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Instructor perspectives align more strongly with constructivist principles than learners’ views, and learners show cognitive overload on some constructivist tasks.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/investigating-meaning-in-learning-a-case-study-of-adult-developmental-mathematics/588579/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/investigating-meaning-in-learning-a-case-study-of-adult-developmental-mathematics/588579.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Rizky","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the primary objective of the study?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The study aims to identify what is mathematically relevant to adult learners and vocational instructors at the Art Institute of San Francisco and how meaning is developed in adult developmental math learning.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How was data collected and analyzed?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Twelve vocational instructors and four adult math learners participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were later analyzed for constructivist themes or codes, and triangulated with observations and student work, alongside indicators such as pass rates and persistence.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What relationship does the article find between instructor views and constructivist principles?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"There appears to be a strong correlation between instructors’ views of meaning and learning and constructivist principles. 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(2011) . Investigating Meaning in Learning: A Case Study of Adult Developmental Mathematics. Adults Learning Mathematics: An International Journal, 6(2), 42-77.  \nInvestigating Meaning in Learning: A Case Study of Adult Developmental Mathematics  \nTim Glasser  \nSan Francisco State University, CA, USA  \n[tim_glasser@hotmail.com](tim_glasser@hotmail.com)  \nAbstract  \nThe objective of this article is to investigate meaning and relevance in the context of adult developmental math learning and instruction. In this case study, at the Art Institute of San Francisco, 12 vocational instructors and four math learners are interviewed on their early and current math experiences. During the semi-structured interviews, the adult math learners and vocational instructors reminisce on math in their learning and in their work. The interview transcripts are later analyzed for constructivist themes or codes.  \nFrom instructor interviews, there appears to be a strong correlation between instructor views of meaning and learning and constructivist principles. There is a weaker correlation of these themes with the views of the adult learners, and there is evidence these developmental learners show signs of cognitive overload on certain constructivist tasks. These adult developmental learners appear to derive mathematical meaning from behaviorist learning and instruction involving step by step processes, the linking previous concepts, and the repetition of key ideas. It may be that this is the way these informants learned math in the preconstructivist days of mathematics instruction.  \nIntroduction  \nThe primary objective of this study is to find what is mathematically relevant to adult learners and vocational instructors at the focal site. The focal site in this case is the Art Institute of San Francisco (Art Institute), a privately owned vocational college.  \nA mathematically imaginative workforce is crucial because of advancing methods of production, especially the introduction of computer-based tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator and AutoCAD. Workers are less and less expected to carry out mindless, repetitive chores. Instead they are engaged actively in team problem-solving, talking with their co-workers and seeking mutually acceptable solutions (Bailey, 2001). Workers must ask the right questions, assimilate new information and solve unfamiliar problems in new ways.  \nThroughout their lives learners will need to be adaptable – to continue to explore the world, accommodate changing conditions and actively seek and create new knowledge. This need or flexibility implies that a mathematics education must emphasize a dynamic literacy that is centred on the problem being solved (Swan, 2005).  \nIn the enlightened postcolonial period after 1945, anthropologists started to present interviews as scholarship using journalistic techniques (MacLeod, 1987/1995), rather than using the historically compromised scientific approach (Burawoy, 1991) . Similarly, the ultimate objective of this study is not to just establish a relationship between two pre-ordained variables, but to use the instructor and adult learner insight into mathematics instruction and learning to help our learners and inform our instructors at the focal site (Duncan-Andrade, 42 Adults Learning Mathematics – An International Journal  \n1999) . The interview data is being taken as a whole of the case and the interview data istriangulated with observations, student work. The data is also triangulated with the secondary indicators of learning outcomes such as the quantitative pass rates, persistence, average class grade and absences.  \nLiterature Review  \n“Some learners find it pointless to do their mathematics homework; some like to do trigonometry, or enjoy discussions about mathematics in their classrooms. Some learners think that mathematics is useless outside school; other learners are told that because of their weakness in mathematics they cannot complete a Bachelor’s degree. All","cbCaiuoTONgh2znC","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuoTONgh2znC","pdf",5852774,36,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Literature Review","[{\"question\":\"What is the primary objective of the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study aims to identify what is mathematically relevant to adult learners and vocational instructors at the Art Institute of San Francisco and how meaning is developed in adult developmental math learning.\"},{\"question\":\"How was data collected and analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"Twelve vocational instructors and four adult math learners participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were later analyzed for constructivist themes or codes, and triangulated with observations and student work, alongside indicators such as pass rates and persistence.\"},{\"question\":\"What relationship does the article find between instructor views and constructivist principles?\",\"answer\":\"There appears to be a strong correlation between instructors’ views of meaning and learning and constructivist principles. The correlation with adult learners’ views is weaker, and learners show signs of cognitive overload on some constructivist tasks.\"}]","Investigating Meaning in Learning - A Case Study of Adult Developmental Mathematics | PDF",1792065533,91]