Last Modified:
Thursday, 11-Jan-2001 16:03:29 EST
Each of these projects is to be done individually.
Reading Project 1: Research and Teaching
This project is intended to introduce you to some research into
mathematics teaching or learning. To qualify as research for
this purpose, the article you read should describe some sort
of study that was conducted and the results of that study.
Report
Find an article reporting on some research into mathematics teaching
or learning. Summarize the research project that was done, the
main conclusions drawn from it and any unanswered questions raised by
it (the author's or your own, but distinguish between the two).
Also list two of the items in the bibliography that sound like they would
be interesting to read to learn more about the topic in your article.
Why do these look interesting?
Reading Project 2: Manipulatives
Read "Research within Reach", an article on manipulatives
(to be handed out in class). Then find and read two
articles discussing the use of particular manipulatives (not
general arguments for or against their use generally).
Good places to look for such articles include Teaching
Children Mathematics (formerly The Arithmetic Teacher),
and Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School.
Based on this reading:
-
Give a summary of the two additional articles you read and your reaction
to them. For each article, give a summary and your reaction to it.
Be sure to give complete bibliography information for each article.
-
Discuss the importance of using manipulatives at various grade levels.
How do research and classroom practice support
the idea that manipulatives are an important factor in children's
mathematical development?
This project should introduce you to the needs of some category of
"special students" (slow learners, learning disabled, "gifted and talented",
girls, minorities, etc) and
how best to teach them mathematics.
Report
Find two journal articles pertaining to the
same group of students and write a brief summary of each.
Be sure to include a full reference for each article (journal, author,
date, pages, etc.).
There have been many reports comparing the mathematical
abilities of students in the United States with students in other
countries, including Japan. What do they do differently in Japan?
Report
Watch the video "Teachers and TIMSS" (it will be on reserve in the library).
This video discusses one part of Third International Mathematics and
Science Study: videos of randomly selected eigth grade classrooms in
the U.S. and Japan. Watch this video and read at least one
article discussing differences between mathematics education
in the United States and Japan. Then write a report discussing some
of these differences, including
-
whether or not you think there are any lessons the U.S. can learn from Japan,
and
-
if there are any things that are better about the U.S. system than the
Japanese one.
Be sure to include a complete bibliographic information
for the article.
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