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Peer Review

Teaching Math & Science to Young Children

Reviewed:
Feb 26, 2022 by Teacher Education
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 5.0 stars
Content Quality: 4.8 stars
Effectiveness: 5.0 stars
Ease of Use: 5.0 stars
Overview:

In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on developing and testing new early math curricula. The development of these curricula was informed by research focused on the mechanisms of learning math, and recent studies that test the impact of early math curricula show that devoting time to specific math activities as part of the the school curriculum is effective in improving children’s math learning before and at the beginning of elementary school. Research evidence also suggests that children’s math achievement, when they enter kindergarten, can predict later reading achievement; foundational skills in number and operations may set the stage for reading skills. This textbook provides excellent guidance for teaching both math and science to young students.

  • The Teaching Math & Science to Young Children text includes the following topics: Early Learning, Math and Science Connections, Theory and Teacher Effectiveness, Special Needs, Standards and Assessment, Lesson Planning, Centers and Environment, Teaching Science Content, Teaching Math Content, Hands-on Learning, and Preparing a Research Paper.
Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:
  • in-class material
  • homework resource
  • supplement to lecture/presentation
  • individual reading
  • team reading
  • self-paced instruction
Technical Requirements:

Users will need to have reliable internet service and use any explorer to navigate the site. 

  • PDF reader
  • MS Word application
Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of the textbook is to prepare aspiring teacher educators to teach mathematics and science concepts and skills to young children.

Target Student Population:
  • Teacher training
  • College/University
  • Professional development
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

The course will work well with users who have a teaching background on K-12 in the areas of Math and Science. 

  • English language proficient
  • ability to connect to the textbook platform via the WWW
  • use PDF
  • use MS Word
  • ability to navigate online videos, graphics, print features and downloadable readings

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

The material addresses the ideas on teaching Math and Science to young learners. It presents ideas that go from what the connection between Science and Math is, how to design coherent learning objectives among several others. 

Any teacher who have access to this material would easily follow the sequence of topics, and later on apply that knowledge in designing their own lessons according the needs of their learners.  

Concerns:
  • Basic vocabulary should be introduced ahead of dense readings.
  • An overview of each chapter with pertinent questions and a conclusion at the end might help the reader comprehend and organize the material.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

The content learning objective is to analyze the implications of teaching Match and Science to young learners. Any learner exposed to this material should be able to reason  the implications of teaching Science and Math to young learners. This will be useful for pre-service and in-service teachers as well. These teachers would be able to reflect upon pedagogical aspects we should consider when teaching the STEM courses. The material is a a great resource to guide teachers. It includes theories about the characteristics of effective teachers. It also teachers what the connection between Science and Math is. The material addresses other relevant topics that will guide teachers to create  better professional development. 

An instructor can design meaningful and well-funded assignments with each piece of information included.

  • The material is designed to provide examples and descriptions that promote learning.
  • The resource can be used in a variety of ways within a course. For example, an instructor could select certain video presentations and readings from a unit to highlight a topic.
  • The content within this resource allows for an instructor to develop critical thinking questions and authentic assessments for his/her students.
Concerns:
  • Student learning outcomes should be included for each chapter and unit of the text.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

The website is very friendly user. It is just needed reliable internet connectivity. If so, any user will be successful at navigating the website. 

The topics developed are clearly shown in the menu and users can just click on the information they are interested in. They can revisit any topic user consider necessary to review again and again.

It is not needed to go out of the same website to access all information. Everything happens in the same interphase. That really makes it easy to use. 

Concerns:
  • We were not able to identify an overview of the textbook. The reading begins with Chapter 1.
  • We were not able to locate an accessibility statement.
  • Some indication of the time commitment for each chapter might help as some chapters are heavier in required readings in comparison to others. As an example, the Standards & Assessment chapter is much longer and requires more reading than others.
Other Issues and Comments:
  • There appears to be library support for the resource via live chat and email. We are unsure whether is service is only available to Hostos Community College students.
  • Overall, this is a valuable resource, especially for instructors engaging in emergency remote teaching situations due to COVID-19.
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