Mathletes
From WikEd
Contents |
This space is designated for the Mathletes team:
- Kristin Smetana, Abbey Green, and Paul Suminski
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- EPS 590: Critical Thinking and the Internet (Fall 09)
- Dr. Nicholas Burbules
Introduction
In order to assist students in developing critical thinking skills through the use of technology, each member of the Mathletes will create a discussion board for their mathematics classes. The discussion board topics will be organized around five categories; namely, reflections on technology in mathematics, such as the graphing calculator, careers involving mathematics, applications of mathematics, communicating mathematics, and deductive thinking. Students participating in the discussion boards range from middle school students, freshmen honors students, and sophomores and juniors in the regular level mathematics track.
Please click on the links above to read the discussion board topics for each of the five categoriges. Under several questions, you will also be able to read student responses and follow-up lesson plans.
Rationale For Project
When it comes to Mathematics, critical thinking is key. It is what the majority of people will take from math classes and use on a daily basis. Some specific skills will be used, and some people will choose a math specific field, but to problem solve and use reasoning, students will be better prepared for the future.
The Mathletes set out to challenges some of the critical thinking of their students. By asking deeper, thought provoking question regarding technology, careers options, communication, application of math, and deductive thinking, they were able to see how mathematics impacts the student’s views and beliefs on math. They required students to respond to online discussions and problems, ones which challenged some of their views and asked them to think beyond the text book. Students submitted responses online, and through follow-up activities and assessing responses, students were able to challenge each other farther. Students were able to critically think about those five categories mentioned and really get a sense for how important mathematics is in their lives.
Analysis of Students Responses
After reviewing responses from students from all levels, we realized that students needed more scaffolding in order to think critically about the topic and to apply this topic to other aspects beyond mathematics. Therefore, we decided to assign these discussion board questions as pre-assessments. Each teacher used these responses to determine what questions to ask in the class discussion the following day. After each discussion board was due, the students would start the class by chosing the best student response and stating their rationale for their choice. After sharing these answers, the teacher posed a list of questions to the class throughout the discussion. Finally, each teacher assigned a follo-up question for homework that night to encourage students to delve even further into the topic and develop their critical thinking skills.
At the end of the semester, we will analyze student responses both by grade level and ability level (honors level students verse regular level students).
