The article by Kloosterman and Gainey titled Students' Thinking: Middle Grades Mathematics discusses differing theories on how students learn and what teaching methods are aligned with these theories. Ultimately, the focus of the article is on the positive aspects of Constructivism and the benefits for student learning. Basically, the constructivists argue for the connections that students create during learning. Therefore, as teachers we need to help students understand new topics by aiding them in finding the connections between already known information and new ideas. This is the great search for how we help students find their own understanding of the topic (math).
Some implications for teaching include understanding how students take in, interpret, remember and practice information based on what they already know. As teachers we need to use questioning techniques to discover students' understanding and use their current understanding to aid in new connection building. Some techniques for helping with this process include using more manipulatives, challenging students to think about why something is rather than memorize it, aid students in making connections between procedural and conceptual.
After reading this article I think all mentioned theories together can be beneficial for student learning. Although, Kloosterman and Gainey seemed to stress only the negative aspects of the drill and practice method associated with Associationism. Can't the drill and practice method also be beneficial? I think it is definitely time saving to have students memorize some basic facts.
No comments:
Post a Comment