[xmca] (no subject)

Hello.

I thought some of you might be interested in how the National Mathematics
Advisory Panel final report describes research on learning based on LSV.

"The sociocultural perspective of Vygotsky has also been influential in
education. It characterizes learning as a social induction process through
which learners become increasingly independent through the tutelage of more
knowledgeable peers and adults. However, its utility in mathematics
classrooms and mathematics curricula remains to be scientifically tested. "
(p. 30, General Principles of Learning)

The inclusion criteria for studies included by the panelists threw out
specific types of research...

"Systematic reviews of research on mathematics education by the task groups
and subcommittees of the Panel yielded thousands of studies on important
topics, but only a small proportion met standards for rigor for the causal
questions the Panel was attempting to answer. The dearth of relevant
rigorous research in the field is a concern. First, the number of
experimental studies in education that can provide answers to questions of
cause and effect is currently small. Although the number of such studies has
grown in recent years due to changes in policies and priorities at federal
agencies, these studies are only beginning to yield findings that can inform
educational policy and practice. Second, in educational research over the
past two decades, the pendulum has swung sharply away from quantitative
analyses that permit inferences from samples to populations. Third, there is
a need for a stronger emphasis on such aspects of scientific rigor as
operational definitions of constructs, basic research to clarify phenomena
and constructs, and disconfirmation of hypotheses. Therefore, debates about
issues of national importance, which mainly concern cause and effect, have
devolved into matters of personal opinion rather than scientific evidence."
(p. 63, Research Policies and Mechanisms)

In the Appendix, on pg. 81, the Standards of Evidence are laid out as they
were developed by a subcommittee. Specifically,

"In general, these principles call for strongest confidence to be placed in
studies that
. Test hypotheses
. Meet the highest methodological standards (internal validity)
. Have been replicated with diverse samples of students under
conditions that warrant generalization (external validity)"

The full report can be found here...

http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/index.html

Ka:ren Wieckert

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Received on Mon Mar 31 08:32 PDT 2008