Being a young teacher also means that I was in a high school myself not too long ago as a student. As I was reading articles and watching Jasper videos for this lesson, I could imagine myself being in a classroom where these videos were shown to “anchor instruction in the context of meaningful problem-solving environments that allow teachers to simulate in the classroom” (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992b), pg. 294). As I can relate to the students who were shown these videos in their math classes, I can also understand what problem did the Jasper material was trying to respond to. One reason I can pinpoint is to give an answer to those students who are often seen saying, “When am I ever going to use this in my entire life?” to a teacher in their math class. These videos are great “answers” to the question posed by many teenagers in our high school system these days. This question has made me re-design some of my lessons as a teacher since I wanted to be prepared if this question was ever asked in my classroom.
The first article I read in this lesson was on helping students with disabilities learn mathematics using technology and I don’t think the issue that I have mentioned above was discussed at all in this paper. The main focus of this paper was to understand why do we use technology to support student mathematical learning. Most of the reasons went along the lines of building computational fluency and conceptual understanding as well as creating mathematical representations. I agree that technology can play a big role when trying to represent mathematics which can, in return, help solve the issue that I have brought up in this discussion. Mathematical representation using technology can bring ‘boring textbook problems’ to life and help students understand why they might use this again in their life. My second reading was also related to helping students with disabilities learn mathematics using technology by Russell Gersten, this is an elaborative case study that includes researching multiple cases in order understand best mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities. Again, this article focuses on how technology can help students with gaining a better understanding of mathematics but fails to focus on the visual impact of technology on students in a math class.
In today’s world, we have multiple online sources available that can help us turn our classrooms from “boring textbook question” oriented classrooms to classrooms that portray the real world through real math problems. We, as educators, are responsible for making our students ready for the world where they can tackle real-world problems with the “real-world” math problem-solving experience they have gained in their high school.
Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992b). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program, description, and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27(3), 291-315.
Gersten, R., Chard, D. J., Jayanthi, M., Baker, S. K., Morphy, P., & Flojo, J. (2009). Mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of instructional components. Review of Educational Research, 79(3), 1202-1242.
Hasselbring, T. S., Lott, A. C., & Zydney, J. M. (2005). Technology-supported math instruction for students with disabilities: Two decades of research and development. Retrieved December, 12, 2013 from Google Scholar as a pdf.
Dear Gursimran,
Authentic and real-life has always been an afterthought. Instead, like in your post, it should be taken as a method to link viewers to learning concepts. Even more importantly, students with special needs require extra attention to support their learning. Undoubtedly, current educational tools help assuage communicative needs. However, there are limited options for students with tactile needs.
What are your thoughts on using AR to support students with special needs? What are some successful strategies you used?
Alice
Hi Alice, thank you for your comment.
I have never really explicitly worked with special needs students neither have I used AR in my classroom before. I would be open to using it in the future when I teach again. I think it is a great way to teach content in an interactive and creative way.
GK
Hi Gursimran,
Great post. It had me reflecting on my experiences in math classes as well and the question I would always ask myself “why am I going to need this in the future?”. It was strange though because I always enjoyed math and was actually pretty good at it, but I always wished someone would tell me what I could do with those skills. In the 11th grade, I was placed into an advanced math class with 29 peers. We had a fantastic teacher and someone I admire now that I am a teacher myself. I remember on the first day of class she was going over the syllabus and at the bottom of the sheet said “Fridays are Numb3r’s Day”. She had decided that in order for us to see how math could be used in our potential careers, she would spend every Friday showing us an episode of the show Numb3ers. The show was about two brothers, one a FBI agent and one a mathematician. Together they used their expertise to solve murders.
Looking back, was it the best approach? I am not sure. But I will say that it had the attention of nearly every student in that room. Students were going home and looking up the algorithms that they had seen on the show and how it could be used in other ways. I should also say that she had no expectation that we would do anything other than watch the show (no test, no assignment, no notes).
Now I also understand that we were a group of students who enjoyed math (being in the advanced class) so I am not sure that Numb3rs would catch on for other students. However, I don’t think that it was the show that had our attention. It was the way it was presented (t.v. show) and the way math was being used (to solve crimes).
Shayla
Hi Shayla,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I think this is a great way to introduce students to the applications of mathematics. Although I have not seen the show that you’re referring to myself, I do think that sometimes mathematical references in shows like this can be a bit unrealistic for students to be able to relate to. Therefore, I think perhaps working on one of the problems looked at in the show with the whole class might be more beneficial for the students.
I loved your comment “Mathematical representation using technology can bring ‘boring textbook problems’ to life and help students understand why they might use this again in their life.” I think you really brought up a good point about students who struggle. Bringing learning to life is probably beneficial to most students, however I would say that it is life changing and CRUCIAL to students with special needs. When I was teaching my special needs class I could not rely upon the textbook, not only was it beyond their level, it was simply not the context they needed to learn. If I simply taught them that 2+2=4 and they could answer that over and over it isn’t enough. They would leave my room helpless only being able to fill in a blank and not know where else to use that. My math was learning to take the bus, grocery shopping, classroom cooking, school popcorn sales and more. We learned through real activities that allowed for the learning to stick in a situation and not on a piece of paper.
I came across this site and began to wonder…is this real world enough. Or should there be a physical experience as well? http://www.realworldmath.org/
Hi Trisha,
Thank you for sharing the website link here. This is the first time I have seen a website like this and I think this is a great tool for students to learn about real-world math applications from. And I totally agree with you, it is time to move on from paper and pen and catch up with the speed of the rest of the world.