1 / 16

Committees and Reports that Have Influenced the Changing Mathematics Curriculum

This resource was developed by CSMC faculty and doctoral students with support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0333879. The opinions and information provided do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 1-20-05.

matsu
Download Presentation

Committees and Reports that Have Influenced the Changing Mathematics Curriculum

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. This resource was developed by CSMC faculty and doctoral students with support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0333879. The opinions and information provided do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 1-20-05

  2. Committees and Reports that Have Influenced the Changing Mathematics Curriculum This set of PowerPoint slides is one of a series of resources produced by the Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum. These materials are provided to facilitate greater understanding of mathematics curriculum change and permission is granted for their educational use. Report of the National Institute of Education Conference on Basic Mathematical Skills and Learning Report • 1975 http://www.mathcurriculumcenter.org

  3. Conference on Basic Mathematical Skills and Learning The “Euclid Conference” Euclid, Ohio October, 1975 The National Institute of Education (NIE)

  4. Background — The 1970s • Many questions remained about the effectiveness of the new mathematics curricula. • Many believed the topics in the new curricula were too abstract and challenging for students and they also questioned the lack of applications. • Strategies to effectively implement the new mathematics curricula were often absent or inadequate. • The National Science Foundation significantly reduced funding for teacher enhancement programs and development of new curricula. • There was a “back to basics” movement in mathematics. However, there was little agreement about the definition of basic skills among educators. • The National Institute of Education (founded in 1972) sponsored a 3-day conference in 1975 in Euclid, Ohio to discuss basic mathematical skills and learning.

  5. Steering Committee Gerald Rising, State University of New York at Buffalo Peter Hilton, Battelle Research Institute and Case Western Reserve University Edward Esty, National Institute of Education Ross Taylor, Minneapolis Public Schools Robert Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana Israel Scheffler, Harvard University James Wilson, University of Georgia at Athens

  6. May, 1975Dear _________,You are invited to join us for a conference on basic mathematical skills in Euclid, Ohio, this October. Please draft a position paper on the following two questions and send it to us before the conference.1. What are basic mathematical skills and learning?2. What are the major problems related to children’s acquisition of basic mathematical skills and learning, and what role should the NIE play in addressing these problems?We look forward to your response.Sincerely,Gerald Rising and Peter Hilton (Adapted from Volume II, p. 2)

  7. Volume I:Contributed Position Papers This volume contains the 33 position papers that were commissioned before the conference. After the conference, each author revised their paper for publication. Edward Begle was the only contributor who was not able to attend the conference.

  8. Volume II:Working Group Reports This volume describes the organization of the conference, includes reports of the working groups, and provides a summary. Four working Groups: 1. Classroom Instruction and Teacher Education 2. Curriculum Development and Implementation 3. Goals for Basic Mathematical Skills and Learning 4. Research Priorities The last section of Volume II provided a summary of the entire conference by Peter Hilton and Gerald Rising.

  9. Classroom Instruction and Teacher Education Recommendations focused on: • Developing innovative teacher education programs that lay emphasis on clinical methods to better understand students’ mathematical comprehension, on diagnosis of learning difficulties in mathematics, and on development of problem-solving teaching techniques. • Developing effective diagnostic tools and appropriate remediation materials. They believed that clinical centers should be established. • Developing instructional materials focused on problem solving processes.

  10. Curriculum Development and Implementation Proposals for Research and Development • Impact of calculators and computers • Integration of mathematics with its areas of application • Dissemination and implementation strategies for new curricula • Creative methods for teaching arithmetic and ratio/proportion • Alternative treatments of topics in arithmetic • Improved assessment materials, including materials for diagnosis and remediation Basic Issues and Policy Guidelines • Study the impact of the “behaviorist-humanist controversy” • Specify implementation plans for new curricula to support research, including replication • Produce teacher guides and professional development plans to accompany new curricula • Draw on research-proven materials and procedures in future curriculum work • Involve members from all areas of mathematics education and related disciplines in the development of future curricula

  11. Goals for Basic Mathematical Skills and Learning General Goal:Mathematics education should help students improve their ability to think, to reason, and to make sense of problems and situations they face in their lives. Basic Goals Students should: • have appropriate computational skills; • be able to relate mathematical ideas and physical situations; • be able to make reasonable estimations and approximate calculations; • be able to organize and interpret numerical data, including using graphs; • be able to measure length, distance, angles, weight, area, volume, and temperature; • be able to judge the reasonableness of results; • have a qualitative understanding of drawing inferences from functions and rates of change; • be able to interpret chance situations and apply ideas of probability; • have an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of computers; • be able to apply general problem-solving techniques. Further Desirable Goals Students should: • recognize the internal considerations of the discipline of mathematics; • be able to reason abstractly and construct arguments and proofs; • be familiar with cultural contributions of mathematics; • be familiar with common mathematical notations; • understand the basic idea of mathematical modeling. Problem solving was considered as a unifying goal that interrelates the general, basic, and further desirable goals.

  12. Report on Research Priorities This working group addressed concerns in regards to policy issues and research priorities, as well as developing a set of research questions: • Recommendation 1: Support of research that relates to the learning and teaching of mathematics should be increased. • Recommendation 2: Research resources should support a sequence of related studies including those of interest to mathematicians, mathematics educators, psychologists, classroom teachers, and the public. • Recommendation 3: Research methods that were successful in other areas should be investigated, to expand the variety of methods used in mathematics education research. • Recommendation 4: Information should be gathered and synthesized from prior research studies. • Recommendation 5: Research to produce better assessment tools and evaluation methods in mathematics education should be supported.

  13. Report on Research Priorities • Recommendation 6: A balance between investigations regarding resolving issues of “immediate practical urgency” and “understanding learning and teaching” should be pursued. • Recommendation 7: Mathematics education research should focus on: (a) identification and clarification of specific aspects of research problems; (b) the development of attitudes, concepts, skills, and processes; (c) instruction; (d) school context; (e) political and social context of the school; (f) methodologies of research, development, and evaluation; and (g) teacher education. • Recommendation 8: Studies that reflect a balance among different levels of mathematical skills (manipulation, quantitative and spatial comprehension, and problem solving) should be supported.

  14. NCSM Position Paper on Basic Mathematical Skills After reviewing the Euclid Conference report at a special session of the 1976 NCSM Annual Meeting, the NCSM issued a position paper on basic mathematical skills in 1977. Ten Basic Skill Areas 1. Problem Solving 2. Applying Mathematics to Everyday Situations 3. Alertness to the Reasonableness of Results 4. Estimation and Approximation 5. Appropriate Computational Skills 6. Geometry 7. Measurement 8. Reading, Interpreting, and Constructing Tables, Charts, and Graphs 9. Using Mathematics to Predict 10. Computer Literacy These 10 areas mirrored most of the recommendations in the Euclid Conference Vol. II document. This influence could be attributed to the fact that three participants of the Euclid Conference, Dorothy Strong, Ross Taylor, and Edward Esty, were also members of the NCSM’s Task Force. Taylor and Esty were specifically involved with the third working group. NCSM Position Paper on Basic Mathematical Skills

  15. Significance of the Report of the National Institute of Education Conferenceon Basic Mathematical Skills and Learning • Provided possible new directions for the school mathematics curriculum, particularly in the areas of quantitative reasoning and skills in light of increasing computer and calculator capabilities. • Influenced the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) 1977 position paper on basic skills. • Influenced the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics planning group for An Agenda for Action.

  16. References • Grouws, D. A., & Cebulla, K. J. (2000). Elementary and middle school mathematics at the crossroads. American education: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Chicago: The National Society for the Study of Education. • Jones, P. S. (1970). A history of mathematics education in the United States and Canada. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. • Klein, D. (2003). A brief history of American K–12 mathematics education in the 20th century. In J. Royer (Ed.), Mathematical cognition. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. • National Institute of Education. (1975). Conference on Basic Mathematical Skills. Vol. 1, Contributed position papers, Euclid, OH. Washington, DC: Author. • National Institute of Education. (1975). Conference on Basic Mathematical Skills. Vol. 2, Working group reports, Euclid, OH. Washington, DC: Author. • Reys, B., & Kasten, M. (1978). Changes needed in the current direction of minimal competency testing in mathematics. The Mathematics Teacher, 71(2), 108–112.

More Related