PROPOSAL FOR MATRIC RESEARCH GRANT
NAMES
Christine Lindstrøm (Principal Investigator)
Kristian Vestli
James Gray
INSTITUTION
Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA)
FACULTY & DEPARTMENT
Faculty of Education and International Studies
Department of Primary and Secondary Teacher Education
PRINCIPAL AREA OF TEACHING/RESEARCH
Physics and Physics Education (Lindstrøm)
Chemistry and Chemistry Education (Vestli)
Mathematics and Mathematics Education (Gray)
FOCUS OF PROPOSED RESEARCH
The proposed research project focuses on using a free online mathematics learning tool, Khan
Academy (KA), to strengthen the relevant mathematics skills of pre-service primary and lower
secondary school science and mathematics teachers at the largest teacher education institution in
Norway.
A Flipped Classroom and Just-in-Time Teaching approach will be used in the courses trialling KA.
The teacher will have access to the students’ progress in KA, which will inform in-class teaching and
the provision of extra mathematics tutorials for struggling students. The mathematical (or subject
specific) content of the courses will not be changed from previous iterations of the courses.
PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH
The purpose is to investigate the potential of the mathematics module in KA for strengthening preservice teachers’ mathematics skills relevant to courses in physics, chemistry and primary school
mathematics education.
By guiding the students to the relevant topics in KA at the time when they are needed in the physics,
chemistry and mathematics education courses, the goal is to improve students’ skills by motivating
them to spend more time working on mathematics and by working with a pedagogically welldesigned mathematics teaching tool.
RELEVANT BACKGROUND OF THE PROPOSER
A/Prof Lindstrøm has been active in physics education research since 2006. She has Bachelor,
Masters and PhD degrees in Physics, including Masters and PhD projects in Physics Education
Research focusing on improvement of university physics teaching; she also has a Master of Education
degree.
Lindstrøm has been teaching nine Physics courses in Science Teacher Education at HiOA since 2012.
In all courses, a Flipped Classroom structure has been employed, where students have been required
to familiarise themselves with the curriculum materials before class, so that class time could be spent
working with the material. This has been used in conjunction with Just-in-Time Teaching – where
students have given feedback on what they found difficult in the readings before class – and Peer
Instruction, where student learning of conceptual material in class was enhanced through peer
discussions.
PROPOSED RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODS
In the spring semester of 2014, KA was piloted as a teaching tool in physics with two groups of preservice science teachers. Of 18 fourth year students (pre-service primary and secondary school
teachers), 16 students participated and used KA on average 501 minutes (SD = 452 min) during the
semester. Of 23 second year students (primary school teachers), 17 students used KA for at least 10
minutes, on average 158 minutes (SD = 100 min) during the semester.
Student evaluation of KA in the final physics course evaluation revealed that 84% of the fourth year
students (N = 14) and 55% of the second year students (N = 18) considered KA to be a valuable tool
for learning mathematics in the physics course. The majority (75%) of the fourth year students and
half of the second year students thought the chosen mathematics topics to be relevant, whereas few
considered them too difficult. However, qualitative feedback made clear that there is room for
improvement in terms of how KA is integrated into the courses. It is important that the teacher
explicitly introduced KA at the beginning of the semester and points out how working on the
mathematics topics is relevant for the physics course throughout the semester. In addition, students
who are struggling – in particular – should have the opportunity to receive help during the semester
(when help is most likely to produce positive results).
To address these issues, KA will be trialled with three groups of students during the academic year
2014-2015, a total of about 90 students. These students will all have one of the researchers as their
teacher in one subject. Approximately 60 students will be science education students (a mixture of
pre-service primary and lower secondary school teachers, one fourth year and one second year class).
The remaining students (approximately 30 pre-service primary school teachers) will trial KA as part
of their mathematics education course.
All students will receive an introduction to KA and its role in the course at the beginning of the
semester. Students will then be required to create a free KA account and register their teacher as their
coach. For each course, the students will be given a list of mathematics topics in KA to complete by
certain dates (topics and dates will differ between classes to ensure relevance and appropriate level
of difficulty). Throughout the semester, the teachers will monitor student progress and explicitly
discuss the mathematics topics in class. Students who are identified as struggling will be offered
additional tutorials (the details of which will be determined according to need as the project
progresses).
The coach will have access to all students’ individual data, which will be downloaded at the end of
each semester (shortly after the examination period). Thus, the cumulative efforts in KA throughout
the semester (time spent, number of topics, which topics, level of mastery achieved, etc.) will be
collected. A diagnostic test of mathematical skills will be given as pre- and post-test to the students
exposed to KA and to one other group of science education students and one other group of
mathematics education students not involved in the project for comparisons. Other data that will be
collected are class attendance, course evaluation questionnaires at the conclusion of each course –
containing some questions about the use of KA – and examination results.
Based on the quantitative data, one or two groups of particularly interesting students for the project
will be identified (e.g., students who show a marked improvement on the diagnostic test, or students
who appear to have significantly improved in physics or chemistry based on subject specific tests).
These groups will be invited to participate in a focus group interview near the end of the spring
semester 2015.
Data will be analysed to provide quantitative large-scale overviews of the time spent on KA, student
involvement, student reported use and value of KA and focus group discussions.
BUDGET
Total amount requested: NOK 50,000
Activity
Attending the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
conference (July 2014) to attend relevant workshops (such as
“Strengthening Mathematical Sensemaking in Physics”) and presentations,
and for discussions with American colleagues (Lindstrøm)
Salary for teaching at-risk students and/or extra mathematics tuition
Team meetings at a suitable space (we do not have a meeting room due to
space shortage) and food in conjunction with collaborative work outside
normal work hours
Presenting and discussing the findings at conference(s) spring/summer
2015
Amount
NOK 15,000
NOK 10,000
NOK 5,000
NOK 15,000
TIME-LINE
Week 32-33 (2014): Plan details of KA mathematics topics for each course, and timing of data
collection.
Week 34 (2014): Teaching starts. Students are introduced to KA. Diagnostic tests administered.
Weeks 34-47 (2014): KA is used throughout the semester. Relevant data collected continuously and
at the end of the semester. Mathematics tutorials are organised according to need.
Weeks 2-16 (2015): KA is used throughout the semester. Relevant data collected continuously and at
the end of the semester. Mathematics tutorials are organised according to need.
Weeks 16-25 (2015): Data analysis and focus group interviews. Writing up.
PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
Will the research lead to a paper submitted to a refereed scientific journal?
-
Yes, in a science education journal (perhaps NorDiNa) and in a mathematics education journal
(likely as a peer reviewed article in Tangenten).
Will the research be reported in a professional (non-refereed) journal?
-
No.
Will the research provide relevant background for a proposal for a project within a national or
international programme (e.g. NFR, EU, etc.) If ‘YES’ give describe the programme and explain how
the MatRIC research will contribute.
-
YES. A/Prof Lindstrøm plans to apply for a FINNUT grant from NFR within three years to
establish a science education research group for higher education. In addition to research into
the pedagogical and technological use of Flipped Classroom, Just-in-Time Teaching and Peer
Instruction in Norwegian science teacher education, the MatRIC research will form an
essential pillar of understanding of how to address the challenges of strengthening
mathematics skills in this group of students.
Will the MatRIC grant be supplemented by funds from other sources?
-
No.
How many hours will be given to the MatRIC project from regular FoU time or funded from other
sources (e.g. Department or Faculty)?
-
Approximately 150 hrs from each participant.