If Only Students Found Mathematics as Exciting as Video Games.
I find math
fascinating. If you caught me on a typical Sunday afternoon, you would find me
at my desk working over a mathematical postulate.
Sadly, I do not
find a lot of students have the same kind of interest in math. I often catch them
playing video games or going on their (or their parents’) phones instead. Now
my question is: Can
we bring technology to the math teaching curriculum so that we can get the same
kind of enthusiasm and excitement that students often get with video games and
other technology?
How do you think
an average American student performs in math?
The Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2011 indicated that
American students continued to do poorly in math compared to other developed
countries (Provasnik et al., 2012). Furthermore, the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that the nation's 12th graders barely made
any progress from 2009 to 2013. Only 26 % of 12th graders were at or above
proficient level in math in 2013.
Between 1972 and
2011, while our nation continued to grow, our gross domestic product (GDP)
doubled, the average mathematics SAT score of high school seniors and the
proportion of college graduates majoring in a mathematically intensive field
barely changed (Vigdor, 2013).
Mathematics has
major implications in physics, biology, chemistry, engineer, medicine,
economics and many other aspects of life. How much construction materials are
needed to build a bridge, how high a skyscraper can be built before it would
collapse on itself, and how many doses of medication a patient should have each
day all require math. We use math in every day activities. The way that U.S.
students continues to do poorly in math calls for a revamp in the way that math
is taught in the United States.
How can we
enhance the teaching curriculum so that students will do better in math?
The answer is to get students
to be as addicted to math as they are to video games and technology.
On a post by
Puiu (2012), the anticipation of math causes the same region of the brain that
stimulates physical pain to be active. Interestingly, while math anxiety can
actually cause physical pain, the process of doing math problem does not!
I believe that
in order for students to perform better in math, their way of thinking about
math should be changed. Specifically, math should be made more fun and
realistic through the incorporation of the appropriate calculators at all grade
levels, from K-12. Addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, and times
table should be introduced to students but should NOT be a requirement. Teachers
should encourage students to utilize calculators as much as possible and shift
their focus away from mundane pencil-and-paper calculations and pure
memorization. These changes will significantly reduce students’ anxiety about
math.
American
students’ continued struggle with math is a problem of concern, and I truly
believe that incorporating more calculators in the classroom is one way to
solve this problem. A substantial amount of research has already shown that
students, who frequently used calculators, scored significantly higher than
their peers (Lee, & McDougall, 2010; Martin, 2008; Polly, 2008; Tan, 2012).
Why shouldn’t we push this a step further and incorporate even more calculators
into the curriculum?
References
Lee, J. A., &
McDougall, D. E. (2010). Secondary school teachers' conceptions and their teaching practices using graphing calculators.
International Journal Of Mathematical Education
In Science & Technology, 41(7), 857-872.
Martin, A. (2008). Ideas
in practice: Graphing calculators in Beginning Algebra. Journal Of Developmental Education, 31(3),
20-37.
Polly, D. (2008). Modeling the influence of calculator use and teacher effects on first grade students' mathematics achievement. Journal Of Computers In Mathematics & Science Teaching, 27(3), 245-263.
Polly, D. (2008). Modeling the influence of calculator use and teacher effects on first grade students' mathematics achievement. Journal Of Computers In Mathematics & Science Teaching, 27(3), 245-263.
Provasnik, S., Kastberg, D., Ferraro, D., Lemanski, N., Roey, S., &
Jenkins, F. (2012).
Highlights from TIMSS 2011: Mathematics and science achievement of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students in an international context. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013009rev
Highlights from TIMSS 2011: Mathematics and science achievement of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students in an international context. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013009rev
Tan, C. (2012). Effects
of the application of graphing calculator on students’ probability achievement. Computers
& Education, 58(4), 1117-1126. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.023
Vigdor, J. L. (2013).
Solving america's math problem. Education Next, 13(1), 42-49.
Thuy,
ReplyDeleteGood introduction and sources to support your topic. You mentioned that students should be encourage to use calculator more to reduce stress; however, I think that students should be encourage to do math without using any electronics because they will be able to use what they learned in the real world. I used to love math until I took Calculus at GMU. I think the reason I loved it was because it was easy to understand and I was able to solve the problems. When I took Calculus, it was too hard for me and I began to dislike math. I felt like I wanted to stop learning about it. My point is that as long as students are able to understand the concept of it, then they will start thinking that math is not that hard.
Hey Vassana,
DeleteIf you think about how engineers calculate complicate mathematical formula to construct buildings or bridges, or how NASA physicists calculate the best course to go through space, they all rely on calculators. It's good that students are able to do math without any electronics device, but realistically when you reach really high level math, those become redundant.
I'm not talking about giving students calculators and making them solve calculus problems. That would be way too hard. I'm talking about allowing students to use calculators during SAT or ACT or other exams so that they would be less stressed out about the basic math. I'm talking about using calculators more so that students can focus on the concepts at hand
Hello Thuy,
ReplyDeleteYou again brought up the interesting topic, and I totally agree with your assumption that if the students play with math such as video games. Under my experience, I was the kind of same type of students you mentioned in your article that I just did it for my academic goal. I really want to see what specific ways and methods to support your topic from the next blog.
Thuy,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job on your post. Your first post was very informative. I especially enjoyed your use of statistics to support you argument. I find it troubling how badly the united states lags behind other developed countries. This information is revelatory and important for more people to be aware of.
Thuy
ReplyDeleteYour blog is really good and I enjoyed reading it. You also made your blog easy to read and user friendly which is great since it not only targets us but children.
I agree with you that math is one of those subjects that does not have many fans and usually people hate it, for that reason I do not think children should be forced into liking it but they should be persuaded in friendly manners like through brain puzzling games. They have these types of games like luminosity but I bet people would rather play angry birds than attempt anything mathematical. I also agree that they should allow children to use calculators cause as adults we do not compute mathematical equations either.
Overall great blog and I can't wait to see what else you have regarding this topic.
Hey Thuy,
ReplyDeleteI think it's awesome you love math. I stink at it. The study of the anticipation of math activating the same area of the brain as pain is pretty shocking. If there was a way to add more fun to math it would be great for kids. I just cant think of how to do that for the more complex area of the subject besides problems based on their area of study.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Thuy,
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your blog! It was user-friendly and you structured the blog so everything flowed nicely. Math is one of my favorite subjects ever since I was in kindergarten. So I understand your passion for mathematics. It is a shame that many people dislike the subject because it is so helpful. I definitely agree with you that we should change kids' perspective of math. But I don't think calculators is the best solution. Calculators will tremendously make math easy for students, but they could be too dependent on them. When I was a kid, I loved trying to solve a problem in my head or on paper. It was one of the subjects that really got me thinking. But I agree that as adults in careers, we just use calculators to solve equations anyways. So I understand your point. Overall, a fantastic blog and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Thuy - You know I love your choice of topic for a blog! I like how you've organized yours and how you've highlighted some of the important ideas so as to draw the attention of readers with a short attention span. On the subject of math, I'm in Linear Algebra right now and do you know what aspect is causing me the most pain? The simple addition and multiplication arithmetic when doing row reductions. I understand the concepts of Linear Algebra and of course know how to add and multiply, but for whatever reason, make so many small mistakes that my answers end up wrong. Maybe if I would trust my calculator instead of my brain, I would do better on the exams!
ReplyDeleteAustin,
DeleteDon't worry about solving arithmetic by hands. Ask your professor if you could use calculators for the test. If you could, just practice on the calculators. Hit those calculator keys as fast and as accurate as you can!
I think your topic is that the educational system needs to be focusing on. I look back to the days when I was going through k to 12 and see now that math was never really the subject that was highly reinforced and they more reinforced the use of the calculator. I think that basic analytical think we do without the use of calculator we do math gives us the basic analytical way of thinking for all subjects.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! As a child I really struggle with math so I think is technology could be incorporated into learning math then it would be very beneficial. I also have some sort of anxiety attached to math when I was younger. I knew the basics but did not understand the point of learning geometry. Only recently have I started enjoying the concept of math. As you pointed out, kids need to see how math can be applied on a daily basis. I started enjoying math this summer because I took an accounting class and really understood the concepts and process. I also think kids will not like or have anxiety towards a topic they simply do not understand.
ReplyDelete