Math 371 Technology for STEM Educators

Every spring when I teach Math 371, I learn something new.   Here are the things that I learned this semester: Our math pre-service teachers are not fans of the TI-Nspire. If they had to use a TI calculator in their classroom, they would prefer an 84 or 84-plus.  We discussed at length that both Desmos and Geogebra are easier to use—and the only reason to use a calculator in our math classroom is to help students prepare for the ACT or SAT.  Here is a link to the ACT calculator policy and here is the SAT calculator policy . We tried a new math and science app that interacts with Google docs, Equatio . This app allows you to type equations into Google docs using handwriting, speech, LaTex, and a regular equation editor.  We loved that part of it. I also tried the Equatio Mathspace and created an assignment for the students.  It turned out well, but we couldn’t figure out how to scroll down in the space so students couldn’t do the last problem. I will have...

            There is a harmful perception among students that when a solution isn’t apparent or discernible in a quick time frame, that it is due to a lack of intelligence. This is an ideology that I am familiar with. Often a problem is presented and the smartest kid in the class shouts out the answer. The teacher then acknowledges the response without asking the other students or gauging for general understanding before moving on, and this can be discouraging to some. This encourages the mentality that, “if I am smart a solution will come easily”, which is absolutely not the case. As educators we need to explain to students that success doesn’t always come easily, rather it is often a difficult and tedious process. We need to teach the mentality that not all intellectual abilities are hardwired, and that learning takes effort to be meaningful and successful.             S...

            One of the never ending in debates in the classroom of modern mathematics is where to draw the line with the use of calculators. First, what is the purpose of calculators in the classroom? Calculators are problem solving tools, generally used on equations that have obscure numbers or difficult trigonometric functions. But many times a calculator is used to find the answer as fast as possible, even if it is fairly simple product of two integers. Once a student becomes dependent on the calculator, mental math becomes hard for them because the calculator has been doing it for them. Another concern is when students have a very powerful calculator that can do all the math for them, such as solving equations, taking derivatives, evaluating integrals, etc. Having a calculator like this can inhibit the learning of a student because they use it for all their homework and never take the time to do the mathematics by hand. Then when they take the test, ...

            When I first declared a mathematics education major, I thought that I had every part of how I wanted my classroom to function figured out. I had the same mathematics teacher from 8 th grade up until I graduated high school. I liked her style of teaching, so I thought I would be fine just copying her style of teaching. However, we never used any technology in her classroom. As you can imagine, when I first started working with technology in my Geometry for teachers’ class, and now my technology for math educators class, I was out of my element. I never knew that there were so many applets and programs that could help my future students with their mathematics.             I have pretty much completely changed my teaching philosophy from when I first declared being a mathematics education major. It has been pretty hard for me to have the mindset that I need to incor...

Sometimes when students are presented with problems and solutions in math, they are unable to describe what is happening and mark it up to “magic.” Almost anyone you ask can tell you what the Pythagorean Theorem is, but not everyone can describe why it works. All they know is that it is a magical formula that you use in math that gives you the right answer. Teachers need to make sure that when they are teaching, students understand why the things they are doing work. The idea of math being magical typically stems from students being told to memorize formulas without understanding how to derive them. We are doing the students a disservice by having them memorize because they lose out on an opportunity to critically think. If students get in the pattern of believing that math is magic, they give up when they come across something they don’t understand because they can’t remember the magical formula they thought they had memorized. Another danger is that if the students do not under...

In the past few years, I have had my share of aiding students with their math homework. Anywhere from college to elementary, I have observed and compared the tendencies of these students. Overall, the students have no issue remembering what they learned, but, if anything, they lack the confidence in their efforts to finding the solution. They answer each solution with uncertainty, looking for any direction from the instructor. How can we build confidence in our students? It is one thing to have them find the correct answer, but if they continually need our confirmation to find confidence, are we helping or harming at this point? Henry Ford once said “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” This quote helps underlines the importance of having confidence in your own ability, especially in the case of our students. For the remainder of this post, I will discuss a few of the concepts that I have applied to my teaching methods. Instead of providing an e...

            There are over 155 million Americans playing video games regularly. Chances are many of your students will be among these 155 million. To many parents, video games have a negative connotation that seem to have no value. The truth is that video games, in moderation, have many benefits. The gamers use many facts, tools, and information given to them to move on throughout the game. This makes it no surprise that some games can also be beneficial in your classroom.             In our technology class, one of our favorite type of game is one that sets the students up against each other. If you have competitive students, as we do in Math 371, these types of games can be very beneficial. They can also be used for short quizzes, or exit tickets. One thing that we must be carful with when playing these is that we do not forget what we want our students to learn. Many of ...

Greetings students of Math 371! I'm very excited to once again add to this blog.  Dr. Vestal asked me two years ago to post as a guest blogger.  I skimmed through my previous post  and am happy that it's still relevant.  The revolution is as strong as ever. I want to talk briefly about how Twitter has helped me become a better teacher.  I first joined Twitter back in September of 2011.  It wasn't until the spring of 2014 that I started being active on Twitter and using it professionally.  Over the past four years, my use of Twitter has evolved into what I now consider my Personal Learning Network (PLN).   I first started following some of the all-stars of mathematics education -- Dan Meyer, Andrew Stadel, and Dr. Vestal to name a few.  Over time, I've followed more and more people who I've either met, read about, or heard of via re-tweets and likes. Each day, I spend between 5-10 minutes skimming through my Twitter f...