The need for more active involvement of mathematics students in the learning process is well documented. Involvement occurs through the use of inquiry-based learning. The curriculum materials that make up Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM) reverse the typical lecture dynamic by being built on guided-discovery investigations.
DAoM materials focus on investigations, tasks, experiments, constructions, data collection and discussion prompts rather than transcribed lectures and worked-out sample problems followed by banks of routine exercises. The transformative impact this has on students in MLA classrooms can be seen clearly in the classroom vignette, student quotes, and videos shown below.
What does a day in our Mathematics for Liberal Arts Classroom look like? It's still five minutes before class starts when I walk into the room. Of the two dozen students already in the classroom, most are already doing mathematics.
In my perfect world students would be self-motivated, want to learn, collaborate with other students, ask lots of questions, pursue mathematics outside of class requirements, etc. What then is needed to make this happen? I believe this independent learning I am looking for relies on student curiosity.
As the title of this blog post suggests I believe that inquiry helps tremendously in reaching learners on different levels at the same time - even if they all work on the same investigations. Why? First of all, students can work at their own pace.
Changing the mindset of our students, helping them understand how our brains work, how we actually learn is incredibly important for any mathematics class, from Kindergarten through graduate school. Since there is a lot of wonderful material, including blogs and videos, already published about this topic, I will use this blog to just present some of the main resources.
A Learning Contract can make the roles and responsibilities of students and faculty explicit and allow students to make a conscious commitment to learning in this class.
In the first class I ask students to write their name on a notecard and to place it in front of them. At the end of class I collect the name tags and in the beginning of the next class, I will set them up again, likely in different places. I call this strategy one of the “control knobs” of an IBL instructor, because where and with whom the students work has a big influence on the effectiveness of their learning.
I'm getting ready for the first day of class of the semester, excited to meet a new group of students in my mathematics for liberal arts class. As I'm making decision about my goals, and planning my teacher actions in the classroom, I invite you to come along.
Perhaps the best way to understand the depth and powerful impact of our project is to read what the students have to say about their experiences. The following student quotes, collected during the project, are typical responses received as part of student journals, essays and reflections. Many more student quotes can be found in our quote library »
Usually I absolutely dread going to math class. I think it is because I have the negative mindset that I am just going to fail. This class has helped me widen my horizons and see that I do have the ability to succeed in math.
I feel if math is taught like this in elementary schools at the national level the sky is the limit for us.
This class taught me how to think independently about not only math but other subjects and everyday problem solving.
One of my favorite projects in this course was the string art project. I believed this assignment to be very creative and quite contrary to any of my previous history in a math course.
This course challenged me to think in ways that I don't usually think, and it helped open my eyes to the world of math. It actually seems interesting.
I always knew that I would see science or art or literature in real life, but no math class ever taught me that I would see mathematics in real life. Even now I catch myself seeing fractals or hearing about math things in songs.
I've done more math in this class than all of high school.
Classroom Videos
The focus on active student involvement, student responsibility for learning, and decentralized role of the teacher is fundamental to this project. Without models or experience, such fundamental restructuring of one's mathematics classrooms can feel uncomfortable, foreign and daunting. Video clips from DAoM classrooms provide access into this culture of student discovery and inquiry.
Pick's Theorem
Caption: A small group interaction with their professor as part of investigations of the areas of polygons on a geoboard in relation to the number of pins contained within the polygon and those falling along the boundary. Mathematically, these are first steps towards the (re-)discovery and proof of Pick's Theorem. The students wondered which pegs actually lie on the boundary formed by the rubber band. Pedagogically, notice how the teacher works hard to support the students, drawing their attention to particular aspects of the geoboard. It seems he has a certain path in mind, given where the students are. Not all the hints are connecting with the students. In their attempts to describe the different patterns they see, the students realize that they can be grouped depending on the slope of the side of the triangle.
Powers of i
Caption: This video clip is from a section of Mathematical Explorations, our Mathematics for Liberal Arts course. In this clip the students are exploring the pattern formed by powers of i and one of them turns to Prof. Hotchkiss as the authority for correct answers. As you watch this clip, listen to her questions and how Prof. Hotchkiss responds to them using inquiry-based questioning techniques.
