Browsing by Author "Isaacs, Ian A."

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    Nurturing mathematical thinking; Report
    (School of Education, UWI, 1986) Isaacs, Ian A.;
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    Some factors related to the performance in mathematics of third year students in Jamaican post-primary schools
    (1974) Isaacs, Ian A.;
    This study sought to examine some of the psychological and environmental variables that are related to the mathematics achievement of third-year students in Jamaican post-primary schools, in order to determine if there were any identifiable underlying factors that could be used to explain their variation in performance in mathematics. Mathematics achievement was measured by a 70-item researcher-designed instrument, similar to the Grade Nine Achievement Test in Mathematics of the Jamaican Ministry of Education. Data were also collected through other instruments administered to 546 students (200 boys, 346 girls) from 16 post-primary institutions (7 all-age, 14 junior secondary, 2 private secondary, 3 high schools), their mathematics teachers, and the principals or education officers of these teachers, during May and June 1971. Results of the data analysis revealed that: 1) mathematics achievement is significantly related to (a) English language achievement, (b) verbal mental ability, (c) non-verbal mental ability, (d) self-concept of mathematical ability, (e) attitudes to mathematics, (f) teacher assigned school grades/marks, (g) school location, (h) teacher experience, and (i) teacher effectiveness; 2) there was no significant relationship between teacher qualification and mathematics achievement; 3) there was a significant difference between the mathematical performance of subjects in the upper and lower social classes; 4) there was no significant difference between the mathematical performance of boys and girls; and 5) there was no significant difference between the mathematical performance of subjects taught by men and those taught by women. It was concluded that the environmental factors which are mainly determined by the social class of the subjects, the type of school they attend, and the degree of urbanization of the community in which they attend school, mask the variation in mathematics achievement that might be due to the cognitive abilities and academic aptitudes of these subjects. However, some of the variation in mathematics achievement could be attributed to those affective psychological characteristics of the subjects associated with their learning of mathematics
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    Teaching problem solving in a sixth form college within the confines of a prescribed syllabus
    (Birkhauser, 1983) Isaacs, Ian A.; Zweng, Marilyn
    This paper describes two studies with sixth form students in Jamaica that were designed to explore the feasibility of teaching problem solving in the classroom. The first study aimed to develop flexibility and reflectiveness in the students during problem-solving episodes, while the second had the additional aim of developing the students' ability to devise a plan. Some tentative conclusions, based on the two studies, are presented
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    Teaching problem solving in sixth form college
    (UWI, 1980) Isaacs, Ian A.;
    The author planned an ongoing study to find out whether it is possible to improve the problem-solving abilities of mature high school students of average and above-average mathematical ability by direct teaching, and if this can be done in a regular classroom following a prescribed syllabus. Work with two groups of pre-university level students (N=21 and N=26 respectively) led the author to advance tentative conclusions that: 1) gains in routine problem-solving sessions did not carry over to test conditions, and 2) in order to develop flexibility of approach in school mathematics, there is the need to start with inquiry type methods early, to foster development of the dualistic view of mathematics as a body of knowledge with algorithms for applying it, and processes for originating knowledge
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    Two approaches to preparing high school students for the CXC problem-solving profile
    (Sep. 1987) Isaacs, Ian A.;
    Two Grade 10 classes in an urban Jamaican high school were taught over a period of one academic year in two problem-solving styles--an Explicit Style derived from Charles, and an Implicit Style derived from Isaacs. At the end of the academic year there was no significant difference in their performance on a problem-solving test, or on the Reasoning profile (i.e., the problem-solving profile) of the Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) Basic Proficiency papers. The two classes performed much better than the population who sat the Basic Proficiency papers on the task measuring recall and algorithmic thinking, but only moderately better than the population on tasks measuring problem solving
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    Using problem solving to encourage mathematical thinking in Jamaican secondary school students
    (Institute of Social and Economic Research, UWI, 1996) Isaacs, Ian A.; Craig, Dennis R.
    This chapter reviews some of the intervention type studies done by students and staff at the Mona Campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI), which were designed to promote mathematical thinking