Journal of Advances in Education Research

7

Authors: Yannis Hadzigeorgiou, Gillian Judson

This paper addresses the need to reclaim the value of storytelling as a tool for raising environmental awareness in young children. In distinguishing between ‘knowledge’ and ‘awareness’, the paper discusses the role that the sense of wonder evoked through shaping topics in story-form can play in encouraging awareness. Through imaginative and emotional engagement with issues and ideas, children can feel the significance of the natural world around them. The role of the Story of the Universe which presents the natural environment as a living organism, in which human beings and Nature co-exist, is also discussed.

8

Authors: Betsy J. Bannier

While research connecting learning and mathematics is relatively abundant, existing research tends to follow a deficit model framework. This qualitative study seeks to identify the ways in which adult women believe they learn mathematics most effectively. Women engaged in fields that are both highly dependent upon mathematical skill and relatively independent of mathematical skill volunteered as participants. Findings reveal that active learning opportunities are perceived as a critical component of learning mathematics, as are the ability and invitation to talk out loud and write freely throughout the learning process. Concrete and logical areas of mathematics, for which real-life connections are often more obvious, are perceived as easier to learn that more abstract and spatial math. In addition, findings suggest that women perceive learning mathematics to be markedly different in adulthood than in childhood. Implications for adult educators engaged in the teaching and communication of mathematical concepts are discussed.