RUI: Discovery Research K-12: Developing Algebra-Ready Students for Middle School: Exploring the Impact of Early Algebra

由马萨诸塞大学达特茅斯分校和威斯康星州大学的教师领导的项目“为中学培养准备好代数的学生：探索早期代数的影响”正在为3 - 5年级的学生开发和测试早期代数目标和活动的课程学习进展。这项工作的目标是为教师提供课程指导和教学资源，这是有用的准备学生在中学代数学习的成功。 该项目还正在开发和验证评估工具，以评估学生在基本预科方面的进展情况。该项目的基本假设是，需要将先前关于早期代数学习的研究结果整合为小学数学中连贯的纵向课程链，并且有效利用此类课程资源还需要教师获得对学生学习的高质量评估中求进工作总本计画利用内容分析、早期代数研究文献的综合、以及课堂教学实验，制作并测试课程学习进度与教学资源。 正在使用标准的心理测量技术开发和验证评估工具，由于任何早期代数材料的最终效用取决于如何设计这些材料，使典型的小学教师能够有效地使用它们，因此该项目还在教师专业发展方面进行探索性工作。这项工作奠定了基础，什么提议者设想是随后的大规模比较研究，以测试的假设，即适当的早期代数经验，小学年级将提高学习的正式代数在以后的年级。

The project Developing Algebra-Ready Students for Middle School: Exploring the Impact of Early Algebra, led by faculty at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and the University of Wisconsin is developing and testing a curricular learning progression of early algebra objectives and activities for students in grades 3 - 5. The goal of the work is to provide teachers with curricular guidance and instructional resources that are useful in preparing students for success in study of algebra at the middle grade level. The project is also developing and validating assessment tools for evaluating student progress toward essential pre-algebra mathematical understandings.The basic hypothesis of the project is that findings from prior research on early algebra learning need to be consolidated into a coherent longitudinal curriculum strand in elementary school mathematics and that effective use of such curricular resources also requires teacher access to high quality assessments of student learning progress. The project is using content analysis, synthesis of the research literature on early algebra, and classroom teaching experiments to produce and test the curricular learning progression and teaching resources. The assessment instruments are being developed and validated using standard psychometric techniques.Since the ultimate utility of any early algebra materials depends on designing them in such a way that typical elementary teachers can use them effectively, the project is also conducting exploratory work on professional development of teachers. This work lays the groundwork for what the proposers envision to be a subsequent large scale comparative study to test the hypothesis that appropriate early algebra experiences in elementary grades will enhance learning of formal algebra in later grades.