We forget the rules of math. Have you seen math problems passed around Facebook? They are generally Order of Operation problems that need to be solved using PEMDAS. The problems are put out with the challenge that 97% of people will get it wrong. Why would a problem like this give adults trouble if it is something that we teach 5th graders? Adults have forgotten school items that they do not use in their everyday life. Will Thalheimer presents studies in which college students forgot 84%-92% after eight years. Adults have an even longer time since they sat in a 5th grade classroom.
Some math rules are more specific than others. They need multiple approaches to the learning, which should also be and available at home where their parents have long since forgotten the math rules. Students do not have a disciplined way to think about math. We, as teachers, need to form this mathematical thinking. I am going to take Howard Gardner's four essential steps to disciplined thinking and apply it here. (2008)
- Identify the truly important topic. My example will be Order of Operations, which fits this test. These rules guide problem solving in Algebra and Calculus, which are important fixtures in middle school and high school math.
- Spend a significant amount of time on the topic. Each teacher needs to find this amount for themselves.
- Approach the topic in a number of ways. Here is where we will focus. In addition to teaching the method, music videos should be used to reinforce what they just learned. This will help reach more learners and show what genuine understanding looks like, according to Gardner.
- Set up performances of understanding.
Dr. Math, a part of Drexel's Math Forum, says that "(M)aking a song or story helps you learn." Music videos made for math give a number of different pathways to a topic. The words that are sung are giving the rules that students need. They are moving with visuals that can show the math in work, or give symbols to the words to aid vocabulary knowledge.
Citations
Download singing children free Free Photos. (2012, January 1). Download singing children free Free Photos. Retrieved July 16, 2014, from http://all-free-download.com/free-photos/singing_children_197509_download.html
Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future (Pbk. ed.). Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.
Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math FAQ: Learning Multiplication Facts. (n.d.). Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math FAQ: Learning Multiplication Facts. Retrieved July 16, 2014, from http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.learn.multiply.html
Thalheimer, W. (2010, April). How Much Do People Forget? Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.work-learning.com/catalog.html
