Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Teachers learning mathematics to modify pedagogy.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

As more and more teachers endeavor to improve and add skills to their repertoires of professional pedagogical knowledge, they usually come upon the conclusion that knowing more mathematics is critical to teaching with deeper understanding. The teachers described in this paper wanted to enhance their teaching skills within the realm of number sense and number knowledge. Since number knowledge grounds algebraic thinking, our approach was to augment their pedagogical knowledge about numbers and operations by studying algebra and by studying successful algebra instruction strategies. As a result of their experiences, these teachers gained new insights about the connections between number knowledge and algebra and then were able to modify instruction. This paper describes the process and product of their growth in knowledge.

Introduction

"If you want me to teach like that, you're going to have to teach me more math," said Emily, after a brief staff development session in her school. The session was the introduction to a school-wide effort to modify teaching pedagogy for number sense. In the session, Emily learned how conceptually-based teaching strategies, focusing on multiple representations, can help children compare number patterns (like 2, 4, 6, 8 ...) to visual images (like Figure 1) as a way to develop number sense, in this case for doubling. This was new to Emily. As Emily struggled with a new vision of how an elementary classroom might look, she recognized she needed to know more math. Since algebraic thinking grows from an understanding of numbers, which includes number sense, the professional development session described in this paper targeted the mathematical area of algebraic thinking. The general approach was to first demonstrate how algebraic thinking looks in younger grades and then use those images as a way to promote Emily's and her colleague's self-confidence in algebra with the ultimate goal of making meaningful corresponding changes in pedagogy. See issue website http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/sum2004.htm

As early as 1900, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) called for "Algebra for Everyone" in their efforts to begin a dialogue about alternative strategies for algebra teaching, and to declare the existence of underachieving populations, due to race, class or gender, as unacceptable. In 1993, Robert Moses re-gained societal notoriety, this time with the "Algebra Project" (Jetter, 1993,) which focuses on innovative and relevant strategies for teaching and learning algebra among African-American students. Moses, along with co-author Cobb (2001) go on to call algebra knowledge a civil right, since it is necessary for economic prosperity in U.S. society. That means all students must be given the opportunity...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!