CMP is a middle school curriculum that balances procedural and conceptual approaches to mathematics instruction. Participants (n = 122) were enrolled in Algebra I or ESL Algebra I classes. In a quasi-experimental design, participants were taught using either a traditional or CMP curriculum and were administered content pre- and post-tests. Because the data differed from normality, non-parametric statistics were used to compare pre- and post-tests within and across the different groups. Results show that students taught using the CMP curriculum performed as well as or better than those taught using the traditional curriculum.

Alex Bustillos
Susan Spotts
Harold Wiggs Middle School

University mentors: Dr. Sally Blake, Dr. Mourat Tchoshanov

The Influence of Developmental Levels of Thinking on the Understanding of Advanced Mathematical Concepts among Middle School Students
Data from mathematics, science, and engineering majors at the University of Texas at El Paso show that 36% of high school graduates and first-year students were placed in college pre-calculus courses, but only 15% were placed in calculus courses. One reason for this is that few students take a calculus course in high school. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2003) shows that only 10-12% of high school students take calculus. This percentage drops significantly for minorities: only 3-4% of Hispanic high school students take calculus. Participants (n = 120) included sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who are predominantly Hispanic (98%) and socio-economically disadvantaged (85%). Participants engaged in a series of activities to learn about the calculus concepts of limit, derivative, and rate of change. Pre- and post-tests were administered to assess conceptual understanding at each grade level. Results showed a significant gain of knowledge on all three calculus concepts for all grade levels.

*Michael Garcia
*Susan Spotts
Harold Wiggs Middle School

University mentors: Dr. Sally Blake, Dr. Mourat Tchoshanov

Investigation of Conceptual and Procedural Based Curricula among Seventh Grade Students at a Predominantly Hispanic Middle School
Controversy has long reigned concerning the “best” approach for teaching mathematics to all students, but particularly to “high risk” populations. Mathematics pedagogy grounded in Vygotskian theory approaches mathematics as a conceptual system rather than as a collection of discrete procedures. It involves intense coverage of advanced topics that in the United States are typically reserved for students in schools at higher socioeconomic levels. Participants (n = 182) were enrolled in the seventh grade at a middle school with a predominantly Hispanic (89%) and lower socioeconomic (85%) population. Participants were taught about integers using one of three pedagogical approaches: traditional, conceptual, or a combination of the two approaches. Analyses of the pre- and post-tests indicate that the procedural approach resulted in the highest mean improvement. However, analysis of the test material indicated that the tests were procedural in nature, so it is unclear whether the tests reflected students' conceptual understanding.

Rosa Harding
Ernesto Herrera
El Dorado High School

University mentors: Dr. Milijana Suskavcevic, Dr. Eric Hagedorn

The Impact of Introducing Physics Concepts in a Biology Course on Students’ Interest in Physics
In this study, the authors hypothesized that by introducing physics concepts in a biology course and using hands-on activities, student interest in physics would increase as well as enrollment in physics. Participants (n = 129) included seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students. Prior to the intervention to introduce physics, participants completed a science curiosity scale that assessed interest in physics and intent to enroll in a physics course. One finding was that 65% of participants could not describe physics. Following the intervention, students had a better understanding of the basic nature of physics. Ninth graders showed the most significant shift in their opinions: 37 of the 50 that participated changed their perceptions of the difficult nature of physics. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to increasing the number of students interested in and able to excel in physics is overcoming the "fear factor" that students associate with this science.

Miles Kettel
*Stella Woo
Silva Magnet High School

University mentor: Dr. Hamide Dunlap-Dogan

Technology in the Classroom
The major obstacle that the authors' students face is connecting abstract mathematical concepts with symbolic definitions. The authors carried out a study to see if integrating technology into the geometry curriculum will improve students' understanding of geometry along with their attitudes and in turn increase test scores. Participants (n = 120) were ninth and tenth grade geometry students, half of whom were taught using the geometric drawing software Geometer's Sketchpad and the other half were taught in the traditional way. Participants were administered a pre- and post-survey on their feelings about mathematics and technology and a pre- and post-test on mathematical concepts. Students in both groups showed improvement on their post-tests from their pre-tests, however, the test scores of the two groups did not significantly differ from each other. The control group seemed to understand the concepts, but was not as enthusiastic as the experimental group about discovering geometric properties.

*Yogesh P. Velankar
Americas High School

University mentor: Dr. Matthew Winsor

Implementation of the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) Curriculum in High School Algebra Courses
This project was designed to compare the effectiveness of the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) versus traditional teaching methods in algebra courses at a predominantly Hispanic high school. Connected Mathematics is a curriculum built around mathematical problems that help students understand concepts in number, geometry, measurement, algebra, probability, and statistics. Since research on CMP has been conducted at the middle school level, this study was an opportunity to explore its value at the high school level. Participants (n = 74) were either in a control group where only lecture-oriented traditional teaching methods were used or in an experimental group that followed the CMP curriculum. Participants were administered a multiple choice pretest and posttest. Results showed that the control group had a higher gain in scores than the experimental group. More studies are needed over a longer period to determine the effectiveness of CMP for high school algebra courses.

* Recipients of MSP Action Research Supplemental Award 2004-2005

Please note: Project descriptions were edited from their original form for brevity.