Bringing Math to Life: Provide Students Opportunities to Connect their Lives to Math

Abstract

Math journals provide students with opportunities to articulate their understanding of math concepts and/or their frustrations with the gaps in those understandings. The use of these journals supports metacognitive thinking to enhance understanding and application. This study examined the use of math journals by fourth grade students as a conduit for critical thinking, reflection, and real-world math application. For this study, student journal entries consisted of identification of a real-life event, narrative of both the problem's description as well as the rationale for choosing the problem, the use of a problem-solving strategy learned during class instruction, and the use of a numeric or pictorial model to arrive at the solution. Upon completion, students shared his/her journal entry with the entire class. Through this research, I witnessed evidence of growth in mathematical understanding and computation, and I saw students make a deeper connection to math's many real-life applications in their own lives.

Interest and Resilience in Online Mathematics Learning and Its Impact on Concept Understanding

“…Understanding this concept needs to be instilled in students from an early age, namely since the child is still in elementary school (Romadon & Mahmudi, 2019). Students must organize and communicate their mathematical thinking, construct knowledge by interpreting their understanding, and connect with prior knowledge and real-world experience (Benson-O'Connor et al, 2019). Understanding concepts is needed to master teaching materials that contain many formulas so that students can understand the concepts in the material and are skilled at using various procedures in a flexible, accurate, efficient, and precise manner (Dini et al, 2018).…”

Juicio evaluativo de docentes chilenos sobre la dificultad de los ítems PISA de matemáticas y el desempeño de los estudiantes

“…de los niños y jóvenes, ya que les ayuda a pensar de manera lógica, razonar ordenadamente y tener una mente preparada para la resolución de problemas, generalización y abstracción(Benson- O'Connor et al, 2019). Además, les permite desarrollar habilidades relacionadas con la exactitud en los resultados, la comprensión y la utilización de símbolos (Villegas-Zamora, 2019), así como promover habilidades de cooperación, respeto de turnos y autorregulación, incluso en los estudiantes más pequeños(Stipek et al, 2012).…”

Enhancing Math and Stat Courses with Surveying Engineering Problems

“…This is a work in progress (WIP) paper that aims to enhance mathematics courses such as college algebra, trigonometry, and calculus with real life (RL) problems from surveying which, for instance, incorporate area, volume, and slope calculations. Mathematics and statistics instructors often complain that students are less motivated in their classes as it is difficult for them to relate their math problems to RL problems [1], [2], [3]. It is not a surprise that students often believe that math is boring, difficult, and useless, which indicates why students lose interest in these courses, leading to underachievement [4].…”

“…Traditional word problems without real-world context are lacking in assigning a significant role to the problem and in developing meaning for mathematics [6], [7]. In addition, students often approach math courses with fear and anxiety [2], [3]. For instance, students who reported higher levels of math anxiety correlated to lower levels of performance than peers who stated lower levels of math anxiety [8].…”

“…Enhancing math problems with RL examples can provide deeper understanding of math concepts and skills [5], [3]. It can also motivate students to learn more about how math can be used in real life, experiencing a positive attitude towards math.…”