Using Cognitive Research to Turn a High School 'Remedial' Mathematics Program Inside-Out: A Teacher's Perspective.
1992
report
Zugriff:
The "Thinking Mathematics" approach to teaching is guided by two ideas: (1) that learning requires knowledge upon which new problems and situations are interpreted and (2) that mathematics skills are applied in context. This paper reports research that examined whether teaching mathematics students in high school remedial classes can be improved by applying the Thinking Mathematics approach. The teacher as researcher technique was employed in which the researcher examined how the research applied to teaching her own ninth-grade remedial classes in an urban high school with a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural student body over a 3-year period of time. In addition, observations of and discussions with colleagues teaching similar classes applying cognitive research were employed. Students scores on pre- and post-tests based on the district's proficiency exam were compared to those of students in similar classes and the students of the pre-study year. Two aspects of the teaching approach were described. First, warm-ups designed to help students develop number sense and skills in counting, estimation, proportional reasoning, mental mathematics, and properties were employed to begin each day. Secondly, situational problems on which primary instruction was based are presented and discussed. Results indicated that the percentage of students in the research classes passing the proficiency exam was 3 times that of students in comparison classes (16% to 48%). Student self-esteem concerning their mathematical ability rose significantly, student attendance was significantly better, and discipline referrals were significantly fewer. While recognizing flaws in the research design, the findings support the applicability of cognitive research to high school remedial mathematics classes. (Contains 52 references.) (MDH)
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Using Cognitive Research to Turn a High School 'Remedial' Mathematics Program Inside-Out: A Teacher's Perspective.
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Bodenhausen, Judith |
Veröffentlichung: | 1992 |
Medientyp: | report |
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