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More handpicked essays just for you.
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In “A Mathematician's Lament,” author Paul Lockhart rants about the education of mathematics in America. While much of his essay was full of berzerk statements and assumptions about the feelings students have on math, Lockhart did have some realistic views and agreeable remarks on the education system when it comes to mathematics. Personally, I did not agree with most of the claims that Lockhart made and found them to be particularly extreme and general. I am a math person. I’ve always liked math and done very well in it. I liked the idea that there was always a right answer, unlike in literature classes where most of the grading was subjective. The formulas and step-by-step processes were very enjoyable to me, although I know that wasn’t the case for many of my friends and peers. So when Lockhart described all students as hating math and finding it boring, I stopped taking his claims seriously because I could no longer relate or agree. …show more content…
He described geometry as “the most mentally and emotionally destructive component of the entire K-12 mathematics curriculum.” In my opinion, geometry was very helpful and satisfying; the process of working through problems and proving them to be true was pleasant in my eyes. However, I do agree that the curriculum was made far too complicated for most students to understand right away and for them to enjoy. Luckily for me, I could see through the difficult properties, theorems and definitions, and see the beauty of the mathematical arguments that Lockhart speaks
While the studies at Governor’s School are noticeably more advanced and require more effort than at regular public schools, I see this rigor as the key to my academic success. For me, the classes I take that constantly introduce new thoughts that test my capability to “think outside the box”, are the ones that capture all my attention and interest. For example, while working with the Sierpinski Triangle at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth geometry camp, I was struck with a strong determination to figure out the secret to the pattern. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the Sierpinski Triangle is “a fractal based on a triangle with four equal triangles inscribed in it. The central triangle is removed and each of the other three treated as the original was, and so on, creating an infinite regression in a finite space.” By constructing a table with the number black and white triangles in each figure, I realized that it was easier to see the relations between the numbers. At Governor’s School, I expect to be provided with stimulating concepts in order to challenge my exceptional thinking.
Study of Geometry gives students the tools to logical reasoning and deductive thinking to solve abstract equations. Geometry is an important mathematical concept to grasp as we use it in our life every day. Geometry is the study of shape- and there are shapes all around us. Examples of geometry in everyday life are- in sport, nature, games and architecture. The game Jenga involves geometry as it is important to keep the stack of tiles at a 90 degrees angle, otherwise the stack of tiles will fall over. Architects use geometry everyday- it is essential when designing buildings- shape, angles and area and perimeter are some of the geometry concepts architects
The math concept of Geometry or shapes will be taught to a second-grade classroom during and after the reading of The Greedy Triangle (1994) by Marilyn Burns. We will discuss the different shapes, their attributes, how they are used and how many sides and angles each shape has.
Barr, C., Doyle, M., Clifford, J., De Leo,T., Dubeau, C. (2003). "There is More to Math: A Framework for Learning and Math Instruction” Waterloo Catholic District School Board
The foundation of learning was never built from that point on the next levels of math became difficult since we we never taught the principles. Every substitute teacher that came in our school trying to build a bridge failed because they were only, “‘starting on one side of the shore with some bricks and pieces of steel’” (Whitaker par.6). Math wasn’t the only subject I experienced with having many substitutes throughout a course. The other subjects where I experienced a low quality education included science, pre- calculus, and world history.
The years after World War II brought elevated spotlight on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics prompting the development of the National Science Foundation in 1950 (Lappan, 1997). Before long, with the Soviet dispatch of Sputnik in 1957, all concurred that if the United States was to be competitive, increased consideration must concentrate on developing the next era of mathematicians and researchers. This slung U.S. education, including mathematics, into the political spotlight more than ever. Schools turned into the objective of fault for teaching the wrong things in the wrong ways, and curriculum development rose as an policy issue (Marshall, Sears, Allen, Roberts, and Schubert, 2007).
They saw the difficulties that students were facing with understanding geometry, therefore, conducted research with the goal of understanding the children’s levels of geometric thinking. The Van Hieles knew that students needed to have more experience in thinking at lower levels and fully understanding the concepts in order to later be able to write geometric proofs [5]. They developed a model that takes the learner through five levels of understanding, which are not age-dependent but are more related to the experiences of the students. The levels are sequential, therefore, students need to pass through the levels 0 through 4 in order as their understanding increases. Instruction level must not be higher than the level of the student because it will inhibit the student from learning [6].
With this promise came serious concerns over education taught students ranked 28th in the United States out of 40 other countries in Mathematics and Sciences. 80% of occupations depend on knowledge of Mathematics and Science (Week and Obama 2009). In order to ensure that educators have enough money to fund the endeavor to be more competitive with the rest of the world in Mathematics and Science, President Obama will increase federal spending in education with an additional 18 billion dollars in k-12 classrooms, guaranteeing educators have the teachers, technology, and professional development to attain highly quali...
Ward (2005) explores writing and reading as the major literary mediums for learning mathematics, in order for students to be well equipped for things they may see in the real world. The most recent trends in education have teachers and curriculum writers stressed about finding new ways to tie in current events and real-world situations to the subjects being taught in the classroom. Wohlhuter & Quintero (2003) discuss how simply “listening” to mathematics in the classroom has no effect on success in student academics. It’s important to implement mathematical literacy at a very young age. A case study in the article by authors Wohlhuter & Quintero explores a program where mathematics and literacy were implemented together for children all the way through eight years of age. Preservice teachers entered a one week program where lessons were taught to them as if they were teaching the age group it was directed towards. When asked for a definition of mathematics, preservice teachers gave answers such as: something related to numbers, calculations, and estimations. However, no one emphasized how math is in fact extremely dependable on problem-solving, explanations, and logic. All these things have literacy already incorporated into them. According to Wohlhuter and Quintero (2003), the major takeaways from this program, when tested, were that “sorting blocks, dividing a candy bar equally, drawing pictures, or reading cereal boxes, young children are experienced mathematicians, readers, and writers when they enter kindergarten.” These skills are in fact what they need to succeed in the real-world. These strategies have shown to lead to higher success rates for students even after they graduate
2."There's little the conscientious math professor can do about it. The stuff is simply too hard for most students. Students are not well-prepared and they are unwilling to make the effort to learn this very difficult material." (Leron and Dubinsky disagree with this statement.)(Leron and Dubinsky, p. 227)
The way we think and feel about anything in general always has a reason behind it. In this paper, I will be discussing what factors influenced my beliefs and attitude towards mathematics. Implementation of Mathematics in Education Since math is one of the core subjects in school, we have been exposed to numbers since our first years in elementary.
As a secondary subject, society often views mathematics a critical subject for students to learn in order to be successful. Often times, mathematics serves as a gatekeeper for higher learning and certain specific careers. Since the times of Plato, “mathematics was virtually the first thing everyone has to learn…common to all arts, science, and forms of thought” (Stinson, 2004). Plato argued that all students should learn arithmetic; the advanced mathematics was reserved for those that would serve as the “philosopher guardians” of the city (Stinson, 2004). By the 1900s in the United States, mathematics found itself as a cornerstone of curriculum for students. National reports throughout the 20th Century solidified the importance of mathematics in the success of our nation and its students (Stinson, 2004). As a mathematics teacher, my role to educate all students in mathematics is an important one. My personal philosophy of mathematics education – including the optimal learning environment and best practices teaching strategies – motivates my teaching strategies in my personal classroom.
? Calculators and computers are reshaping the mathematical landscape, and school mathematics should reflect those changes? (NCTM 24). My view of mathematics and geometry is that they go hand in hand. You have to know some algebraic procedures in order to be able to perform geometry problems.
When I graduated from high school, forty years ago, I had no idea that mathematics would play such a large role in my future. Like most people learning mathematics, I continue to learn until it became too hard, which made me lose interest. Failure or near failure is one way to put a stop to learning a subject, and leave a lasting impression not worth repeating. Mathematics courses, being compulsory, are designed to cover topics. One by one, the topics need not be important or of immediate use, but altogether or cumulatively, the topics provide or point to a skill, a mastery of mathematics.
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a