Keywords

Mathematics and Literature

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of literature use in the middle grades mathematics curriculum on student motivation and connections. This study involved collecting several types of data regarding students' attitudes, motivation, and their abilities to make real-world connections. Findings from pre and post attitude surveys indicated that literature use in the mathematics curriculum has no effect on students' attitudes towards mathematics. Furthermore, findings from journal entries, students' work, and interview responses indicate that although students find storybooks fun and interesting, their use does not seem to lead to increases in students' understanding of mathematics. However, findings from journal entries, students' work and interview responses indicated that students were better able to make real-world connections through storybooks that were meaningful to their lives. Suggestions for future research should include comparative studies on the effects of literature on student performance in middle grades mathematics.

Notes

If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu

Graduation Date

2005

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Dixon, Juli

Degree

Master of Education (M.Ed.)

College

College of Education

Department

Teaching and Learning Principles

Degree Program

Mathematics Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000390

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000390

Language

English

Release Date

May 2005

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Download

Share

COinS