Willoughby, S, S. (February 1997. Funtions from kindergarten through Sixth Grade. Teaching in Middle School, .pp. 197-201.
My article talked about the way students can interpret funtions as inputs into a machine and getting something out of it and how to solve problems such what do I have to put into a machine that when I add 7 to it and then multiply that quantity by 6, that I end up with a given specified number. It went through thte various grades and how each grade thought about it a little differently and how the thinking evolved as the grade level increased.
I think this is important to relate things like funtions to applications that might be easier for the kisd to comprehend and to understand. A funtion is like a machine that when you give it an input it will give yuou a specified output. This is useful for children in teaching them what a funtion is.
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I felt you did a very good job of summing up the main point of the article very concisely. I also agree with your evaluation of the article, where you said that it is important to relate things in mathematics to concepts and ideas that students already know. However, I would have liked to hear more about what the different ages of students thought about this model of equations. Did most of them like it? Or was it that younger students liked it, but older students didn't? Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteI was quite impressed with how well you described the article in that short second paragraph. It didn't drag on and on. Very nice! I thought it was interesting how they did this experiment (or created this idea of functions as a machine) with different age groups. Though, I would also like to have heard more about what the different classes or ages thought of this idea of a machine. Very well done!
ReplyDeleteThat was a very concise summary! Good job, I just would proof read next time because there were a few typos. I also would have liked to hear more of your thoughts on the article.
ReplyDeleteI felt your first paragraph could have had a clearer topic sentence. That one sentence was over half of the paragraph. I would have tried to summarize it more concisely before going into how to find solutions.
ReplyDeleteYou had a great topic sentence in your last paragraph. I would like to see more evidence of why viewing a function as a machine is important and how it is useful for the students.