BADHIRIYA B.Ed

TRAINING COLLEGE VELICHIKKALA, KOLLAM.

ONLINE ASSIGNMENT

Name of the trainee : SAMBHU RAJ P .R

Year : 2014-2015

Reg.No :

HUMAN RESOURCES LOCALLY AVAILABLE

EXPERTS IN MATHEMATICS

Checked by

jisha p vahab

This work is part of our B.Ed curriculum. I have select topic for online

assignment was “human resources locally available experts in

mathematics”

INTRODUCTION 

                    In mathematics, studies have shown that instruction, especially at the high school

level, remains overwhelmingly teacher-centered, with greater emphasis placed on lecturing than

on helping students to think critically and apply their knowledge to real-world situations (Cobb,

Wood, Yackel, & McNeal, 1992). According to Stodolsky and Grossman most high school

mathematics teachers see mathematics as a rigid and fixed body of knowledge, and think that

their responsibility is to transmit this knowledge to their students (1995, as cited in Staples, 2007,

p. 165).Cuban (1984)delineated the features of such teacher-centered instruction as favoring

teacher-talk over student-talk and include situations in which the teacher directs instruction to the

whole class rather than working with small groups of students or with individual students. In

contrast to this approach, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) advocates

for the development of an inquiry-based mathematics tradition. In an inquiry-based environment,

learning is viewed as an active, constructive activity in which students are encouraged to explore,

develop conjectures, and problem solves. Students are also encouraged to discuss and

communicate their ideas and results, often within small, cooperative groups as well as with their

teachers. NCTM authenticates the value of inquiry-based mathematics instruction by calling for

efforts aimed at creating collaborative and student-centered environments, where students have

opportunities to reason and construct their understanding as part of a community of learners

(NCTM, 1989, 1991, 2000). Mathematics instruction should provide students opportunities to

engage in mathematical inquiry and meaning making through discourse, and teachers should

encourage this process by remaining flexible and responsive to students 'response and

feedback(NCTM, 2000)

HUMAN RESOURCES–   locally available experts in mathematics

                                                                                                                                   Particularly relevant to mathematics education is the notion that “learning is the initiation into a social tradition [of mathematical inquiry, mathematical discovery, mathematical argument, and so on]” (Solomon, 1989, p. 150).With enculturation as the emphasis, a teacher who employs the sociocultural approach to teach mathematics would design a learning task through which students can interact with experts. Simply put, it is a process of guided participation and interaction of learning by solving problems just beyond a student's current capability with the help of a more expert other via scaffolding. Experts do not necessarily imply mathematicians. Teachers are most often the experts in real classrooms, and continuing professional development strengthens their expertise in mathematics. In addition, teaching assistants, advanced peers, and even parents can all be trained to become mathematics experts in real classrooms. For the theorem that the sum of the three inner angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, experts would ask well-thought questions around the main idea of creating equal angles in different places so that the three angles can be pulled together to examine the sum. These questions prepare students for the demonstration of experts who would show students how to move one angle (both physically and mathematically), would have students comment on the move, and would ask students to move the other angles following a similar strategy. Observing students closely, experts would alert students of wrong moves, would point out reasons for wrong moves, and would demonstrate correct moves repeatedly. This modeling and coaching process between experts and students, often considered apprenticeship in nature, is the very foundation of the sociocultural approach that requires social participation and interaction of the whole classroom community. Finally, experts would evaluate with students on different strategies of moving angles and would reason with them on the best way to move angles. The whole interaction between experts and students would end up with the establishment (or enculturation) of an important mathematical tradition (or practice) on the use of auxiliary lines for geometric proof. As a result, experts would have trained students on geometric proof in a way very similar to how masters would have trained apprentices in, say, furniture building.

Conclusion                Although in recent years there has been significant objection to the type of reform-based mathematics proposed by the NCTM, ample research has shown that the repetition and memorization emphasized by traditional mathematical teaching practices, superficially addresses these concerns (Manouchehri, 2007). In this study, we examined the pedagogical strategies used by the IC teacher to foster mathematical discourse and promote in students the use of mathematics language to communicate their thinking. The four teaching strategies utilized in this study represent the teacher’s role during the discursive process (first and second strategy), and the process by which the student’s ability to implement these discursive practices developed over time (third and fourth strategy). The findings of the study suggest that students’ mathematical dispositions can be transformed over time by a teacher’s pedagogical practices. This process of transformation may not be perceived as linear and sequential. In addition, not all students would accept this pedagogy as viable and useful for them. Some may extremely resist this change. However as noted by Sfard (2003), there is substantial evidence to show that instruction focused on meaning that emphasizes investigation, conjectures, communication and collaborative conclusion, is more effective than those that try to circumvent it (as cited in Sanchez, 2006).This research recommends that high school mathematics teachers adopt some of the more recent reform-based instructional strategies that have been underutilized in these classrooms

REFERENCES

1. Human resources – Manmohan joshiy2. Bae j.s (2004) paper presented of 10th international congress on mathematics education,

Copenhagen

Checked by jisha p vahab