Submitted by Cheryl J. (not verified) on October 27, 2006 - 18:11.
To Bonnie Bracey Sutton - wow! Thanks for the references. Also, I hadn't seen the
report, but wholeheartedly agree with: "We are underestimating what young children are capable of as students of science — the bar is almost always set too low", but I believe this applies to math as well. Here is another quote that I think is relevant on this topic:
From Education Week
Question from Marty Solomon, Retired Professor, University of Kentucky:
It seems to me axiomatic that far too many children develop math anxiety in elementary schools. This is because many teachers were college students that migrated to education versus engineering, computer science, etc because they, themselves were math averse. Then these same teachers teach math---which is something they often do not like, appreciate or understand---and voila, an anxiety that carries over to high school and college. As a college advisor, I cannot tell you how many new college students want to avoid math like the plague. Could you comment?
Jim Rubillo:
My primary comment is that this analysis may be true in many cases. What do we do about it? One root cause might be the mathematics learning experiences that these folks experienced. Professional development programs and pre-service programs must try to "undo" this anxiety by presenting mathematics in a manner that will build both confidence and competence in teachers. This may be a place that we as a community can learn from business. If a vital and useful product is not selling well, business analyze the entire situation ad seek solutions. My comment- let's try to change it.
I believe the answer is not to increase interest after it's been lost, but to RETAIN it while it's still there!
To Bonnie Bracey Sutton -
Submitted by Cheryl J. (not verified) on October 27, 2006 - 18:11.
To Bonnie Bracey Sutton - wow! Thanks for the references. Also, I hadn't seen the
report, but wholeheartedly agree with: "We are underestimating what young children are capable of as students of science — the bar is almost always set too low", but I believe this applies to math as well. Here is another quote that I think is relevant on this topic:
From Education Week
Question from Marty Solomon, Retired Professor, University of Kentucky:
It seems to me axiomatic that far too many children develop math anxiety in elementary schools. This is because many teachers were college students that migrated to education versus engineering, computer science, etc because they, themselves were math averse. Then these same teachers teach math---which is something they often do not like, appreciate or understand---and voila, an anxiety that carries over to high school and college. As a college advisor, I cannot tell you how many new college students want to avoid math like the plague. Could you comment?
Jim Rubillo:
My primary comment is that this analysis may be true in many cases. What do we do about it? One root cause might be the mathematics learning experiences that these folks experienced. Professional development programs and pre-service programs must try to "undo" this anxiety by presenting mathematics in a manner that will build both confidence and competence in teachers. This may be a place that we as a community can learn from business. If a vital and useful product is not selling well, business analyze the entire situation ad seek solutions. My comment- let's try to change it.
I believe the answer is not to increase interest after it's been lost, but to RETAIN it while it's still there!