1. This reading identifies several negative perspectives that students and even adults may have about mathematics subjects. This is quite common, even for now. Educators should think of some specific ideas to deal with these fixed thoughts and find some more engaging ways to let students enjoy mathematics.
2. The core of mathematics remains the same despite the various movements and "wars" in mathematics education. In the future, it will be important to adapt to the needs of the times and to draw on the best aspects of both progressive and traditional views.
3. The article discusses the argument between progressive and traditionalist views. While it's important to prepare students for real-world problem solving and critical thinking (progressive approaches), foundational skills (traditionalist views) are also crucial.
Update:
1. Math has been taught in a way that emphasizes memorization and procedure over understanding. This can lead to a lack of confidence and a fear of making mistakes. In addition, social norms and stereotypes that only certain people are "math people" can contribute to these negative views. Many countries and people face similar challenges in mathematics. This is universal. The traditional way of teaching math can lead to anxiety and fear in students because it emphasizes rote learning and does not focus on different learning styles. Also, from the video in EDCP442, there was a person who talked about her fear of math and her father was a math teacher. That kind of family pressure can also lead to fear of math. Some people may want to avoid showing their weak understanding of math by stopping learning math. I believe her father did not want her to feel stressed while learning math.
2. I would start with foundational skills using traditional methods, to ensure that students have a solid understanding of basic concepts. Then, progressive methods can be introduced, where students apply these concepts to real-world problems, engage in group discussions, and explore topics through doing activities.
3. I would start classes with traditional methods to introduce and practice new concepts. Once students are comfortable, shift to progressive techniques. For example, after traditionally teaching the Pythagorean Theorem, students can be grouped to measure some right-triangle objects in the classroom and verify the theorem. This combination ensures that students have foundational knowledge while developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Good start to this article response, Sally. But I would like to see you go into more depth and add some more thinking and writing for each of your three points. For example: (1) why do you think people have had such negative perspectives on math in North America for so long? Is this the same everywhere? Is it the aim of certain kinds of mathematics teaching to make many people feel they can't do the subject -- or is this an unintended effect? (2) Great idea, but how do you suggest drawing on both progressive and traditional views (say, in your own teaching)? (3) Please say more about how these two approaches might complement each other in your own classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, I just updated my blog with the some detail examples.
DeleteHi Sally, thank you for your update on the post! The traditional math education often emphasizes rote memorization and can lead to students fearing mistakes and feeling pressure to conform to stereotypes about who can excel in math. I appreciate that you bring up the discussion about how family expectations, like those from the video in EDCP442, can further contribute to math anxiety. What ways do you think could help students overcome the pressures from family expectations?
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