Diachronic Analysis of Undergraduate Project Titles in Mathematics Education
Keywords:
Project work titles, Algebra-related, Geometry-related, Average length of titlesAbstract
This study analyzed undergraduate mathematics project titles in Algebra and Geometry at St. Francis College of Education, Hohoe, from 2007 to 2021. The purpose was to explore diachronic trends in project title frequency, word count, and average length to understand research focus and academic communication practices in mathematics education. The population comprised approximately 1000, while only 834 project titles were sampled, with 415 Algebra-related and 419 Geometry-related titles. A convenience sampling technique was used to select the dataset. An analytic quantitative research design was employed, utilizing descriptive and trend analyses to evaluate the data. The study revealed a fluctuating yet overall increase in the number of project titles over time, with variations in average title length. Algebra titles averaged shorter word counts than Geometry titles, reflecting differences in disciplinary focus. The average length for Algebra titles was 19.47 words (in 2007-2017) compared to 22.12 words (in 2018-2021), whereas in Geometry, the average title length slightly decreased from 22.17 words (in 2007-2017) to 20.55 words (in 2018-2021). The results indicate a growing emphasis on technical precision in Algebra and conceptual depth in Geometry. The study concludes that there is not much difference in student project titles construction after a decade in both Algebra and Geometry related titles. It is recommended that lecturers should guide students on project topic construction to meet current practices.
References
Akoto, O. Y. (2018). A Corpus-Based Study of Personal Pronouns in University Lectures Across Disciplines (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Coast).
Appiah, K. R. (2021). Length, style, and structural organisation of research article titles: A diachronic and cross-disciplinary study of two journals (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Coast).
Archibald, A. J. B. (2017). A linguistic analysis of conference titles in applied linguistics.
Bérubé, N., Sainte-Marie, M., Mongeon, P., & Larivière, V. (2018). Words by the tail: Assessing lexical diversity in scholarly titles using frequency-rank distribution tail fits. PloS one, 13(7), e0197775.
Buxton, A. B., & Meadows, A. J. (1977). The variation in the information content of titles of research papers with time and discipline. Journal of Documentation, 33(1), 46-52.
Dennis, M. (2024). Course-Embedded Advising for International Students: Opportunities for Engagement Building. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 24(6), 35.
Duff, P. A. (2010). Language socialization into academic discourse communities. Annual review of applied linguistics, 30, 169-192.
Edwards, B. S., & Ward, M. B. (2004). Surprises from mathematics education research: Student (mis) use of mathematical definitions. The American Mathematical Monthly, 111(5), 411-424.
Fumani, M. R. F. Q., Goltaji, M., & Parto, P. (2015). The impact of title length and punctuation marks on article citations.
Groth, R. E., Bergner, J. A., Austin, J. W., Burgess, C. R., & Holdai, V. (2020). Undergraduate research in mathematics education: Using qualitative data about children’s learning to make decisions about teaching. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 8(3), 134-151.
Haggan, M. (2004). Research paper titles in literature, linguistics and science: Dimensions of attraction. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(2), 293-317.
Hoadley, C., & Campos, F. C. (2022). Design-based research: What it is and why it matters to studying online learning. Educational Psychologist, 57(3), 207-220.
Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary discourses, Michigan classics ed.: Social interactions in academic writing. University of Michigan Press.
Jiang, J., & Zhang, J. (2024). Visualizing the Knowledge Domain of Academic Discourse Studies at the Beginning of 21st Century: A Bibliometric Analysis. SAGE Open, 14(4), 21582440241300540.
Karadag, Z. (2010). Analyzing students' mathematical thinking in technology-supported environments (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto).
Landers, R. N., & Behrend, T. S. (2015). An inconvenient truth: Arbitrary distinctions between organizational, Mechanical Turk, and other convenience samples. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8(2), 142-164.
Makonye, L. (2019). Exploring the teaching of critical thinking skills to learners to promote mathematical literacy: a case of five schools in the Zaka District of Zimbabwe (Doctoral dissertation).
Pang, M. A. Y. (2016). Pedagogical reasoning in EFL/ESL teaching: Revisiting the importance of teaching lesson planning in second language teacher education. Tesol Quarterly, 50(1), 246-263.
Singha, R., & Singha, S. (2024). Application of Experiential, Inquiry-Based, Problem-Based, and Project-Based Learning in Sustainable Education. In Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future: Innovative Strategies and Best Practices (pp. 109-128). IGI Global.
Sokolowski, A. (2019). Developing mathematical reasoning using a STEM platform. Interdisciplinary Mathematics Education: The State of the Art and Beyond, 93-111.
Thomas, C. G. (2021). Research methodology and scientific writing. Thrissur: Springer.
Yadav, S., & Lenka, U. (2023). Uncovering the intellectual structure of diversity management research: A bibliometric analysis (1990–2019). Personnel Review, 52(3), 856-881.
Yang, W. (2024). Beyond algorithms: The human touch machine-generated titles for enhancing click-through rates on social media. Plos One, 19(7), e0306639.
Youvan, D. C. (2024). Towards a Simpler and More Elegant Mathematics: Unifying Frameworks and Cognitive Intuition.
