List of Content

May 2012

Editorial

Teaching-Research

A General Approach to Teaching Random Variables
Farida Kachapova

Engagement in Creative Thinking
Peter Barbatis, Alcy Leyva , Vrunda Prabhu, Aisha Sidibe, James Watson

Promoting STEM Education through Mathematics Weekend Retreats
Rohitha Goonatilake, Rafik Bachnak, Firooz Khosraviyani, Qinquan Wu

Mathematics Education

Mathematics Content Knowledge, Anxiety and Efficacy Among Traditional and Alternative Certification of Elementary school Teachers
Brian R. Evans

Reports from The field

Using YouTube in Calculus I to Increase Class Participation
Tanvir Prince

Intuition: A Disdained Way of Teaching Math
YongGeun Joo

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Editorial

It is the 15th issue of MTRJ on line. It’s a good number of published issues in 5 years, averaging 3 issues per year. We sense changes in Mathematics Education during the time of journal’s life. The search for a way to change the nature of teaching and learning, to find the optimal conditions for the fruitful mathematics communication between students and teachers is quickening, possibly with the upcoming introduction of Common Core Standards in Mathematics in 2014.

We present three papers informing about the newest methods to reach student of mathematics as well as their parents:

Peter Barbatis et al re-introduce us to the roots and methods of mathematical creativity through the analysis of Koestler’s Act of Creation in mathematical context. Rohitha Goonatilake et al designed and implemented Mathematics Weekend Retreats, while Tanvir Prince discovers the role of YOUTUBE for independent student preparation to upcoming classes of calculus. The role of internet in Just-in-Time student preparation is increasing exponentially; maybe one day there will be no difference between classroom and the world at large.

Our steady contributors, Brian Evans continues his comparative investigations of different teacher preparation programs, while Farina Kachapova dives into deeper mathematics teaching of Random variables.

We close this issue with a provocative statement of young Korean teacher/student of Mathematics Education YongGeun Joo about unrecognized role of intuition in operations on fraction.

We add too url addresses with teaching sequences on division of fractions developed in the spirit proposed by YongGeun Joo

http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/en/fius/rmeconference/2011/handouts/ageist_sat/presentation.pdf

http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/en/fius/rmeconference/2011/handouts/ageist_sat/dividingfractions.pdf