Research Spotlight: Amanda Jansen
March 27, 2024
If your high schooler has ever complained about their math homework—wondering when they’ll ever need the pythagorean theorem after graduation—they are not alone. Research in mathematics education often shows that students’ motivation to learn math tends to decline as students move through the K-12 school system. So University of Delaware …
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Research Spotlight: Jessica Namkung
December 19, 2023
“How do I multiply fractions again? How much time do I have left to finish this test? I’m not good at math and I never will be!” Math anxiety, which can begin as early as kindergarten, negatively affects students’ math performance both in the moment and throughout their math …
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Research Spotlight: Leigh McLean
October 17, 2023
In a new study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, University of Delaware Associate Research Professor Leigh McLean and her co-authors Jayley Janssen, Paul Espinoza, Sarah Lindstrom Johnson of Arizona State University and Manuela Jimenez of Glendale Community College found that teachers’ math and science anxiety were each positively …
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A Novel Approach to Teaching Algebra
May 19, 2022
Unlike other elementary and middle school mathematics courses, algebra begins to introduce abstract relationships and ideas. While textbooks attempt to give students real-world illustrations of these new concepts, many students struggle to match what they’re learning in the classroom with concrete experiences. For students who struggle to master these foundational …
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Helping Math Teachers
August 20, 2021
Teachers continue to learn after they leave college through experiences they have with their students and through formal professional development. Offered through school districts and other educational organizations, professional development (commonly referred to as PD in the educational setting) often encourages teachers to change their instruction using research-based methods that …
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Research Spotlight: Erica Litke
June 25, 2021
Drawing on video from 108 ninth-grade algebra lessons from 5 school districts, a recent study by University of Delaware assistant professor Erica Litke found that teachers engaged in specific instructional features that benefit student learning of algebraic ideas to a modest degree. Ninety-five percent of the lessons included teacher-centered instruction …
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CEHD Graduate Student Awarded NSF Fellowship
May 24, 2021
Fourteen University of Delaware undergraduate and graduate students and alumni have been awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. An additional three current students and six alumni received honorable mentions. The highly competitive fellowship, the oldest of its kind in the nation, is among the most prestigious awards for graduate …
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Teaching, Technology and Teacher Education
November 17, 2020
The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic presented many challenges for educators, as teachers across grade levels, content areas, and geographic regions quickly transitioned their in-person classrooms to online environments. Many educators found themselves engaged in online teaching for the first time with little knowledge about how to deliver effective instruction …
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Faculty Receive Grants to Study Fractions Learning
July 18, 2020
Many students struggle with a deep understanding of fractions, even after several years of instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms. Nancy C. Jordan, Dean Family Endowed Chair and professor in the School of Education (SOE), and Christina Barbieri, assistant professor in the SOE, have received a nearly $892,000 National Science Foundation grant to …
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CEHD Faculty Receive General University Research Grants
June 25, 2020
Twelve University of Delaware professors, including three in the School of Education and one in the Department of Human Development & Family Sciences, have won General University Research grants to work on a broad range of projects, from reducing mealtime stress for families with autistic children, to using artificial intelligence …
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Rough Draft Math
April 1, 2020
Do you remember what it was like to learn math? How challenging it was to find solutions to problems that you didn’t understand? The dread of wrong answers? Before joining the University of Delaware’s School of Education, Professor Amanda Jansen was a junior high mathematics teacher, and she had these conversations …
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Building Trust in Science
March 2, 2020
While the public tends to hold favorable views of scientists generally, according to the nonpartisan PEW Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), that trust gets a little shaky in the context of hot-button political issues. For example, whereas 98 percent of AAAS scientists believe …
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