Adam Marcus

Capstone Outline

Purpose: To looks into the causes of the hatred of mathematics that has become so common

among our youth and what we can do to prevent it.

Thesis: Our educators must focus on collaborative and cooperative teaching styles that allow the

students to work and communicate with one another, as well as more creative problem solving

over rote memorization if our next generations are to graduate to adulthood prepared to face the

inevitable mathematical challenges of their futures.

Individual vs. Group Work

A. Within any classroom, a mix of individual and group work is important in helping

students succeed, as well as grasp the material better

a. Cooperative Learning: In todays standard mathematics education, individual

work is far more common than group work, leading to decreased student interest

in mathematics because it doesnt allow the opportunity to communicate

mathematically, reasoning mathematically, [and] develop self-confidence to solve

mathematics problems (Zakaira, Chin, & Daud, 2010)

i. (One problem with our current education system is the far too common

individual work and the far too rare group work within mathematics. The

study cited above concludes that cooperative learning has great benefits on

students attitudes and achievement in mathematics, meaning that group

work would be an effective change we could make to our current system)

b. Modifying the claims made above regarding group work, while cooperative

learning may be a very effective set of processes which help students work

together to solve problems and accomplish goals, teachers should simultaneously

practice the personal philosophy of collaborative learning (Panitz, 1999)

Adam Marcus

i. (This specifies the difference between collaborative and cooperative

learning. Cooperative learning would be just having a few group activities

to get the students involved and engaged, while collaborative learning is

considered a personal philosophy because it its ingrained in the class in

every discussion, problem, and lesson. This part in particular provides a

recommendation to fix the problem of individual vs. group work identified

before.)

Rote Tasks vs. Creative Problem Solving

A. Teachers teach the students how to do problems by showing them a process and having

them practice it until they can do it in their sleep

a. A childs growth in mathematics involves more than just mastering

computational skills (Mann, 2006)

b. Problem solving is the heart of genuine mathematical activity, yet the supply of

curricular materials designed to support a problem-solving approach to

mathematical instruction is small in comparison to the materials aligned with a

procedural, mechanical point of view (Mann, 2006)

c. Students resent mathematical learning as a rote-learning activity that involves the

manipulation of unquestionable rules (Nardi & Steward, 2003)

i. (Rote tasks are cause of students hatred of mathematics. They breed

boredom for students, when they would benefit from creative problem

solving within the classroom instead.)

B. Promote students feeling that they need to do math as an obligation, rather than as

something that they will need in life

a. This is because they resent mathematical learning as a rote-learning activity that

involves the manipulation of unquestionable rules, instead preferring

Adam Marcus

collaboration and group work within all contexts, teaching styles and learning

environments (Nardi & Steward, 2003).

i. (The unbending processes that each student must learn harbors a sense of

isolation of the subject. In every other subject, they learn of multiple ways

to find answers, however, in math, other methods to solve a problem are

not stressed enough. As a result, the students feel limited when solving

problems, growing tired of the same steps over and over, as if it were an

obligation that they just need to get through.)

Technology in Mathematics

A. Interactive Whiteboards
a. Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) allow for teachers to engage the students and

command their attention in a way that lecturing cannot. They are much more

engaged in the material and as a result are able to grasp it quicker and more

effectively. (Glover, Miller, Averis, & Door, 2007)

i. (From my personal experience, I have seen the effectiveness of IWBs in

my internship, where I teach mathematics at Shady Grove Elementary.

When the IWB is in use, the students are all paying close attention and

seem more engaged and interested than when they are just completing

worksheets.)
B. Increased range of problems
a. Technology will result in increased emphasis on embedded and situated

mathematics, meaning an increased focus on real world problems and how

mathematics applies to them. This shift will occur because technology allows for

so many more diverse problems to be taught, and as a result we must have better

mathematical foundational knowledge to solve them. Rather than simple

Adam Marcus

computational skills, we must be able to think creatively to solve problems

without going through the same steps every time (Shaffer & Kaput, 1998).
i. (Technology allows for more methods of teaching students how to do

problems, showing them alternatives that may be easier for them to

understand individually. For example, a teacher could show students how

to solve a problem by hand using a whiteboard, or they could use a

calculator emulator and project it on the boards, showing them exactly

what they can do to solve it in addition to solving it on a whiteboard.)