Current Search: Explanations (x)
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- Title
- DEVELOPMENT OF SEVENTH GRADE PRE-ALGEBRA STUDENTS' MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH WRITTEN EXPLANATIONS AND JUSTIFICATIONS.
- Creator
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Jones, Rebecca, Dieker, Lisa, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In this action research, the interactions of seventh grade pre-algebra students in a mathematics classroom shared their explanation and justification processes through group work. Prior to the start of the study students were given a written pre-test to determine current conceptual thinking in mathematics. Over the next nine weeks, the teacher engaged the students in problem solving activities that included reasoning skills, communication and making connections through discussion with their...
Show moreIn this action research, the interactions of seventh grade pre-algebra students in a mathematics classroom shared their explanation and justification processes through group work. Prior to the start of the study students were given a written pre-test to determine current conceptual thinking in mathematics. Over the next nine weeks, the teacher engaged the students in problem solving activities that included reasoning skills, communication and making connections through discussion with their peers. Following nine weeks of written and verbal discourse, students were provided a post-test to determine changes in their conceptual thinking. Overall students' grades, journal writings and test scores showed positive gains with the greatest changes occurring in written explanations of their conceptual thinking in mathematics.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002180, ucf:47510
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002180
- Title
- EXPLANATIONS IN CONTEXTUAL GRAPHS:A SOLUTION TO ACCOUNTABILITY INKNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS.
- Creator
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Sherwell, Brian, Gonzalez, Avelino, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In order for intelligent systems to be a viable and utilized tool, a user must be able to understand how the system comes to a decision. Without understanding how the system arrived at an answer, a user will be less likely to trust its decision. One way to increase a user's understanding of how the system functions is by employing explanations to account for the output produced. There have been attempts to explain intelligent systems over the past three decades. However, each attempt has had...
Show moreIn order for intelligent systems to be a viable and utilized tool, a user must be able to understand how the system comes to a decision. Without understanding how the system arrived at an answer, a user will be less likely to trust its decision. One way to increase a user's understanding of how the system functions is by employing explanations to account for the output produced. There have been attempts to explain intelligent systems over the past three decades. However, each attempt has had shortcomings that separated the logic used to produce the output and that used to produce the explanation. By using the representational paradigm of Contextual Graphs, it is proposed that explanations can be produced to overcome these shortcomings. Two different temporal forms of explanations are proposed, a pre-explanation and a post-explanation. The pre-explanation is intended to help the user understand the decision making process. The post-explanation is intended to help the user understand how the system arrived at a final decision. Both explanations are intended to help the user gain a greater understanding of the logic used to compute the system's output, and thereby enhance the system's credibility and utility. A prototype system is constructed to be used as a decision support tool in a National Science Foundation research program. The researcher has spent the last year at the NSF collecting the knowledge implemented in the prototype system.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000713, ucf:46601
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000713
- Title
- THE EFFECTS OF PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION, JOURNAL WRITING AND DISCOURSE ON 6TH GRADE ADVANCED MATHEMATICS STUDENT PERFORMANCE.
- Creator
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Wittcop, Melissa, Ortiz, Enrique, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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There are two purposes to this study. The first was for me, as a teacher, to try something new in my instruction and grow from it. The second purpose of this study focused on the students. I wanted to see what level of performance in problem solving my students are at currently, and how the use of journaling and discourse affected the students' problem solving abilities. A problem-solving unit was taught heuristically in order to introduce students to the various strategies that could be...
Show moreThere are two purposes to this study. The first was for me, as a teacher, to try something new in my instruction and grow from it. The second purpose of this study focused on the students. I wanted to see what level of performance in problem solving my students are at currently, and how the use of journaling and discourse affected the students' problem solving abilities. A problem-solving unit was taught heuristically in order to introduce students to the various strategies that could be used in problem solving. Math journals were also used for problem solving and reflection. Classroom discourse in discussion of problem solving situations was used as a means of identifying strategies used to solve the problem. Explanations and justifications were then used in writing and discourse to support students' solution and methods. An analytic problem-solving rubric was used to score the problems solved by the students. These scores, along with explanations and justifications, and discourse were used as data and analyzed for common themes. The results of this study demonstrate overall improvement in student performance in problem solving. Heuristic instruction the students received on strategies in problem solving helped to improve their ability to not only select an appropriate strategy, but also implement it. This unit, along with the problem solving prompts solved in the journals, helped to improve the students' performance in explanations. It was discourse combined with all the previous instruction that finally improved student performance in justification.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002075, ucf:47592
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002075
- Title
- The Influence of Choice in Manipulatives on Second Grade Students' Attitudes, Achievement, and Explanations of Two-Digit Addition Concepts.
- Creator
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Siegel, Aryn, Andreasen, Janet, Dieker, Lisa, Dixon, Juli, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of this study was to improve my teaching practice, as well as my second grade students' success with two-digit addition concepts, by allowing them to choose the manipulative tools to explore problems and justify solutions. I examined how allowing my students this choice influenced their attitudes, achievement, and explanations of their thought processes. I found that allowing students to choose their own manipulatives had positive influences in all three areas. Pre- and post-test...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to improve my teaching practice, as well as my second grade students' success with two-digit addition concepts, by allowing them to choose the manipulative tools to explore problems and justify solutions. I examined how allowing my students this choice influenced their attitudes, achievement, and explanations of their thought processes. I found that allowing students to choose their own manipulatives had positive influences in all three areas. Pre- and post-test results showed an overall shift toward more positive mathematics attitudes, as well as increased academic achievement with two-digit addition concepts. Students also demonstrated changes in the ways they used the manipulatives, as well as how they explained their solutions to two-digit addition problems.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004267, ucf:49540
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004267
- Title
- THE IMPACT OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING-REPRESENTATION PRACTICES ON CONCEPT MAPS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS.
- Creator
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Finnegan, Lisa, Dieker, Lisa, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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ABSTRACT The purpose of this action research project was to determine how my practice of implementing Universal Design for Learning-Representation (UDL-R) principles influenced my studentsÃÂ' understanding of content and enhanced their ability to organize their knowledge using concept maps. A secondary purpose of this action research project was to determine if student created concept maps served as a useful tool to enrich studentsÃÂ' written...
Show moreABSTRACT The purpose of this action research project was to determine how my practice of implementing Universal Design for Learning-Representation (UDL-R) principles influenced my studentsÃÂ' understanding of content and enhanced their ability to organize their knowledge using concept maps. A secondary purpose of this action research project was to determine if student created concept maps served as a useful tool to enrich studentsÃÂ' written scientific explanations. Students in this study completed concept maps and wrote explanations about adaptations before and after participating in lessons enriched with UDL-R principles that included the use of multi-media sources, website searches, and trade books. The processes used to collect data for this action research project were concept maps, written explanations, student notes, and videotaped accounts of learning from UDL-R principles. The themes that emerged were deeper content understanding for students and greater engagement in learning through UDL-R practices as evidenced through student notes, student discussions and videotaped accounts. The students in this study showed minimal change in the total average scores on concept maps with mixed results for males versus female studentsÃÂ' scores. Although studentsÃÂ' concept maps and written explanations indicated minimal improvement or change, their notes listing thirty to over one hundred facts and their comments indicated their interest and engagement in the learning process supported by UDL-R practices.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003045, ucf:48358
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003045
- Title
- THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF FREEDOM OF THE WILL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PHYSICALISM.
- Creator
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Gonzalez, Ariel, Rodgers, Travis, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Many contemporary naturalistic philosophers have taken it for granted that a robust theory of free will, one which would afford us with an agency substantial enough to render us morally responsible for our actions, is itself not conceptually compatible with the philosophical theory of naturalism. I attempt to account for why it is that free will (in its most substantial form) cannot be plausibly located within a naturalistic understanding of the world. I consider the issues surrounding an...
Show moreMany contemporary naturalistic philosophers have taken it for granted that a robust theory of free will, one which would afford us with an agency substantial enough to render us morally responsible for our actions, is itself not conceptually compatible with the philosophical theory of naturalism. I attempt to account for why it is that free will (in its most substantial form) cannot be plausibly located within a naturalistic understanding of the world. I consider the issues surrounding an acceptance of a robust theory of free will within a naturalistic framework. Timothy O'Connor's reconciliatory effort in maintaining both a scientifically naturalist understanding of the human person and a full-blooded theory of agent-causal libertarian free will is considered. I conclude that Timothy O'Connor's reconciliatory model cannot be maintained and I reference several conceptual difficulties surrounding the reconciliation of agent-causal libertarian properties with physical properties that haunt the naturalistic libertarian.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004628, ucf:45292
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004628