Group items tagged

Math anxiety is the main focus in this article. The authors discuss a case study done on students from Taiwan, China, and the United States. A very interesting point that was discussed was how gender affected the results found. This article would be interesting to evaluate in regards to how math anxiety affected other subjects of study and if gender had affects in different subjects.

This article discusses what is critical thinking and tells about how there is no set definition. There are also many people who have tried to develop ways in which to measure ones critical thinking abilities. One such case was a study where they examine students' exams from a college class about Sociology of Marriage and Family and they discussed the results and findings from this study. This article is noteworthy due to its analysis of critical thinking and its interesting study.

The idea of media literacy prompts an increasingly divisive debate between educators who wish to protect children from the commercialization of global markets and those who challenge critical media studies as misguided, outdated, and ineffective. We have provided a historical overview of changing conceptions of media literacy as preparation and protection in market society, arguing that contemporary concerns about children's fast food marketing and sedentary lifestyles call for new approaches to the education of citizen-consumers in a risk society. Our case study demonstrates that a media education programme can provide scaffolding for children's critical thinking about their sedentary lifestyles and media consumption. (Abstract taken from JSTOR.)

Science literacy is frequently touted as a key to good citizenship. Based on a two-year ethnographic study examining science in the community, the authors suggest that when considering the contribution of scientific activity to the greater good, science must be seen as forming a unique hybrid practice, mixed in with other mediating practices, which together constitute "scientifically literate, good citizenship." This case study, an analysis of an open house event organized by a grassroots environmentalist group, presents some examples of activities that embed science in "good citizenship." Through a series of vignettes, the authors focus on four central aspects: (1) the activists' use of landscape and spatial arrangements, (2) the importance of multiple representations of the same entity (e.g., a local creek), (3) the relational aspect of knowing and becoming part of a community, and (4) the insertion of scientific into moral discourse, resulting in what they call a "stewardship triad." (Abstract taken from JSTOR.)

In this article Flower discusses the different processes that go into thinking and into writing. Also, she goes over the writing processes and the difference between writing to oneself or for different readers. There is also a case study that talks about a transformation. Flower makes several interesting points within the article that would be helpful in the comparison of mathematical and English thinking

The author examines differences between data they have collected of 13 urban schools. They collected this data by using test scores, surverys, and case studies, in which other people cmae into schools and watched them. They found very inconsistent information because of the small sample size they had. The only assessed low and high scoring students, which may have caused problems. The teachers use assesment in the classroom to see what students needs are and to have them achieve the goals.

A survey conducted in 2004 by bankrate.com shows that the average United States citizen scored just 66 percent on a financial literacy test. The test was based upon twelve basic financial topics that were considered fundamental knowledge that all people in a capitalistic society should know. Individuals, who were not determined to be financially literate, stated that they were aware of their problem but never sought help. Individuals who were determined as most financially literate and most financially illiterate showed common characteristics, none which included any connection to gender.