Joel Math Inquiry Blog (EDUC 450)

During this course, I feel like I only started to delve into a very wide field within mathematics education. A lot of things came up, from my starting point "Why do kids dislike math class so strongly? Why do adults dislike the idea of even having to do math?" I was genuinely curious about what was driving this social force against math. It led me to read into motivation, fixed mindsets, growth mindsets, myths of math people and genetics, gender, indicators of success, assessment, reputation, social conformity. So many things affect what a child thinks about math class. But not all of these things were equal. Plenty of writing has been written on mindsets and motivation. Society is shifting toward adopting a better attitude about math class. But then, math class wasn't shifting to adopt a better attitude about students. And this was something that I started to run with during my inquiry. I was certainly interested in issues of gender and representation in classroo...

There are a few placeholders as I am still finalizing what quotes I want on some slides. Link to the live slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l2DNA6Zg1t3VE51dfltQjtJ50S4v1PEGcNq6-0VV6as/edit?usp=sharing But the layout, ordering, and timing is pretty much set: https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/devlin_03_08.html https://www.ted.com/talks/eddie_woo_mathematics_is_the_sense_you_never_knew_you_had https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/the-myth-of-im-bad-at-math/280914/

Guiding Inquiry Question :   How can we re-adjust the mindset of a student that believes they are “not a math person”? (How can we foster a positive mindset in students who have spent significant time believing they can’t do math?) Motivating idea : More often than not, when we get a class of high school students, they have already entrenched themselves into a mindset. I n an ideal world, students would be educated to have a growth mindset and believe in their potential from the beginning throughout their education. But that is not the case. So my inquiry is focused on what societal factors contribute to fixed mindsets and prevent self-efficacy, or belief in oneself, and what strategies can be used to adjust students toward growth and reaching their potential. Contact with the real world : I have collected anecdotal evidence through informal conversations with students (in an out of math class), teaching staff (math and non-math), misc. school staff, and parents. This ...

Why is "low effort" or "not being a math person" attractive to students? Even students who have experienced success in math sometimes have an aversion to admitting that they are good at math. Why is it a "badge of honour" to be bad at math?

My guiding question is: " Why is low effort or 'not being a math person' attractive to students?  Do students avoid succeeding in math? Why?" (Not entirely sure how I intend to word it yet). Some concepts that I will try to explore within my search topic: Concept A Concept B Concept C Math Identity Dissonance (I shouldn’t be a math person because I am ____) Misaligned identity with ability Social and cultural representation of math success (and failure) [women in math] [relationship between race and perceived math ability] Effortlessness (The “I barely even studied” mentality) [“if you can’t do math without trying, then it’s not for you”] “Some people just get it” My interest in this topic is directly tied to lived experience. Almost any time someone finds out that I study math or that I want to be a math teacher I'm met with the same reaction: "You must be smart/that makes you smart/etc" or "I sucked at math/I ...

In Leonard Mlodinow's book The Drunkard's Walk   Mlodinow explores the way randomness is present in and affects   our everyday life. This is especially true for people who struggle with math and numeracy, but even for those of us who have studied math, randomness can be an extremely difficult notion, especially as a species built to recognize and work with patterns. I'm sharing this book not only because it is a book that I enjoyed reading, but also because in it Mlodinow dedicates a section to discussing marking and assessment with percentage grades. My personal experience, and having read this book, lead me to say no, percentage grades are not accurate. Useful? Sure, but not accurate. Or at least not to the point of individual percentages. I am of the opinion that it is impossible to be consistent in assigning number grades to students' work. I might be biased in this because I spend a lot of time thinking about how we assess the arts, because drama is my other te...

It seems to me that the clearest reason for tests and percentage or letter grades in assessment is for students and evaluators to have a benchmark for student ability.  The students want to know how they're doing in relation to their peers and they want to know if they have what it takes to get into universities or other post-secondary programs.  In a lot of ways, grades make school about efficiency. At least, that was my experience. A student with a lot of courses and assignments will streamline their workload to only include what is graded, and beyond that the focus is on what carries more weight. They have a fixed amount of time and energy and they must decide how they will distribute it over the week. In many ways, it is about finding the path of least resistance.  In my experience as a student in high school, this was absolutely the case. I was exceptional at taking tests. I could consistently predict the sort of questions that were going to be asked based on th...