Ruth Anne Beatty's outstanding thesis of the year to make a lasting contribution to math education
June 6, 2011
Ruth Anne Beatty, a recent graduate of the doctoral program in Developmental Psychology and Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE), is the winner of OISE's Outstanding Thesis of the Year award. A formal presentation was held in the OISE library as part of the 2011 Awards and Commendations Ceremony.
Ruth's doctoral dissertation, Pattern Rules, Patterns and Graphs: Analyzing Grade 6 Students’ Learning of Linear Functions Through the Processes of Webbing, Situated Abstractions, and Convergent Conceptual Change, constitutes the third year of a larger study on "Early Algebra" and reports on the design, implementation, and analysis of an innovative approach to teaching linear relationships and negative numbers, two historically difficult areas of mathematics to teach. "One outcome of this study is a deeper knowledge of how young students individually and collaboratively construct their understanding of linear relationships and negative numbers," said Joan Moss, Ruth's supervisor.
"Ruth has done an outstanding job, one that makes a substantial and lasting contribution to the field of mathematics education. Ruth has designed a brilliant intervention for support students to gain a deep understanding of very challenging algebraic concepts; the understanding of linear functions and of negative numbers: topics known for the challenges they pose even for many adults. Remarkably, Ruth has managed to do this with elementary school students."
Further, "Dr. John Mason, the external examiner and author of more than twenty books, many on algebra learning, from Open University and Oxford University offered very high praise, suggesting that Ruth's work had the potential to be of lasting and important benefit to young students in their schooling: he thought there was enough substance in the work for two books," said Joan Moss.
Another outcome of this study is a lesson sequence that is currently being introduced to primary, junior and intermediate teachers across the province through the Ontario Ministry of Education professional learning initiatives. This work will be disseminated nationally.