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Computer-based curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is a relatively common practice, but surprisingly few studies have examined the reliability of computer-based CBM. This study sought to examine the reliability of CBM administered via paper/pencil versus the computer. Twenty-one of 25 students in two third-grade classes (N = 21) participated in two generalizability studies. The primary facet of interest, format of assessment, was examined for two measures, a fact operation (fact family measure) and a more complex operation (multidigit addition). Researchers administered four alternate forms of each measure under both computer and paper/pencil conditions. Results indicated ideal reliability of measurement within all conditions and results were consistent across assessment formats for the fact operation. However, assessment format explained a large proportion of variance for the more complex skill (multidigit addition). Results indicate a need to consider the reliability of transitioning assessment from paper/pencil to computer-based response on a measure-by-measure basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in solving real-world problems is challenging. To tackle this challenge, a project-based learning approach that integrates robots with cost-effective self-made toys to problem-solving was adopted to assist rural primary school students to apply STEM skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the project-based learning approach which includes lecturing and hands-on activities on primary school students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes. An experiment was conducted with 25 primary school students who voluntarily participated in a STEM summer-camp programme. Students were asked to assemble a paper house equipped with an IoT control module and LED light switches, and write and edit robot scripts to produce a robot-based storytelling narrative using the paper house they made as a context. The results show that the project-based learning approach was an effective approach for cultivating primary school students' STEM knowledge and skills as evidenced from the post-written test. The relationships between the students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes were also confirmed by a clustering analysis. Students who had higher learning attitudes also achieved higher STEM learning outcomes; the findings are also supported by the feedback from the open-ended questionnaire items. This study suggests that integrating low-cost self-made toys and robots in project-based learning activities is an effective and practical approach to enhance primary school students' learning outcomes and learning attitudes in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is a global public health problem, especially common among children in developing countries, which affects their physical and mental health development. However, there is currently a lack of research on the relationship between anemia and academic performance. The objective of this study was to explore the association between anemia and academic performance, and the possible factors mediating this association among Chinese children. The data for this study came from the baseline survey of the Chinese Education Panel Survey Elementary School Cohort. The cohort was conducted from September 2018 to June 2019 in 160 elementary schools, covering 20 provinces and 40 counties/districts throughout China. Paper-based questionnaires were used, completed by 4th grade students, parents, head teachers, main teachers, and principals. The data used included questionnaire responses, physical measurements, and academic performance of 17,695 students. Based on students' hemoglobin levels and school altitude data, we grouped them into anemia and nonanemia categories using WHO criteria. The anemia group had 1,154 individuals, while the nonanemia group had 16,541 individuals. An ordinary least squares regression and mediation effect analysis were conducted. Our findings found the prevalence of anemia was 6.52% among Chinese Grade 4 students. Students without anemia had a higher average test score for three academic subjects than students with anemia (P < 0.001); their test scores for Chinese, Mathematics, and English were also higher (P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed a negative association between anemia and average test scores as well as individual test scores for the three subjects. Mediation analysis found that anemia affected academic performance directly (P < 0.05), and indirectly by decreasing the cognition score (P < 0.05). The indirect effect was 19.9% of the total effect. Findings highlighted anemia affected academic performance both directly and indirectly. Nutrition-related interventions should be implemented to prevent a decrease in academic performance among students with anemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes in detail a class of educational problems from an elementary school course of mathematics and computer science. This course has been implemented over the past decades by a team led by Academician of the RAS A.L. Semenov. In the problems, it is necessary to find, build, or list all objects that satisfy a certain system of conditions. The student conducts these activities in a visual world of basic objects of discrete mathematics and computer science: strings (finite sequences of symbols), bags (multisets), tables, trees, and statements containing quantifiers. The connections of these problems with problems in computational combinatorics (counting the number of options), with search problems in the theory of computational complexity, with "big ideas," and general cognitive strategies for their formation in education are considered. The content of education in our approach is more adequate to the context of the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical literacy refers to the knowledge and ability to use various numbers and basic mathematical symbols to solve problems, while math self-concept means the assessment of students' skills, abilities, enjoyment, and interest in the subject. However, children with special needs and normal students in inclusive Elementary Schools are yet to sufficiently acquire learning that accommodates literacy and maths self-concept. This causes a need for the implementation of a children-friendly learning process. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors influencing the numeracy level and math self-concept, and also explore the obstacles in implementing children-friendly learning in order to facilitate students' abilities. A qualitative method was applied because of in-depth data exploration regarding children with special needs, while the utilized instruments include tests, questionnaires, and interviews. Both the data collected and the analysis are qualitative, which are obtained through excavation, identification, and description. Consequently, this paper was able to (a) describe the factors influencing the numeracy level and math self-concept in inclusive elementary schools; (b) explore the barriers to implementing children-friendly learning; and (c) identify the relationship between students' numeracy and math self-concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a qualitative and interpretive research and has as its theme the mathematical reasoning and the actions of the teacher when supporting their development. The purpose was to analyze the actions developed by a teacher in the elementary school when conducting a collective discussion of an exploratory math task with 1st grade class. There was a theoretical discussion about mathematical reasoning and its processes and about teacher actions that support the development of mathematical reasoning. The data were collected by audio and video recordings, during the collective discussion of the task and they were analyzed for four categories of actions: invite; guide/support; inform/suggest and challenge. The results indicate that the actions performed by the teacher involved the four categories and that these led the students in the processes of conjecturing, identifying patterns, validating, justifying and generalizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of technology has made the availability of many ICT tools easy. In that way, their application in education became possible. So, various ICT tools began to be applied in the teaching process in many subjectsand mathematics was no exception. In this paper we will state which ICT tools can be used in teaching mathematics. Then we will state the results of a research on the advantages of using ICT tools in teaching mathematics, conducted among students from the ninth grade in primary school "GoceDelchev" in Sveti Nikole. And finally, the conclusion about the advantages and disadvantages of using ICT tools will be given. In the conclusion we mainly point out that the application of ICT tools in teaching mathematics contributes to facilitating learning, increasing the desire to solve mathematical tasks, raise the teaching process to a higher level and also motivate students to work and learn more independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an exercise of problematization and denaturalization of a math classroom that is born from research carried out with a cartographic approach, in which, when occupying the elementary school math classroom, questions are asked: what happens in a math classroom? Which mathematics happens in a classroom? The event is here in affinity with the philosophy of the event of Gilles Deleuze, in which event is that which cuts time off, drags it, breaks it. Events are possible worlds that erupt in the things that happen. To do so, the writing of this paper takes place in relation to an episode in a classroom, evoking events that involve mathematical production, "mistakes" and learning, experiencing engendering of learning in the learning process. This writing involves two problematizing movements: the first one unfolds the problem of connection between learning and teaching in mathematical education; the second one in which, by the force of the event in the math classroom, the connection between learning and teaching as something necessary is under suspicion since it suffers an inflection in tradition in and of a mathematical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate how the planning and implementation of a mathematical modeling activity that includes information processing, based on the Documentational Approach to Didactics is. The activity analyzed was planned by teachers in continuing education within the scope of a discipline of Mathematical Modeling of the Master's in Mathematics Teaching of Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná. The activity was implemented in four classes with a group of the 7th grade of elementary school by a pair of teachers. The data that supported our analysis came from audio and video recordings of the planning and implementation of the activity, the recording of the lesson plan, the reports delivered by the 7th grade students and a questionnaire about the activity. Through qualitative analysis supported by the Documentational Approach to Didactics and Trees of Association of Ideas, we show that the plan initially structured by the pair was re-elaborated considering suggestions from other teachers in continuing education prior to the implementation of classes, necessary changes during classes and subsequent suggestions to classes with the reports of the pair in a conversation round of the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa exhibits one of the largest pro-girl gaps in education, yet the reasons behind this gap are poorly understood. This paper analyses South Africa's pro-girl gap in Grade 4 reading and Grade 5 mathematics achievement. I make use of Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis to decompose the observed gender gaps into their explained and unexplained components, separately by school socio-economic quintile. This approach allows me to present new evidence that part of the country's pro-girl gaps in reading and mathematics are due to girls progressing through the early grades faster than boys. I also find that South African girls score higher on the constructs aimed at tapping student attitudes toward reading (reading self-efficacy and enjoyment, and engagement in reading lessons), and that these differences contribute significantly to the pro-girl gap in PIRLS reading achievement. Interestingly, despite outperforming boys in the TIMSS mathematics assessment, South African girls do not display more positive attitudes toward mathematics. The results suggest much more needs to be done to understand the reasons behind boys' disadvantage in the early grades, since much of the pro-girl achievement gap in Grade 4 reading and Grade 5 mathematics can be attributed the pro-girl advantage in grade completion in earlier grades. • South African girls outperform boys in both PIRLS and TIMSS. • This is partly due to girls progressing faster through the early grades. • Girls also display more positive attitudes toward reading than boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]