This article presents a new paradigm for the study of Math and Sciences curriculum during primary and secondary education. A workshop for Education undergraduates at four different campuses (n=242) was designed to introduce participants to the new paradigm. In order to make a qualitative analysis of the current school methodologies in mathematics, participants were introduced to a taxonomic tool for the description of K-12 Math problems. The tool allows the identification, decomposition and description of Type-A problems, the characteristic ones in the traditional curriculum, and of Type-B problems in the new paradigm. The workshops culminated with a set of surveys where participants were asked to assess both the current and the new proposed paradigms. The surveys in this study revealed that according to the majority of participants: (i) The K-12 Mathematics curricula are designed to teach students exclusively the resolution of Type-A problems; (ii) real life Math problems respond to a paradigm of Type-B problems; and (iii) the current Math curriculum should be modified to include this new paradigm.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.