The methods mathematics teachers use to teach their students have the potential to vastly influence how their students understand the discipline (Kelly, 2001). With the advent of reform curriculum, there has been a push for teachers to abandon lecture dominated instructional practices and to adopt more student-centered practices. In Creating Advocates: Building Preservice Teachers’ Confidence Using an Integrated, Spiral-Based, Inquiry Approach in Mathematics and Science Methods Instruction, Catherine Kelly explores the influence of the beliefs and attitudes of pre-service teachers about integrated, spiral-based, inquiry instruction in mathematics and science.
Kelly began by explaining how an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach to instruction is rooted in Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner. For the purpose of her study, she examined pre-service teacher enrolled in a methods course and set out to answer what impact their prior beliefs about doing mathematics and science have on their teaching and if the perceptions about their ability to teach these subjects can be influenced by learning an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach of instruction. Her research problem was done at a high level because it provided a brief background about what an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach to mathematics and science instruction is grounded on and explicitly indicated that teacher beliefs was what she was attempting to study.
In Kelly’s literature review, she justified the importance of spiral-based inquiry by explaining how it fosters a safe environment for students to ask questions, pose and solve problems, and conduct inquiry. As she proceeded, Kelly explained the importance of the role of the teacher in being able to e...
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...provement in students. Thus, in showing that an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach increases the confidence of teachers’ beliefs about their abilities in doing and teaching mathematics and science, the same can be said for increasing the confidence of their students in these subjects. The importance of this study for me was that it showed how a teacher’s beliefs about how to teach mathematics, an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach versus a lecture approach, can encourage students to ask mathematical questions, pose and solve mathematical problems, and conduct mathematical inquiries by building their confidence.
Works Cited
Kelly, C. A. (2001). Creating advocates: Building preservice teachers' confidence using an integrated, spiral-based, inquiry approach in mathematics and science methods instruction. Action in Teacher Education, 23(3), 75-83.
Trujillo, K. M., Tracing the Roots of Mathematics Anxiety through In-Depth Interviews with Preservice Elementary Teachers http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_33/ai_62839422 [accessed July 2007]
In the article “Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say!” Steven C. Reinhart shares his struggle of finding the fundamental flaw that existed in his teaching methods. He is a great teacher, explained mathematics well, he was dedicated and caring, but his students were not learning and with low achievement results, Reinhart had to question his teaching methods. He began to challenge himself. He committed to change 10% of teaching each year and over many years he was able to change his traditional methods of instruction to more of a student-centered problem-based approach. This article promotes students to engage through the use of questioning.
Marzano, R. J., & Brown, J. L. (2009). A handbook for the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Introduction Teachers have become gateway keepers to providing education to students. Over the span of several years, teachers have been criticized for being unprepared, unable to adapt to different learning styles, and are increasing the number of students who aren’t learning. With this achievement gap increasing, it brings up the idea of what the education system is doing wrong and what improvements it needs to make. The education system needs to be redesigned to strengthen its curriculum, it’s connection to both practice and theory, and the idea of a powerful educator. The first aspect of this memo contains an interview with Diana Regalado De Santiago, a math teacher in the Socorro Independent School District for the past six years.
(1993) ‘Integrating theory and practice through instructional assessment’. Educational Assessment, 1(4). [Online] Available at: http://math.arizona.edu/~cemela/english/content/shortcourses/assessment/Day%25204%2520Reading.pdf (Accessed: 14 October 2015).
In this interview I conducted with my host teacher at Benton STEM Elementary, I talked about the various ways that she explores strategies inside her classroom for how students are provided access to mathematical learning experiences. My host teacher has been teaching elementary education for eleven years now and is currently teaching 2nd grade. Talking with her about the various methods that she uses in the classroom really informed me of how I want to teach as a future educator. When conducting the interview, we talked from the differentiation practices that she uses in her classroom when teaching mathematics. I will be connecting this interview to chapter 5 by Jo Boaler that I read on tracking in the mainstream classroom and how students mathematical abilities are affected by this.
What is the most effective way to teach? Can students really learn and fully understand the material teachers convey to them on a day to day basis? According to a middle school mathematics teacher, his methods of teaching the traditional way was not as effective and producing a long-term impact as he would have liked. The article "Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say!" enriches us to the possibility of applying slight gradual modifications to our teaching methods and how we could find ways to utilize that information in the search for more effective teaching methods to encourage students to explain their thinking and become more deeply involved in the classroom discussions, thus developing their questioning skills (Reinhart, 2000). After analyzing his research, I can say as an aspiring Mathematics teacher myself, there are some positive aspects to his newfound teaching methods, as well as some questions of concern that I have pertaining the longevity of this approach to teaching.
For the past seven years, I have had the same dream - to someday be a high school math teacher. I am finally on my way to turning that dream into a reality. Along the way, I am learning a lot of things and forming a number of opinions. One of the main areas in which I am forming new beliefs is in relation to what methods I will use in teaching my class and what aspects of what philosophies I will employ. First of all, however, I must reach the point where I have a class to teach.
Wu, Y. (2008). Experimental Study on Effect of Different Mathematical Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Performance. Journal of Mathematics Studies. Vol 1(1) 164-171.
It is evident that methodologies in education, including Math, have in their crude forms existed long before theorist began coining catch phrases and terminologies. With the onset of higher learning and the desire to explore their world men have lived and learned by many of the teaching/learning methodologies that are being adapted today. What men have discovered through natural learning long ago is now being refined in order to support and strengthen modern day educational practices across academia.
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. ...
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
...achievement. The inquiry process is engaging and interactive. Students are learning, not only more science, but the study of the world around them. For all students, especially those with diverse backgrounds and learning disabilities, it is essential for inquiry to be provided with direct instruction, classroom support, and a guided process.
... Using hands on activities and not using straight lecture help children learn better. Inquiry gives them experiences that can help them retain the knowledge that their teacher is trying to give them.