Problem Statement
Increasingly, students graduating from high school are required to take remedial math classes when they enter college (Fields, 2014). This “gap” between high school graduation requirements in mathematics and expected college preparedness is costly to Americans who have to pay for additional college courses (SREB, 2010). The problem is students are not acquiring the appropriate depth of understanding in high school mathematics courses in order to facilitate and apply problem solving skills outside of the classroom.
Background
A teacher’s role in the classroom should be to facilitate learning while allowing students to explore and draw their own conclusions. Unfortunately, in mathematics this exploration is often lost in
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Research has provided a positive correlation between students enrolled in additional STEM courses and higher math scores (Gottfried, Bozick, Srinivasan, 2014). In addition to improving students conceptual understanding of mathematical topics, it has been posited that STEM education helps improve student engagement (Bundick, Quaglia, Corso, Haywood, 2014).
Whereas this solution has merit, it is often difficult to add additional classes to student schedules, and is unrealistic for schools to add the funding and teacher support this solution would necessitate. “Backers of time-honored electives ranging from band to consumer sciences fear they are being crowded out of the school day as districts, facing tougher state and federal requirements, devote more time and money to core academic subjects.” (Cavanagh, 2006)
This paper will focus on increasing STEM based activities into a traditional mathematics curriculum. This will be accomplished by introducing each unit with an investigative, lab based activity that will be integrated into the entire unit curriculum. Students will be required to complete a lab write up at the end of each unit which will be included in the unit
The second part of this memo contains a rhetorical analysis of a journal article written by Linda Darling-Hammond. Interview The following information was conducted in an interview with Diana Regalado De Santiago, who works at Montwood High School as a mathematics teacher. In the interview, Regalado De Santiago discusses how presenting material to her students in a manner where the student actually learns is a pivotal form of communication in the field (Personal Communication, September 8, 2016).
Steen, Lynn Arthur . "Integrating School Science and Mathematics: Fad or Folly?." St. Olaf College. (1999): n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2013..
Female and minority students are underrepresented in upper level science, technology, engineering, and math courses in high schools. Data collected from a freshman class survey and subsequent follow up discussions revealed that interventions can positively impact motivation and interest in STEM subjects and postsecondary goals. Online activities such as developing student profiles, completing interest inventories, and career searches foster understanding of personal strengths. Partnering with the local college heightened enthusiasm and helped bridge connections with all students. Through these efforts, students in a low socioeconomic school setting were encouraged to believe in themselves and take steps toward future goals.
According to the NCES, nationwide, thirty to sixty percent of college freshmen require remedial courses in order to meet college admission requirements (2004). In Texas, 38 percent of Texas students enrolled in two-year colleges and technical schools and 24 percent of students at four-year public institutions took remedial courses during the 2006 academic year (Terry 2007). Twenty-eight percent of colleges in the United States report that students spend at least one year in remedial programs making it impossible to earn a degree in 2 or 4 years (NCES, 2003). These students have graduated from high school unprepared for participation in college courses. Unprepared student face both academic and financial barriers. Not preparing students for coursework and careers after high school is expensive. Remedial education courses are estimated to cost student one billion dollars annually. In addition, according to the ACT, despite participating in remedial classes, students who require remedial classes are significantly less likely to graduate from college (2005).
Looking to the past it seems that curriculum became diluted. Schools offered many electives; schools even watered down the curriculum hoping to “keep” students (which was later found to only compound the problem) (Mclaughlin 1990). Curriculum resembled a lawn sprinkler covering a lot of area yet having very little force.
Mathematical dialogue within the classroom has been argued to be effective and a ‘necessary’ tool for children’s development in terms of errors and misconceptions. It has been mentioned how dialogue can broaden the children’s perception of the topic, provides useful opportunities to develop meaningful understandings and proves a good assessment tool. The NNS (1999) states that better numeracy standards occur when children are expected to use correct mathematical vocabulary and explain mathematical ideas. In addition to this, teachers are expected
Sherley, B., Clark, M. & Higgins, J. (2008) School readiness: what do teachers expect of children in mathematics on school entry?, in Goos, M., Brown, R. & Makar, K. (eds.) Mathematics education research: navigating: proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australia, Brisbane, Qld: MERGA INC., pp.461-465.
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...
Using literacy strategies in the mathematics classroom leads to successful students. “The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) define mathematical literacy as an “individual's ability to explore, to conjecture, and to reason logically, as well as to use a variety of mathematical methods effectively to solve problems." Exploring, making conjectures, and being able to reason logically, all stem from the early roots of literacy. Authors Matthews and Rainer (2001) discusses how teachers have questioned the system of incorporating literacy with mathematics in the last couple of years. It started from the need to develop a specific framework, which combines both literacy and mathematics together. Research was conducted through
Kirova, A., & Bhargava, A. (2002). Learning to guide preschool children's mathematical understanding: A teacher's professional growth. 4 (1), Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/kirova.html
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.
A somewhat underused strategy for teaching mathematics is that of guided discovery. With this strategy, the student arrives at an understanding of a new mathematical concept on his or her own. An activity is given in which "students sequentially uncover layers of mathematical information one step at a time and learn new mathematics" (Gerver & Sgroi, 2003). This way, instead of simply being told the procedure for solving a problem, the student can develop the steps mainly on his own with only a little guidance from the teacher.
One very important factor in every life is the education received as we mature. Education in all subjects is necessary to become a well-rounded individual. Even so, I feel that my subject area has more significance in one’s future because every person uses mathematics every day. Students need to understand why mathematics is important and why they will need it in the future. The way to do that is integrated into the views of the role of the teacher. Teachers need to be encouraging role models that provide students with safety, nurturing, and support in the classroom, along with providing excellent instruction by allowing students to explore and expand their minds in the content of mathematics. Teachers should set high expectations for all students and persuade the students to live up to those expectations. Along the same lines, teaching and learning are complementary concepts. Students need for the teacher to provide them with the knowledge that will be used not only in that class but also in their future endeavors. ...
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
Allowing children to learn mathematics through all facets of development – physical, intellectual, emotional and social - will maximize their exposure to mathematical concepts and problem solving. Additionally, mathematics needs to be integrated into the entire curriculum in a coherent manner that takes into account the relationships and sequences of major mathematical ideas. The curriculum should be developmentally appropriate to the