UHM College of Education Curriculum Research & Development Group faculty members, Melfried and Judith Olson, received the 2011 National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship Award at the Annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) in Irvine, California. Their presentation, The Nexus between Formative Assessment and Technology in Networked Classrooms. What Have We Learned?, was co-authored by Michael Gilbert from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Drs. Olson (pictured second from left and middle with AMTE officials) and Gilbert presented on work conducted by a team of ten researchers from the University of Hawai‘i that compared two different professional development models for implementing formative assessment in networked classrooms on student achievement of algebraic concepts. The study was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and focused on 30 seventh-grade mathematics teachers from 15 schools in Hawai‘i.
The presentation included research results on teacher practices, perceptions, assessment and content knowledge, self-efficacy, implementation, and student achievement. Among the findings of interest to AMTE membership was that content knowledge for teaching was a significant predictor of student achievement. It was also reported that self-efficacy in using formative assessment was a significant predictor of student achievement.
The National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) fellowships were established to recognize exemplary presentations related to the integration of technology into core content areas. These awards are presented at the annual meetings of participating associations, such as AMTE. As part of the award, AMTE is providing partial support to attend the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education meeting in Nashville where the paper will be presented.