Teachers, researchers: Two proposalsAuthor(s): C. ALAN RIEDESELSource: The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 15, No. 8 (DECEMBER 1968), pp. 723-724Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41185885 .

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Focus on research C. Alan Riedesel Len Pikaart

Teachers, researchers: Two proposals C. ALAN RIEDESEL The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

A he purpose of this month's "Focus on Research" is to make two suggestions that are designed to increase participation in this column. They are also designed to increase dialogue between classroom teach- ers and researchers concerned with elemen- tary school mathematics.

Proposal I: To teachers and supervisors

During the course of teaching or super- vision, questions occur concerning mathe- matics instruction and curriculum. Often these questions are resolved by applying common sense or a hunch. However, on many occasions at least partial answers to these questions can be provided from completed research. We would welcome these specific questions concerning ele- mentary school mathematics curriculum and instruction. We, in turn, will periodi- cally publish questions that are of high concern to teachers, along with short an- swers based on research. Often these an- swers will be written by persons who have conducted research in the appropriate area.

Proposal II: To teachers, supervisors, and researchers

The relative merits of theoretical and applied research have been discussed for years. The editors of The Arithmetic Teacher feel that both are very important.

However, the charge of this journal is to report research that has relatively imme- diate payoff in the elementary school class- room. Thus we are interested in encourag- ing research that provides teachers with specific help for improving instruction.

To facilitate such research, this column proposes to communicate to researchers questions that teachers would like to have studied. Thus a number of the questions referred to in Proposal I may very well fall into the "to be explored" category.

A sample of a few such questions asked by teachers attending a summer workshop are included for illustrative purposes:

1. Does the study of other bases in- crease proficiency and understanding of base ten? - R. Gann.

2. What is the effect of instruction (gains by pupils in meaning, computation, etc.) using one textbook as opposed to using a variety of textbooks? - E. Shaw.

3. Do slow learners achieve more in using a modern mathematics program or in using a more traditional program? - S. De Baker.

4. Are workbooks more effective at the kindergarten level than a carefully struc- tured informal program? - M. Page.

5. Do students taking science under a process-approach program achieve more in mathematics? - C. Clark.

6. What is the correlation between

December 1968 723

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straight computational ability and work with abstract symbols and concepts? - N. Hensch.

7. What is the best way to teach place value? - /. Ditzenberger.

A call

If either or both of the proposals dis- cussed briefly above interest you, please write your questions or suggestions to

C. Alan Riedesel College of Education The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

Note. - The selection of questions for use in future columns will be based upon their general interest and/or specificity. Each contributor of a question used will be cited in the column.

The effect of discontinued grade reporting on pupil learning DONALD J. CHRISTENSEN

Upper Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mr. Christensen is a research assistant at the laboratory. The project that is reported in his article was developed at Wisconsin State University, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

A raditionally, the pupil in elementary or secondary school progresses through the several grade levels by passing from one grade to the next until he is awarded a high school diploma. A fundamental as- sumption in this procedure is that by pass- ing the grades or subjects the pupil has demonstrated to each teacher's satisfaction that the prescribed learnings have been achieved, whereupon he is allowed to pro- gress to the next grade. Included in grade- reporting procedures are different levels of passing grades that report pupil learn- ings. Also involved in this phenomenon of passing is the alternative of failing, which usually means a repeated grade or subject.

This structure of pass-or-fail suggests a rationale for a related teacher-pupil in-

teraction model in the classroom setting. First, because all students want to pass, they will labor to attain learnings pre- sented in the form of classwork to be adjudged by the teacher as passing. Sec- ond, the use of grades as rewards for learnings are significant factors in provid- ing student impetus to strive for continued learnings, which may be rewarded with high or passing grades. This avenue of reasoning suggests, also, that if grades and the possibility of failure were eliminated, the learnings of students would significantly decrease and not meet the requirements of the teacher. That is to say, if the grades and the possibility of failure are removed, there will be little impetus for students to achieve prescribed learnings.

724 The Arithmetic Teacher

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