{"id":5785,"date":"2018-03-23T12:14:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/?p=5785"},"modified":"2018-04-07T15:45:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-07T22:45:12","slug":"making-math-meaninful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/2018\/03\/23\/making-math-meaninful\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Math Meaningful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speculate on how such networked communities could be embedded in the design of authentic learning experiences in a math or science classroom setting or at home. Elaborate with an illustrative example of an activity, taking care to consider the off-line activities as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Carraher et. al\u2019s (1985) article Mathematics in the Streets and in Schools<\/em> discuss that \u201cthere are informal ways of doing mathematical calculations which have little do with the procedures taught in school\u201d(p.21). The researchers suggest that students apply their mathematical abilities correctly in real world scenarios than with context-free paper and pencil problems. Context seems to play an important role when solving mathematical problem based questions. The researchers found that \u201cin that natural situations children tended to reason by using what can be termed a \u2018convenient group\u2019 while in the formal test school-taught routines were more frequently, although not exclusively, observed\u201d (p.25). This shows that as educators we need to provide opportunities for students to connect to real world situations as we want the skills taught in skill actually be used outside of the classroom. As a learning support specialist teacher teaching students who struggle with numeracy, I always think about how I can relate situations to a real world situations. Providing a meaningful context is essential for my students. Students need to be involved in the learning process as they are better able to retain the information. The newly reformed BC curriculum incorporates many inquiry based opportunities for students and also reinforces that students need to learn at their own pace. This is the key for the students that I specifically teach as they are working at their own level. Measurement was a difficult unit for my students. We did work on the basic concepts but they really didn\u2019t understand the differences between centimeters, meters, and kilometers for example. So to help understand the differences between kilometers and centimeters, we went outside and went for a walk and walked 1km around the school grounds. Only after experiencing this themselves they truly understood the magnitude of 1km. Another favourite math activity students enjoy working on is converting our classroom into a “floor plan”. This covers area and perimeter which students have a hard time understanding. After go over the basics, each group of students are responsible for a certain area of the “house” (ie. kitchen, bedroom, bathroom etc.). They are given dimensions and need to recreate this space in the classroom using meter sticks and masking tape. Students have to work together to correctly measure the perimeter and area of their space. By working together they are working on their critical thinking and problem solving abilities. We could also use technology to support our mathematics curriculum as sometimes it is not feasible to always go out to explore math concepts in real world situations. For example, the use of VR has becoming extremely powerful as it allows students to achieve real life like situations. I always remind my students during our \u201cmoney unit\u201d to practice using money when they go out shopping with their families. The reality is many of my students don\u2019t spend much time going out with their families, so they don\u2019t get to experience it. Using VR would help bring real life situations into the classroom as we could go the grocery store to purchase items and practice giving and receiving change. This could also be done in the classroom, by turning the classroom into a store and students using money manipulatives to purchase items. An article by Furner & Marinas, discuss how \u201ctoday the emphasis is on using technology to teach math and getting students interested in STEM\u201d (p. 209). They suggest using interactive technology such as GeoGebra<\/em> and connecting them to photography to allow students to make deep connections. As educators we need to find unique opportunities where learning opportunities connect to student interests, allow for experiences, and will connect with their future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Carraher, T. N., Carraher, D. W., & Schliemann, A. D. (1985). Mathematics in the streets and in schools. British journal of developmental psychology, 3(1), 21-29.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3. Making a Real-World Connection (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from http:\/\/www.ascd.org\/publications\/books\/102112\/chapters\/Making_a_Real-World_Connection.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

Furner, J & Marinas, C. (n.d.) Learning Math Concepts In Your Environment Using Photography and Geogebra. ICTCM<\/em>. Retrieved from: http:\/\/archives.math.utk.edu\/ICTCM\/VOL25\/S125\/paper.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speculate on how such networked communities could be embedded in the design of authentic learning experiences in a math or science classroom setting or at home. Elaborate with an illustrative example of an activity, taking care to consider the off-line activities as well. \u00a0 Carraher et. al\u2019s (1985) article Mathematics in the Streets and in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b-knowledge-diffusion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5785"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5980,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5785\/revisions\/5980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}