Moving Beyond Myths Revitalizing Undergraduate Mathematics (1991) / Chapter Skim
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FACING THE MYTHS
FACING THE MYTHS
Pages 23-30
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From page 23... ...
Institutional variety matches the variety of our population: two-year colleges, liberal arts colleges, women's colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, comprehensive universities, research universities- not to mention a variety of specialized institutions. Diverse, robust, and infinitely varied, U.S.
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From page 24... ...
To believe that one can teach mathematics successfully by lectures, one must believe what most mathematicians know to be untrue that mathematics can be learned by watching someone else do it correctly. Research shows clearly that this method of teaching does little to help beginning students learn mathematics, a fact underscored by the staggering rates of withdrawal or failure among students who take introductory college mathematics courses.
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From page 25... ...
Unless undergraduate mathematics courses are revised to reflect the impact of computers on the practice of mathematics, students will continue to perceive mathematics as a discipline disconnected from reality. Missing Context The unease with which many students regard mathematics begins early in their education and is all too regularly reinforced through their school years.
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From page 26... ...
A guide for mathematics departments to curricula that will educate intending teachers in a way to meet contemporary standards is contained in the 1991 MAD report A Call for Change: Recommendations for the Mathematical Preparation of Teachers of Mathematics and the 1991 NCTM document Professional Standards for Teaching MathematiCS. Undergraduate Research.
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From page 27... ...
The special need for sensitivity toward all students that is required to attract more women and underrepresented minorities into mathematics underscores the important role that graduate teaching assistants play in nurturing students in the mathematical sciences. Few universities recognize explicitly in the design of their graduate mathematics programs that the future careers of most of their doctoral students will be devoted primarily to undergraduate teaching.
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From page 28... ...
Although one in four mathematics majors eventually teaches in school, instructional methods that are widely used in undergraduate programs foster a mode} of teaching blackboard lectures, template exercises, isolated study, narrow teststhat is inappropriate for elementary and secondary school teachers. Similarly, most graduate doctoral programs place scant emphasis on preparing students to be effective at what most of them will do for their entire career undergraduate teaching.
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From page 29... ...
These teachers participate in hands-on problem sessions to learn how students learn, and they practice giving presentations that they can use to instruct their fellow teachers at their home schools. The success of the Bay Area Mathematics Project led to the American Mathematics Project, a collection of over 20 similar projects throughout the country jointly sponsored by the MAR and NCTM.
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From page 30... ...
For example, a special program in mathematics, in place for over a decade, brings Austin Community College onto the University of Texas campus two nights a week to teach college algebra to university students. For these students, the university counts hours of enrollment at Austin Community College toward a student's minimum full-time enrollment obligation at the university.
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