In the article some advantages to teaching math without telling the students the proceedures or even the right answers is that they will thik things out for themselves. This is an advantage because the students can become good problem solvers and learn how to fish (do math) and not be handed a fish (given the answers.) As in the case of the article where the students were asked to divide 1/(1/3).
A disadvantage to not telling the students the right answers and the procedures is that if they are getting the right answers for the wrong reasons this can de detramental to their learning because they will not know the proper way and later in their math carreers because their foundation is sandy, they will fail bif time. We can see this by the 2 different trains of thoughts the children had when asked to divide 1/(2/3).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You have very clear topic sentences that identify what your paragraphs are about.
ReplyDeleteI think getting the right answers for the wrong reasons would be more of a danger in teaching procedures. When the students are solving the problems through reasoning, they know why they are doing each step. Also, because the teacher does not tell them the right answer, what makes something a right answer in their mind is being able to justify it. Also, when taught this way students will gain a solid foundation because they actually understand what's going on.
Great post! I think you are completely right about the advantage that the students are able to think for themselves without relying on the teacher for answers. I think another disadvantage is the amount of time it takes to teach the concepts in this kind of classroom. This could cause the curriculum to be cut down so the students do not cover as much material. This could cause the students to be behind some other students when they move on into another classroom. Awesome job!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that an advantage for these students in using this teaching method is that they will think for themselves. I agree that students need to make sure they are getting the right answer when they solve a problem but i also think that is what a teacher is there for. Students should come up with their own answer but the teacher is there to correct the misunderstanding and wrong answers. In this paper they eventually came up wiht the correct answer so the teacher didn't need to step in. Great job though!
ReplyDeleteGreat response; it was clear and to the point. I completely agree that if students learn to explore for their answers when they are young that they will become excellent problem solvers in the future. I do also think that if this method is taught correctly, students wont come out feeling shaky or unsure just because there were no algorithms, but instead they will have the ability to solve more difficult problems later on in their lives.
ReplyDelete