Mathematics Text

The first part of this text that I could relate with was the difficulty students find with the large number of mathematics symbols and graphics. As a student, I remember being able to develop an understanding of most material quite quickly for my high school years but when I started doing higher level mathematics and I began finding more and more weird symbols being used in the text and in class without explanation, I found myself confused and frustrated. I think that it is important that I remember this and do my best to help students gradually build these symbols into their repertoire. With all mathematical terminology, as this text argues, we should not be afraid to use it, but “allow students to grapple with their ideas and develop their own informal means of expressing them” while “avoid[ing] a premature rush to impose formal mathematical language.” I also liked the section about teachers contributing to students’ confusion of illustrations with definitions. I know I am guilty of always using the same picture for right angle triangles and I think it is a habit I should learn to break.

Something that I often think about is the use of textbooks. In my high school experience, most teachers used them - some a lot some a little - and one teacher was super anti-textbook (he is the Mr. I that I talk about in my memorable math teachers blog entry). I have been leaning towards the no textbook side but I think the text presents a valid argument that with proper instruction of how to use it, the textbook can be a valuable resource.