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Why Has Mathematics Instruction

Changed?
Why isnt math taught the way I learned it?

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Why: What + How + Shifts

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Changing World
The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2014 did not exist in 2008.
Today's learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38.
The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2

years. For students starting a 4 year technical degree this means


that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be
outdated by their third year of study.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that dont yet exist

using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve


problems. WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THOSE
PROBLEMS WILL BE.

US Department of Labor

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Schooling vs Real-World
...school learning is abstract, theoretical and organized

by disciplines while work is concrete, specific to the


task, and organized by problems and projects...

Office Economic Cooperation Development


, Learning for Jobs

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Learning Mathematics

For all students to become


mathematically proficient,
major changes must be made
in instruction, assessments,
teacher education, and the
broader educational system.

Adding It Up (NRC)

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How Students Learn


Can engage in

instructional activities but


teaching has not occurred
until student learning has
occurred
covering the material

and explaining it well is


NOT the same as the
student learning it.
NRC
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Why is understanding
mathematics so important??
A gateway to higher
mathematics?

OR
A wall blocking path for
students?

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Changing Expectations
Content of Mathematics is NOT changing.
Demonstrating and applying understanding
is

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Preconception #1:
Mathematics is about learning to compute.

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Arithmetic
the study of numbers, especially the properties of the

traditional operations between them addition,


subtraction, multiplication and division.

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WHAT IS MATH?
t
s is a b o u
c
i
t
a
m
e
t.
Math
d insigh
n
a
y
r
i
u
inq
ation is
Comput eans to an
am
(usually) end

ge and
a
u
g
n
e la
It is th gic of our d.
lo
worl
l
a
c
i
g
o
l
techno

Mathematics is a way
of thinking about,
understanding,
explaining, and
expressing
phenomena..

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Food For Thought

Mathematical know-how is not only one of


the most important qualities for workers to
possess in the future, it is critical for
successful functioning in life .
- Jo Boaler, 2008.

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More Food For Thought


twenty-first-century citizens need
mathematics. But the mathematics that people
need is not the sort of math learned in most
classrooms.
People do not need to regurgitate hundreds
of standard methods.
They need to reason and problem solve, flexibly
applying new methods in new situations.
Mathematics is now so critical to that some
have labeled it the new civil right.
- Jo Boaler, 2008.
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people dont like mathematics because of the way it is

misrepresented in school. The maths that millions of school


children experience is an impoverished version of the subject
that bears little resemblance to the mathematics of life or work,
or even the mathematics in which mathematicians engage.

Reuben Hersh, What is Mathematics, Really?

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Consequences for Education


Any math curriculum that emphasizes

following directions to find a single


correct answer is, by definition, preparing
students for jobs that will not exist by the
time they graduate.

Frank Levy and Richard Murnane (2007)

The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market
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21st Century Thinkers and Mathematics Standards

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Thinking and Learning Skills

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills


Creativity & Innovation Skills
Communication & Information Skills
Collaboration Skills

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Rigor =____+_____+______
Conceptual Understanding

Involves more than getting the right answer


Access concepts from multiple perspectives

Transitions from concrete pictorial language abstract

Procedural Skill and Fluency

Study algorithms as a way to see the structure of mathematics (organization,


patterns, predictability) or apply a variety of appropriate procedure flexibly to
With equal
solve problems
Students are expected to achieve speed and accuracy with simple calculations (at intensity
specific grade levels)
Fluent is used in the Standards to mean efficient and accurate

Class time and/or homework should be structured for students to practice core
functions such as single-digit multiplications

Application

Expectation that students apply math and choose the appropriate concept for
application, even when not prompted to do so
Apply math concepts in real-world situations
Mathematical modeling
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Mathematical Practices
Mathematical practices describe the
habits of mind of mathematically
procient students.
In the classroom,

Who is doing the talking?


v Who is doing the thinking?
v Who is doing the math?
v

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Standards for Mathematical


Practice
Overarching Habits of Mind of a
Productive Mathematical Thinker
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
6. Attend to precision

Reasoning
and
Explaining

Modeling
and
Using Tools

2. Reason abstractly

and quantitatively
3. Construct viable
arguments and
critique the reasoning
of others

4. Model with
mathematics
5. Use appropriate tools
strategically

Seeing
Structure and
Generalizing
7. Look for and make
use of structure
8. Look for and express
regularity in repeated
reasoning
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Mathema'cally Procient Students Will

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Preconception #2:
Mathematics is about following rules to
guarantee correct answers.

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The ultimate goal of mathematics


education is for all students to
develop mathematical power to
participate fully as a citizen and
worker in our contemporary world.

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WHERE
THE
MATHEMATICS
WORKS

Computational 
& Procedural 
Skills

Problem 
Solving
DOING
MATH

Conceptual 
Understanding

HOW
THE
MATHEMATICS
WORKS

WHY
THE
MATHEMATICS
WORKS
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How would you


solve this problem?
n A cycle shop has a total of 36 bicycles

and tricycles in stock. Collectively


there are 80 wheels. How many
bicycles and how many tricycles are
there?*

*Adding It Up, National Research Council, 2001, p.126


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Number sense??
346 + 484
43 X 37
1 x 2

62 -38
196 18
2

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When all you have is an


algorithm , if something doesnt
fit, you are lost. Thats how
students feel. They are constantly
nervous they will get off track and
not be able to find their way
back.
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Relevant Research
Students need to be able to apply
procedures flexibly. Not all computational
situations are alike. For example, applying
a standard paper- and-pencil algorithm
to find the result of every multiplication
problem is neither necessary nor
efficient. National Research Council. (2001) Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn
Mathematics J. Kilpatrick, J. Swafford, and B. Findell (Eds.). Mathematic Learning Study
Committee, Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

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Understanding
Mathematics
CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING:
What a student needs to KNOW

PROCEDURAL UNDERSTANDING:
What a student needs to be able to
DO

REPRESENTATIONAL UNDERSTANDING:
How a student SHOWS what

he/she

knows or can do.


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Solid Conceptual Understanding


Teach more than how to get the answer and instead
support students ability to access concepts from a
number of perspectives

Students are able to see math as more than a set of


mnemonics or discrete procedures

Conceptual understanding supports the other aspects


of rigor (fluency and application)

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The Bridge To Understanding


Representation
SEEING Stage

Concrete
DOING Stage

Abstract
SYMBOLIC Stage

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You Cant Memorize Understanding

The focus has been on answer getting.

Rather than the students thinking in getting to that


answer.

Has lead to student (and adult) feelings that I am not good


at math

We must value how each individual student makes sense of


the math

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The changing landscape of


mathematics teaching and learning
A distinction between conceptual knowledge and

procedural knowledge
Mathematical procedures (algorithms) enable you to find

answers to problems according to set rules


Conceptual understanding enables you to find answers to
problems in a variety of ways because you understand the
underlying concepts of the problem.

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Relevant Research
When students compute with strategies

they choose because they are meaningful


they are able to remember and apply their
knowledge.

Baroody, Arthur J. The Development of Basic Counting,


Number, and Arithmetic Knowledge among Children Classified as
Mentally Handicapped. International Review of Research in
Mental Retardation, edited by LaraineMasters Glidden. pp.51-103.
New York: Academic Press, 1999.
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My Ph.D. was in mathematics; by most


standards, I was very 'well trained.'
Nonetheless, the education that I received
was in many ways impoverished.
-- Dr. Alan Schoenfeld, Reflections on an
Impoverished Education, from Mathematics and
Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy,
NCED 2001

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What is Number Sense?


A good intuition about numbers and their relationships.

It develops gradually as a result of exploring numbers,


visualizing them in a variety of contexts, and relating
them in ways that are not limited by traditional
algorithms (Howden, 1989).

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Reading Fluency
Efficiency

Prosody

FLUENCY

Accuracy

Fluency is the ability to read with sufficient ease and accuracy that one
can focus attention on the meaning and message of text.
Adams, 2002
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MATH FLUENCY (Russell, 1999)

Accuracy:

Efficiency:
Student does not get
bogged down into too many steps
or lose track of logic or strategy.
(WORKING MEMORY)

A working knowledge
of number facts, combinations,
and other important number
relationships.
(AUTOMATIC RETRIEVAL)

FLUENCY

Flexibility:
Knowledge of more than
one approach to problem solve.
Allows student to choose appropriate
strategy and to double check work.
(EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING)
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Key Fluencies
Grade

Required Fluency

Add/subtract within 5

Add/subtract within 10

Add/subtract within 100 (pencil and


paper)

Add/subtract within 20

Mul'ply/divide within 100


Add/subtract within 1000

Add/subtract within 1,000,000

Mul'-digit mul'plica'on

Mul'-digit division

Mul'-digit decimal opera'ons

Solve px + q = r, p(x + q) = r

Solve simple 22 systems by inspec'on


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Acquiring Fluency
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1
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Grade 3

Develop an understanding of fractions as numbers [3.NF].


Grade 4

Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering.

Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings
of operations on whole numbers.

Understand decimal notation for fractions and compare decimal fractions [4.NF].
Grade 5

Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions.

Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply


and divide fractions [5.NF].
Grade 6

Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide


fractions by fractions.

Compute fluently with multi-digit numbers and find common factors and multiples
[6.NS].

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National Science Foundation. "All of

mathematics depends on what kids do in the


elementary grades. If you don't do it right,
you're doing remedial work all the way up to
college.

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Fraction MODELS and REPRESENTATIONS


Area/Region Models
Models
introduced
in 3rd
grade

Linear or Measurement Models


Set Models

Model
added in
4th grade

Symbols (with meaning)


3
4

7
2

1
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Preconception #3:
Some people have the ability to do math and
some dont.

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We believe it is desirable for students to struggle


for a while with problems.
Whereas many try to
simplify things so that
students need not struggle
at all.
There is a tendency to believe that
ability is more important than effort.
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These ideas no longer have a


place:
I was never that good at math either.
Our family just doesnt have the math
gene.

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A sobering thought:
There are people in this room
right now who became
convinced years ago that they
could not do math -- because
they could not do some things
that we no longer even teach
today!
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For example, here is what we were doing 20


years ago:
Theorem: (b + c) + (c) = b
Statement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

b and c are real numbers


b + c is a real number
c is a real number
(b + c) + (c) = b + [c + (c)]
c + c = 0
b + [c + (c)] = b + 0
b+0=b
b + [c + (c)] = b
(b + c) + (c) = b

Reason
Hypothesis
Axiom of closure for addition
Axiom of additive inverses
Associative axiom of addition
Axiom of additive inverses
Substitution principle
Additive axiom of 0
Transitive property of equality
Transitive property of equality
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Doing Math at Home


Allow Students to Do the Math

Do not give answers, take the pencil or show your way

Allow Students to have productive struggle

Grapple with ideas, ask questions and take breaks from tough problems

Emphasize and praise effort rather than smartness

If you want your child to keep trying to solve a complex problem even when
they have never seen one like it before.praise effort

Ask students to explain their thinking, show their work with pictures/

models and share what their revisions in thinking have been


Model all of the above in the context of everyday living

Math is problem solving, not just calculationbring them into your world
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Almost everyone wants


schools to be better,
but almost no one wants
them to be different.

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Meeting the Challenges of a Changing World

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A thought
If we teach today as we taught
yesterday, we rob our children of
tomorrow.
John Dewey

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Together we make a difference!

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