Arts - Buffalo State College

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Education
even consist of having hands on activities. This qualitative research
study will view math from a personal level and will implement
students’ interests into the math word problem. This study will focus
on the differences between text word problems and interest related
math word problems. Through this study motivation, understanding,
and self-efficacy will be measured for the two word problems to
figure out what type of word problem is most beneficial for students.
Presentation Type and Session: Oral – Education
Planting a Seed In Young Minds: Primary
Students Learn About Their Environment
Lisa Henning, EDU 690: Master’s Curriculum and Assessment
Project
Faculty Mentor: Professor Coralee Smith, Elementary Education
and Reading
This interactive, web-based elementary education curriculum
project was designed to meet the New York State Common Core
Standards. It was created in order to help first-grade elementary
teachers who teach their young students about living things. Young
elementary students can gain a more concrete understanding of
living things and how they exist within their environment when their
teachers are prepared to teach them. The overall purpose of creating
this web-based, elementary curriculum project was to plant a seed
in young minds, furthering their knowledge about living things.
The components of this web-based curriculum project include an
introduction concerning living things, a literature review of research
findings addressing the topic of teaching and learning about living
things for young students, a list of New York State standards that
were used to create this project, printable lesson plans with formative
assessments, a summative assessment, and a project summary. The
web site address is http://planteducationunit.wordpress.com/.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster III
Primary Patterns
Jessica Wild, EDU 690: Master’s Curriculum and Assessment
Project
Faculty Mentor: Professor Coralee Smith, Elementary Education
and Reading
This interactive web-based elementary education curriculum
project focuses on the content area of patterns. Patterns are an
important part of mathematics for students. Patterns serve as the
foundation for future concepts to come. Patterns are seen all around
us; not just as in geometric patterns but in numbers as well (e.g.,
5, 10, 15, 20). Patterns seem like such a simple concept that would
be easy for students to learn but that is not always the case. Patterns
are often overlooked in classroom curriculum plans, and as a result,
children’s future math skills are impacted. The idea of patterns is not
only specific to math. It spans through almost any school subject or
elective class, such as gym, art or music. This web-based curriculum
was created using the Common Core Mathematics Standards for
elementary students. Included in this project is a curriculum map
for teachers to use. The web site address is http://primarypatterns.
wordpress.com/.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster II
A Quest For Treasure: A Behavior Change
Plan
Gretchen Pascolini, HON 400: All College Honors Colloquium
Faculty Mentors: Professor Awilda Ramos Zagarrigo, Exceptional
Education and Professor Andrea Guiati, Director, All College
Honors Program
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a whole
class intervention applied in an attempt to reduce the disruptive and
off task behavior in a second grade classroom. Participants include
three students from one-second grade special education classroom
in Western New York. The author will use a single subject ABA
experimental design to evaluate the effect of the intervention. Data
will be collected through direct observations of student behavior
during each phase. During the intervention phase, the participants
will get to choose a daily prize from a treasure box if they do not
display negative behavior for seven out of the nine class periods. It
is hypothesized that the motivation of receiving a prize will decrease
the negative behavior. When the prize is accompanied with positive
reinforcement and verbal praise, the hope is that the negative
behavior will be minimized after the extrinsic motivation is taken
away.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster I
Reading Fractions: Using Children’s
Literature To Increase Understanding of
Fractions
Sarah Zera, EDU 651: Theory, Research and Practice in
Mathematics Instruction
Faculty Mentor: Professor Hibajene Shandomo, Elementary
Education and Reading
A growing trend in childhood mathematics education is the
use of children’s literature to introduce a mathematical concept
or supplement a lesson. There are numerous children’s books that
can be used within the classroom, both with clearly identified math
themes and underlying themes. Mathematics educators have argued
that children’s literature allows children to make connections in
various contexts, including real-life contexts, and thus may be an
effective resource to teach a mathematical concept to elementary
students. This action research project will assess the effectiveness
of using children’s literature to teach math concepts, specifically
fractions for one participant at the second grade level. Does the
use of children’s literature related to fractions increase a student’s
understanding of the concept of fractions? The participant’s
knowledge of fractions will be evaluated prior to reading children’s
literature related to fractions. Following three lessons integrating
literature, the student’s understanding and comprehension will then