Jun EDCP 342A Math Pedagogy

Skemp on Two Approaches to Learning Math keeps lingering in my mind for a long time and until now it has given me a much inquiry in a lot of ways because there are constant intellectual and practising tension where I need to think about making a instructional or conceptual teaching in mathematics. Neither of the facets of teaching and learning mathematics cannot be neglected for variety of reasons. First of all, the techniques are what students require for getting what they want out of the lecture. For this part, it is total opposite of what I have expected because in the beginning I thought students would not feel quite attractive of the teacher explaining the techniques of solving certain problems. The problem was though this facet/urge of understanding math is tightly or probably inseparable from wanting to get a good grade in the assignments or test materials that math resources often provide for student evaluation. For many other reasons, there were much to thought about this arti...

The things we did in the West Point Grey Academy were asking students how they come up with their own ideas and what makes their game fair or unfair. Most students did a great job of conjecturing their game as fair or unfair. Sometimes, the postulate did not take into consideration that just merely because there were different pieces in a dart board, that didn't mean there was an equal chance of getting each piece because the sizes of the piece had appeared different. Another tricky part of calculating the probability of each outcome in a certain game was when it involved two outcomes in a row which affect the result of each game. They may or may have not realized that one had to multiply the first probability and the second to get the understanding of how to win the game. Yet, by listing out all the outcomes from the first and the second together they may have realized that the total outcome needs multiplication for different circumstances and types of games. The activity will g...

Grade 7 Unit: Numbers of Various Sorts Lessons: Fractions, Integers, Real Numbers Grade 10 Unit: Algebra Lessons: Linear Equations, Rationalization

The point of the math art was to understand the math and the beauty that the art had demonstrated. We had asked Margaret Kempner about what lied in each representation of colours on the 8x8 board and what numbers were exactly represented in each tile. After reading her response through email and the famous math video channel called Numberphile, we started to grasp one by one the general meaning behind her art pieces and the reason why the colours and shapes are put in a certain pattern. In the end, I think we did a pretty good job of finding the beauty and math of it and yet there was a room for improvement, I believe, in addressing Ms. Kempner's contribution to our math art project in general. In other words, I was not articulate in expressing my gratitude toward Ms. Kempner in front of my friends and colleagues, which I should have. Though there was a simple mentioning of her name as a creator of the arts, I hope her kindness and generosity could be recognized by our interactions...

The collaboration amongst the co-teaching partners and the structure of lesson were a bit of an issue, according to many feedbacks we have received. Yet, I take it as a challenge for each instructor having to teach in a totally new settings of a lesson that was being developed during that 15 minutes. Some haven't heard from me as a instructor role and there was a bit of concern there so I do not take the advice I have received lightly at all with regards to my responsibility of the instructor as part of a team. With the responsibility of the instructor as an active participant in the learning process, I think it was a good adventure though that for us to try new type of teaching and putting ourselves in the active learning process. The another aspect of the evaluations that peer instructors have given us is that some had a trouble understanding because everyone had to know the subject before delving into the activity in the first place. To some, it was...

Topic: Introduction to Factorial and Permutations Materials: 20 whiteboard markers, 4 erasers Audience: Teacher Candidates in Math Pedagogy Class (Grade 11 Pre-Calc Material) Overall Learning Objective : Learn to calculate permutations of objects Objectives & Topics Activities Assessments Time (15 min) Motivate ideas of permutation of objects Get into groups of 4; how many ways can you arrange yourselves? Introduce term “Permutation” (certain number of unique objects, order matters) Have groups tabulate arrangements, look for duplicates or missing arrangements and confusion 2-4 min Give students the chance to connect different arrangements and calculate how many are possible Make connection between chair arrangements and distribution of markers. How many possibilities are there if we have 2/3/4 markers to distribute to 2/3/4 people? Students will tabulate results using a table. Watch for duplicates, confusion, frustration. See if students are ...

Is mathematics 'neutral', or is it connected with social/ environmental justice? - Math is neutral but the way math is taught is not neutral. For example, 1+1=2 is not ethically nuanced whatsoever, yet in teaching it to students one either takes conservative or progressive approach. One has to find which aspect of something is not neutral when math is involved. Social/environmental justice is a great example. It can either promote or not promote representations of different factions of people through the word problems in mathematics. It can either promote or not promote justice through teachers bringing different topics of contemporary issues and use math to find out what it is that surrounds our problem today.  What are your ideas about the author's intentions in writing this textbook? - I think the author wants readers to know that Math is a great tool to see truth yet it is not sufficiently used in a social/environmental context to promote the fallacies of today...