A New Understanding of Math
11/15/2019
Think back to math instruction in your school years. I'm sure it was much like mine, filled with algorithms and abstract idea, ideas that I memorized and used to calculate answers, but did not understand. In grade school, I was not a fan of math. It wasn't until I was training to be a teacher and was introduced to math concepts visually and creatively that I started to enjoy--and truly understand-- math. Suddenly, when I could represent and explain them visually, those algorithms and abstract ideas made sense. A paper from youcubed, a Stanford center designed to provide research-based mathematics resources to teacher and parents, explains my experience, which I share with many educators: "In our extensive work with school districts, teachers have also been inspired by visual and open mathematics. When we give teachers visual experiences of ideas that they have only previously encountered numerically and abstractly, such as multiplication facts or algebra, they gain insights into mathematical concepts and ideas they had never before experienced, and start to understand more deeply. They also feel empowered (Boaler et al., pg 10)." The researchers go on to say, "Inviting people to think visually about mathematics is liberating for teachers and students alike. Mathematics is a multi-dimensional subject, and problems can be solved with numeric, abstract or visual mathematical pathways - we now know that our brain networks are correspondingly multi-dimensional and need to be developed and used. It is our belief that learners would develop stronger mathematical understanding if we helped them develop the visual networks in their brains, increasing their ability to work mathematically with a fully developed brain network (Boaler et al., pg. 10)." If you've ever wondered why your child's math learning seems so different than the learning you most likely experienced as a child, it is because our our math curriculum stresses mathematical thinking, approaching problems in many different ways, and visual representations. Students explore patterns and relationships within mathematical concepts, usually through visual representations. Brain research in recent years has revealed the importance of visual learning and representation in math. Traditionally, educators have taught math visually only as a bridge to more abstract thinking. Now, however, research has shown the importance of visual mathematics in all areas of math, even those traditionally labeled as abstract or higher-level. Brain research now shows that "everyone uses visual pathways when we work on mathematics and we all need to develop the visual areas of our brains. The problem of mathematics in schools is it has been presented, for decades, as a subject of numbers and symbols, ignoring the potential of visual mathematics for transforming students' mathematical experiences and developing important brain pathways (Boaler et al., pg 7)." Math learning is an inherently and highly visual process and visualizing math concepts deepens engagement, understanding, and enjoyment of math. The paper concluded with three take-aways for educators and parents (Boaler et al., pg. 11):
Jo Boaler, Lang Chen, Cathey Williams, and Montserrat Cordero. "Seeing as Understanding: The Importance of Visual Mathematics for our Brain and Learning." youcubed at Stanford University.
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Saania AliMs. Ali graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, ESL, and Special Education. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and painting! Archives
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