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Analysis of ECEJ
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Running Head: Analysis of ECEJ
Writing in the Educational Field
Sumaiya Azom
Wayne State University
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Abstract
In the field of Education, there are many journals that have been used. An
academic journal publishes scholarly, peer-reviewed articles written by experts in a
specific field. Journals are used by educators and administrators to distribute knowledge
so that they have the latest news and developments. In the field of Elementary
Education one example of a journal to use would be the Early Childhood Education
Journal. The Early Childhood Education Journal is a professional publication published
by Springer Netherlands that explores different issues and practices for early childhood
education. This journal requires online manuscript submitted to the Editorial Manager.
After this journal is reviewed, one will understand and know what and how to write in
this field.
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In the field of education, there are always new concepts and methods of learning
being discovered and implicated. For educators and those in the field to stay updated
with all the new information they rely mostly on their preferred Academic Journals.
There are many journals for one to choose from. In the Early Learning aspect of
education, the Early Childhood Education Journal (ECEJ) provides educators who are
focused on young children to stay informed on the latest updates. This journal offers a
wide range of information within the education field that emphasizes international
studies, diverse educational programs, family support and community action programs.
It’s a scholarly forum for discussion of the many different forces that shape early
childhood education today. Educators and professionals across the disciplines realize
that the early years are developmental; what happens during early childhood has
profound values not only for their lives as adults but also for society at large.
The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles covering curriculum, child care
programs, administration, staff development, etc. In order to publish in this journal, there
are specific guidelines to maintain. The manuscripts should not exceed 15, double
spaced, 12-point, type written pages, including references and should not exceed 8,000
words
(http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/journal/1
0643?detailsPage=societies). Articles can either be submitted online or in manuscript.
In order to have it published online, one has to send their article to Onlineeditorial.com
One article that is really important for a Mathematics instructor is called “A Study
of Mathematics Anxiety in Pre-Service Teachers” by Gina Gresham PhD. At the
beginning of this article there is a title, which gives the reader a general idea on what
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the paper is going to be about. The title is always the most dominant attention grabbing
tool in any piece of writing. The title of this article is very clear and summarizes exactly
what the author is going to talk about.
After the title comes the abstract. An abstract is a self-contained, short, and
powerful statement that describes a larger work
(http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/abstracts.html). In this article, the abstract
is short but very informative. The abstracts in ECEJ have to follow a specific structure
which consists of the following components: introduction, methods, results and
conclusion. The introduction briefly explains what the article is about. It also provides a
summary of what information is going to be given throughout the text. After the
introduction comes the method section. The method section describes the process
taken for this study to happen. This part is very important for readers to understand why
and how this study is taking place. Next is the result section. The result section lets
readers know what the outcome of the research is. Following the result section is the
discussion section; this section further explains the results to offer an understanding of
what had took place. The last section is the conclusion. The conclusion summarizes
everything in the article from the abstract up to the discussion section.
The article, “A Study of Mathematics Anxiety in Pre-Service Teachers”, is in the
Volume 35, Number 2, October 2007 issue of the ECEJ. This study investigates the
effects of the different levels of Mathematics for pre-service teachers. A survey of 246
pre-service teachers was needed for the research. This article is very important to me
because it is the field I will be going into, Elementary Mathematics education. Gresham
explains throughout her article that the more advanced you are in the level of math
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increased the amount of anxiety on a teacher. This would then lead to teachers taking
their stress out on their students. Because there was not enough information on this
topic of anxiety, Gresham wanted to do this study to increase the knowledge in this
area.
The title of this article, as mentioned earlier, is self-explanatory and tells the
reader exactly what the article is going or be about. This article was a bit wordy but what
made it more interesting to read was the boldness of the subtitles. This makes it easier
to skim through the text and get an overview of what is being brought to readers. The
article is very professional and is in the perfect tone for an educator or prospective
teacher. The structure of this article follows the correct method of having an abstract,
introduction, method, result, discussion, and conclusion sections. The abstract of this
article, gives the general picture of the study. It explains in brief what the study is
dealing with and also gave a summary of the process taken. The abstract is really
important in that it provides the research question. It also makes it easier for readers to
understand what the author wanted readers to know. Gresham surveyed 246 preservice teachers for this study along with informal discussions, interview and
questionnaires. She states that there was a method that could help prevent or lower the
level of anxiety on teachers.
The introduction was very clear and informative. Gresham first gave a short
explanation of what the study was about. She then proceeds to define what
mathematics anxiety was and according to her mathematics anxiety is a feeling of
helplessness, tension, or panic when asked to perform mathematics operations or
problems. She explains why people tend to feel such emotions when it comes to the
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subject of math. The introduction provides much needed information for readers,
especially if they had no prior knowledge to this information. This introduction also gives
the solution to this anxiety which is to follow the Bruner’s mode of instruction. Bruner’s
theoretical framework based upon cognitive structure is that learning is an active
process in which learners construct new ideas of concepts based upon their current or
past knowledge (Bruner, 1961).
After the introduction comes the method section. This study investigates early
childhood/elementary pre-service teacher’s levels of mathematics anxiety. It also
examines whether pre-service teacher’s mathematics anxiety can be reduced after
participation in a mathematics methods course. The research was conducted during
different sections of fall and spring semesters over 4 years. The Mathematics Anxiety
Rating Scale (MARS) was used as the quantitative instrument for this study. Developed
by Richardson and Suinn (1972), the 98-item, self-rating Likert-type scale is
administered either individually or in a group. Each item on the scale represents a
situation which may arouse mathematics anxiety by indicating ‘‘not at all,’’ a little,’’ ‘‘a
fair amount,’’ ‘‘much,’’ or ‘‘very much.’’ The statements describe everyday life and
academic situations requiring mathematical thought or tasks and are rated as to the
degree of anxiety that respondents perceived they would experience in the given
situations. The qualitative methods of the study included informal observations, informal
discussions, and informal interviews.
The next section is the result section; in this section Gresham makes it more
convenient for readers to understand the outcome of the study. She used a table that
gave all the information and included the statistics. She compared the scores from the
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pretest and the posttest. “The unanimous and interesting comment was that they felt as
though their mathematics anxiety could have been prevented in elementary school, if
they had received instruction of mathematical concepts through the use of concrete
manipulative (Grisham 2004)”. The study shows that it was a positive effect on the
students who participated in it. Students felt more relaxed and less troubled by the
subject anymore. In the discussion section, Gresham explained more about what the
students felt and how things have changed from before the study and after.
The last section in this article is the conclusion. “Educators do have an impact
upon their student’s mathematics anxiety levels (Emenaker, 1996; Gresham, Vinson,
Haynes, Brasher, & Sloan, 1998).” The conclusion was very brief and explanatory.
What’s very interesting and important in this article is the appendix. I found that letting
the readers get a glimpse of what the participants were asked makes you come up with
your very own answers.
So in conclusion, although the Early Childhood Education Journal (ECEJ) is
meant for the teachers in the early years of education for students, many of its ideas
and concepts can be used in other subfields of Education. The format and organization
of this article was very good and helpful. Young teachers, especially those in their
Undergraduate years, who are interested in Mathematics education, will not have to
worry about taking out their stress on their students. This article, among other articles in
this journal, can help pre-service Early and Elementary Teachers with finding useful and
important methods and ideas to be used for their own convenience in their classrooms.
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Reference
Abstracts (2010) (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/abstracts.html
Bruner, J. (1961). The process of education. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Emenaker, C. (1996). A problem solving based mathematics course and
elementary teachers_ beliefs. School Science and Mathematics, 96(2), 65 71.
Gresham, G. (2004). Mathematics anxiety in elementary students.
CMC ComMuniCator, 29(2), 28–29.
Gresham, R., Vinson, B., Haynes, J., Brasher, J., & Sloan, T.
(1998). A comparison of pre-and post-levels of mathematics anxiety among preservice teacher candidates enrolled in a mathematics methods course. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED 417137).
Invitation to Submit (2010)
(http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/journal/1
0643?detailsPage=societies)
Richardson, F., & Suinn, R. (1972). The mathematics anxiety
rating scale: Psychometric data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19, 551–554.