Can some students not learn Algebra? posted 11/26/2011 by Rebecca Dan Meyer posted an interesting and highly commented on blog post this week: http://bit.ly/sK5VhY . "Last April, fourteen of Palo Alto High School's twenty math teachers petitioned their school board [pdf] against raising graduation requirements to include Algebra II:
Many of the comments to this blog post talk about the usefulness of Algebra and specifically Algebra II. As it is taught currently, I would tend to agree that's it's abstractness is not necessarily used on a daily basis. I do, though, believe that if algebra were more easily understood, it could be applied in more situations in order to increase successful outcomes. This is where DR comes in! We are needed now more than ever. Brain Calisthenics for Abstract Ideas posted 6/10/2011 by Rebecca I read a fantastic NYTimes article this week: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/health/07learn.html?scp=1&sq=...
It talks about how our intuition is underused and that the human eye can recognize patterns quickly in our subconscious even before we understand it ourselves: perceptual training. Quoted studies include: 1) Matching equations to graphs (quickly) 2) Liking a better deck of cards when gambling 3) Distinguishing painting styles [I like this one the best!]* 4) Fraction building (quickly - repetition) 5) Slime-mold for global warming experiment
Patterns, patterns, patterns....they are what life is all about. It is so nice to find research that is, yet again, substantiating the direction of Dream Realizations. *3) Distinguishing painting styles [I like this one the best!] Seeing multiple painting styles instead of just concentrating on one artist alone allows the eye to pick up the pattern naturally. I relate this to base systems: if we teach all base systems, then the eye can pick up the patterns for itself and focus is off the single painter (base 10). The world has opened up with possibilities!!
Definitely worth the read! DR is developing a public grant to bring subQuan to the iPad posted 4/9/2011 by Cooper I believe the touch interface will enable the creation of an intuitive and very real graphical user interface (GUI). This GUI allows us to build seamless transitions in the user input screen based on the level of knowledge and special needs of the user. This is ideal for young students learning numerical values, words, and symbols. I also believe this might provide a solution to a problem dyslexics have with numbers. Replies to This Discussion
Math Visualization posted 12/4/2010 by Rebecca What does "math visualization" conjure up in your mind? Is it only physical manipulatives? Or is it drawing out a word problem into pictures? We regularly step back from math and try to visualize its usage, but have we stepped back far enough to see the patterns? Just a few random thoughts to start off a Saturday morning. Happy weekending, all! Replies to This Discussion
Brains vs. Computers posted 12/4/2012 by Rebecca The brain can be compared to computer hardware. Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have become more widely useful in computer and video processing. “Using GPUs … gives the computer a processing capacity that competes with supercomputers over twice its size” (http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1563044/supercomputer-gpu-... , paragraph 2). The vector (3D) graphics implementation in computer hardware has increased capacity and facilitated a greater speed in computing. "GPUs are redefining high performance computing," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. "With the Tianhe-1A, GPUs now power two of the top three fastest computers in the world today. These GPU supercomputers are essential tools for scientists looking to turbocharge their rate of discovery" (http://pressroom.nvidia.com/easyi/customrel.do?easyirid=A0D622CE9F5... , paragraph 7). Designers are finding in the computer industry that graphics give computers a stronger foundation for processing. Dehaene (Jossey-Bass, 2008) describes a major upheaval in the mental arithmetic system during the preschool years when “progressing in math means storing a wealth of numerical knowledge in memory” (p. 281). This storage of numbers in the brain is different than the storage of vocabulary. Verbal memory can be powerful with its cohesiveness and connectedness. Humans possess associative brains; we can open a memory from a vague recollection, something computers have yet to master, which makes learning vocabulary easier than learning the multiplication table. Each calculation within the multiplication table hangs independent of the other multiples when memorizing and that’s where the brain’s associative nature fumbles and numbers jumble inside our head, resulting in mistaken memories, which correlates to wrong answers. So, why are we still relying on this outdated practice of memorization? Jossey-Bass, I. (2008). The Jossey-Bass reader on the brain and learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Virtual Worlds and Mathematics posted 12/4/2010 by Rebecca How can we incorporate what has been done in the past with virtual worlds, how the brain learns, and using this 3-D environment to tap into the instincts with which individuals were born and see mathematics as we have never seen it before: patterns unrecognizable without the advancement of technology? |
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