February Articles

A Global Look at Math Instruction
Looking at the strategies and techniques that countries with students achievement in math leading far ahead, is beneficial for the United States so that we can adapt and help our students to progress into efficient math students. Within this focus, the studies and research the authors based this article, on centered on the achievement and understanding of fractions which seems to trouble American students, and even adults. The first comparison among curriculum in Japan and Korea with the United States is when fractions should be taught which seems to be third grade for both Korea and the U.S, although with closer look at their Focal Points and our NCTM curriculum, the whole concept of fractions, decimals and multiplication of fractions are taught earlier in Korea then in the U.S. Multiple areas of the teaching instruction of math is compared between the three countries, in an unbiased yet informative voice. Textbooks, use and choice of manipulatives and examples, time introduced and time spent on, and independent versus dependent learning is compared, leaving the reader with a new understanding about a sliver of math teaching in three cultures.

I was first curious about this article because of the title and the use of the word ‘culture’, since that is something I am constantly interested in learning about. As I started to get into the article I became even more interested because I realized it was comparing the United States with two Asian countries, but then I was corrected because this article is not set out to compare and criticize, but to compare for the purpose of gaining insight on how to best teach the concept of fractions. I was expected to read all about the long school days and years the students in Korea and Japan endure, and the strict structure their school system has adapted but I was happily surprised by this break from the “normal stereotype towards education”. I was also interested to read that we do have some similarities in curriculum with Korea, but that they introduce the entire concept in a short span of time, then we do. The adaption of textbooks to fit curriculum, through the seven times it has been updated, was interesting too. I think we have a lot to learn from countries that excel in mathematics training/teaching, they are our competition and we need to make sure in the future American children have a fair shot for those jobs, industries and academics.

Son, J. (2011, February). A global look at math instruction. Teaching Children
Mathematics, Retrieved from http://nctm.org/eresources/view_media.asp?
article_id=9602


Virtual Data Collection--For Real Understanding

As the push for technology incorporation increases, teachers look for academically challenging, safe and reasonably priced equipment, that still allows for some inquiry-based learning. The various tools examined in this article written by S. Asli Ozgun-Koca and Thomas G. Edwards, become great resources for teachers as they prove beneficial for all grade levels, altering intensity. In an activity given to eighth graders, TI-Nspire (calculators), GeoGebra or Geometer’s Sketchpad (virtual graph paper) were used. Instructions were provided and followed easily but students as they manipulated, tested, and set different radii, circumference and area of circles. They saw how changing the radius affected the circumference and the comparison between the two while also incorporating slope and pi. The virtual graphing devices were not necessary for the activity, student could have drawn out the diagrams, but the objectives for the lesson were not seeing if the students were good artists, but how they interpreted the data, used equations and translated the representations. Using the technology is a fast, effective, visually enhanced way of looking at the work being done by the students while engaging them with hands-on programs that they can use throughout schooling.
I think these programs are great, cost is the one thing I would be concerned with but in an ideal world I would hope each student would have a chance to work with them. I would hope these would not completely take the place of students drawing diagrams themselves, because I think that is a skill in itself that is highly important, but it’s amazing that technology has come this far to produce something like this. It is great visually for students to see instantly the transformation a circle makes when the radius is changed, in contrast to the slower connection it would be if students had to spend time drawing the circle in between each observation.


Ozgun-Koca, S, & Edwards, T. (2011, February). Virtual data collection: for real
understanding. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 16(06), Retrieved
from http://nctm.org/eresources/view_media.asp?article_id=9589