Mathematics Learning for All How Can It Be Done.ppt

Mathematics Learning for All: How Can It Be Done? David A. Smith Duke University Outline Educational Problems and Proposals Educational Myths and Realities Learning from Research Neurobiology Cognitive Psychology Research-based Curricular Materials Summary and Marching Orders Educational Problems and Proposals Problems with Mathematics Education Changing demographics Watered-down courses Bored, alienated students Low success rates Growing “remedial” enterprise Frustrated faculty Disproportional filtering Reform is not a new idea “It is to be hoped that the near future will bring reforms in the mathematical teaching in this country. We are in sad need of them. From nearly all of our colleges and universities comes the loud complaint of inefficient preparation on the part of students applying for admission; from the high schools comes the same doleful cry. Educators who have studied the work of German schools declare that our results in elementary instruction are far inferior.” Florian Cajori, 1890 The Teaching and History of Mathematics in the United States Responses a century later NCTM Standards for School Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation, 1989 Teaching, 1991 Assessment, 1995 NSF Calculus Reform Initiative, 1987-94 Equity and Expectations “We have inherited a mathematics curriculum conforming to the past, blind to the future, and bound by a tradition of minimum expectations.” “Equity for all requires excellence for all; both thrive when expectations are high.” Educational Myths and Realities Transmission Myth Knowledge can be transmitted from knower to learner. Classroom reality: Constructing knowledge together Darwinian Myth Competition between students builds character, weeds out misfits. Reality: Cooperation generates better learning gains for all. Cooperation at work Engineering Math at Duke 1980’s: Few made it to Eng Math II, mostly white males Now: 2-4 sections of EM I, 2 of EM II every semester, diverse population High success rate in hand