What an interesting article. Here I go with my math examples...when I was in high school I thought that learning math meant being able to memorize the steps. If my teacher wanted me to solve for x, I knew how to find it (after many hours of tutoring of course). But if my teacher would have asked me to explain why x= 5 I would've froze (good thing she didn't). This example of memorizing without knowing the "why" is what I like to call the "Robot". I do what I'm asked because that's how I was programed. I never cared to ask why the steps were what they were.
As I started taking upper division math classes in college I was scared to tackle certain problems because the formulas were too long to memorize. My professors then told me that it wasn't about memorizing but rather about understanding these formulas. If I could understand why they exist and what they are used for, then using them to solve problems will be easier. "Ugh! You mean I have to think? That's hard and takes up too much energy!", I said. It took me a while to grasp this concept of thinking, but once I got the hang of it felt my neuron connections getting stronger...just kidding.
Also the article mentioned mind mapping. This is something that I would like to teach my students one day (as soon as I learn how to manage my time better). I actually took a class that focused on mind mapping at it definitely cleared things up for me. I was able to see connections between the topics I was learning rather than see them as separate topics.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Ah... the whole procedure/concept issue in math. This is a really important point and I can't wait to talk more about it (it's one of my current obsessions). How do we know when students are understanding the concept as opposed to just following the procedure?
p.s. I like the layout of your blog-- was it one of the standard ones or did you do it yourself?
Thank you. Yes it was standard though.
Post a Comment