I think Mathematics can be presented in a few ways. The usual way is textbooks. In the beginning stages of math, the textbooks are good. The student isn't bored by it, there are pictures and many examples, its colorful and so on. But as you get higher into your math courses, the books get so boring. I am taking Modern Algebra this semester, and if you open the book to any page, its all words. It's boring and has way too much writing. I don't even understand it most of the time. I think the textbooks should be used as a guide, not followed step by step. This brings me to my next way.
Supplemental materials is another way to present mathematics. I think this is a great idea because it lets you see other ways things are applied. Lets say the teacher teaches a new lesson and they hand out a worksheet or something like that. It is another way of teaching students. And I know I always liked to get things like that because it took us away from the book.
And of course, there are hands on activities, projects, movies, and current event things. A hands on activity could be doing measurements. For instance, the perimeter of the room... I loved doing hands on activities because it was fun, and you got to see how it is used in the real world.
It all depends on the teacher and how they present the material to get the students involved and wanting to learn. If they keep using the book and nothing else, it will be really boring. But if they use different methods, it will be more interactive and fun.
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4 comments:
ur right, i dont think math books have changed in forever. i think it might be time for a different more inviting format.
I wonder about the presentation of math ideas and theories in writing. You're right, it is incredibly hard to understand mathematical ideas in written form. But how else could the information be presented? Would it make sense to move away from a traditional written textbook to a video or visual modeling kind of explanation, with oral explanation?
I do believe math books help but the person who teaching it must also have a good understanding and knows how to teach as well. Using real life situation to solve math proble mis a good idea to learn the math. but when it comes to calculus and so on is a different story becuase the majority of people in the world don't use calculus. Most of the people will use basic math for the resat of thier lives. By the way I love math becuase I believe math is a logical subject you don't have to read as much to learn math as other subject.
I agree with you when you say that the higher you go in the levels of math the more words you see. I personally hate that. Last week I was looking at the Math book that Dr. Dana handed out and it was so confusing and unclear. They are of course helpful but there are other ways that are better to help the students understand math. Well thats where you step in. But math is a very important aspect we need in life, so good luck.
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