Re: [Phys-l] what shall we do about math?

["Paul Lulai" <plulai@stanthony.k12.mn.us>]

Hello.
 
In my opinion, each district has to have an honest discussion about what they want and how they want to do it before they put kids into the same course a second time.  Most districts don't have that discussion.  It's like squeezing tomatos in a vice.  Keep doing it, you'll keep squashing them.  Somebody somewhere said doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of crazy.  Too often, the schools expect that the difference must come from the kid.  The change can come from the kid, but all too often it doesn't.
 
For a while we had what I lovingly called Physical Science Lockdown.  Kids couldn't leave without an escort (bathroom, locker etc...).  We did things quite a bit differently with a population that was entirely at-risk.  Some kids passed others didn't.  But the district must realize that what & how things are done must change.  Especially for summer courses.
 
Some options:
pull kids out after quarter 1 if they are failing.  put them into a computer aided / simulation based model.  put them back in class when they have either caught up or hit a passing mark?   for a while, pato learning software would do this.
make some classes more project based.  works for some.
implement programs like AVID to encourage kids to get the job done.
get area professionals to help mentor at-risk students.
 
There is a study that show a linked math and physics or physical science class can improve passing rates for at-risk populations.  The study could be mis-leading if not actually read.  The group was on a block day, that means 4 classes per day for 90 minutes.  Most places then run the standard yearlong math class for only 1 semester.  The study group had the 90 minute block for math & physics run all year long.  Those students got twice the math & science than the standard group.  However, results are results.  Their scores improved.  The study is somewhere on the ASU modeling website.  Sorry I don't have the link handy.
 
 
 
Good luck.  It isn't a fun spot to be in.  
 
 
 
Paul Lulai
Physics Teacher
US First Robotics Teacher
..:: Medtronic - St Anthony RoboHuskie 2574 ::..
Science Olympiad Coach
3303 33rd Ave NE
St. Anthony Village Senior High
Saint Anthony Village, MN 55418
(w) 612-706-1144
(fax) 612-706-1020
plulai@stanthony.k12.mn.us
http://www.robohuskie.com <http://www.robohuskie.com/> 
http://prettygoodphysics.wikispaces.com <http://prettygoodphysics.wikispaces.com/> 
http://sites.google.com/site/go4st8physics/ <http://sites.google.com/site/go4st8physics/>  <http://go4st8physics.wordpress.com/> 
http://www.stanthony.k12.mn.us/hsscience/ <http://www.stanthony.k12.mn.us/hsscience/> 
  
  

________________________________

From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu on behalf of Steve Highland
Sent: Thu 7/16/2009 2:13 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] what shall we do about math?



I've been visiting a couple of summer algebra classes this past week and I'm
depressed by how impossible a situation the students and teachers find
themselves in.

Several of these students have failed the course up to three times.  They
are forced to repeat it over and over.  The summer class is supposed to
cover the same amount of material the regular class did, so the teacher told
me they have to cover about a chapter a day.  And the one group I met today
has four hour sessions each day.  That would fry my brain.

This just strikes me as torture.  Are there any better approaches out there?
I would think there should be some other option for students who can't pass
the course than just forcing them to fail it repeatedly.


The class I met today had a dispute going (good!) over what they saw as a
contradiction in the book.  It defined the square roots of a number a to be
the solutions of

X^2 = a

-- so that both the positive and negative values qualify.

But then it said the value of {radical sign}a was just the positive value.
So the text defined "square root" written out in words one way and square
root written as a radical a different way.   It seemingly made a distinction
between "a square root" and "the square root."

Man, that's confusing.  Does anybody have a better way out of this language
dilemma?

Steve Highland



> Quoting Paul Lockhart:

> A musician wakes from a terrible nightmare. In his
> dream he finds
> himself in a society where music education has been made
> mandatory.
> ³We are helping our students become more competitive in an
>
> increasingly sound-filled world.² Educators, school systems, and the
>  state
> are put in charge of this vital project. Studies are
> commissioned,
> committees are formed, and decisions are made< all
> without the advice or
> participation of a single working musician or
> composer.

> Since musicians
> are known to set down their ideas in the form of
> sheet music, these curious
> black dots and lines must constitute the
> ³language of music.² It is
> imperative that students become fluent in
> this language if they are to
> attain any degree of musical competence;
>  indeed, it would be ludicrous to
> expect a child to sing a song or
> play an instrument without having a
> thorough grounding in music
> notation and theory. Playing and listening to
> music, let alone
> composing an original piece, are considered very advanced
> topics and
> are generally put off until college, and more often graduate
> school.

...

> Sadly, our present system of mathematics education is
> precisely this
> kind of nightmare. In fact, if I had to design a mechanism
> for the
> express purpose of destroying a child¹s natural curiosity and love
> of
> pattern-making, I couldn¹t possibly do as good a job as is currently
>
> being done< I simply wouldn¹t have the imagination to come up with
> the kind
> of senseless, soulcrushing ideas that constitute
> contemporary mathematics
> education.

It goes on like this for 25 pages:

> http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf

It's well worth reading.  You
> won't soon forget it.

Other reviewers have called the article "humorous" but
> not
everyone will find it so;  slapstick stops being funny if/when
you start
> to identify with the guy whose kiester is getting
slapped with a stick.  And
> an insult hurts in direct proportion
to its accuracy.

Background on the
> article and the author:
  http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html

I'm
> surprised Lockhart hasn't yet been arrested and charged with
corrupting the
> youth of Athens.

_______________________________________________
Forum for
> Physics
> Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu <https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/> 
> /mailman/listinfo/phys-l



_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l