Mathematical Thinking Matters

For the last three years Pathways has facilitated a community of practice comprised of San Francisco Unified and City College of San Francisco math teachers who are interested in student engagement and social justice. Built on the work of Bob Moses and the Algebra Project, the Equity and Algebra Community of Practice shares a belief that math literacy is a civil rights issue. From a workforce development perspective, it is the difference between minimum wage and a family sustaining wage. This will become increasingly more prevalent as our economy migrates further toward knowledge-based and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focused industries.

Two weeks ago Pathways co-facilitated a panel discussion called "Engaging Students in Mathematical Thinking" at the 7th Annual Conference for Math, Science and Career and Technical Education Teachers at City College of San Francisco. The conference was widely attended by teachers from preschool through college who are interested (especially with the recent focus on the Common Core math standards) on not just getting the problem "right," but the ability to reason abstractly and quantitatively and persevere in problem solving.

Mathematical thinking involves more than the ability to solve arithmetic or algebra problems.  Mathematical thinking is a whole way of looking at things; of stripping them down to their numerical, structural and logical components, and analyzing the underlying patterns. Moreover, it involves adopting the identity of a mathematical thinker. Today's employers are looking for employees who can both use basic mathematical skills and can reason and persist in solving complex problems with no one "right" answer. In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor has projected that by 2018, the U.S. will have more than 1.2 million job openings in STEM fields with a 17% growth rate as compared to 9.8% growth rate of other occupations.
 

At the conference mentioned earlier, our panel of expert educators from middle school through college explored mathematical engagement and strategies for connecting to students and generated a thoughtful list of engagement strategies:

• Math must be based on what students know and experience
• Explore new concepts by diffusing fear and focusing less on "right" and "wrong" answers
• Use language that's open and interesting
• Get to know students personally
• Provide opportunities to work in small groups with peers
• Play math games
• Let students figure out their own answers to questions they pose
• Help students feel OK with "not knowing"
• Build trust and extend time to give answers

At the end of the workshop one of the panelists pointed out that the discussion of how we engage students in mathematical thinking 20 years in the future may look VERY different than today. This lit up the group and we started sharing math games, use of digital media and the concept of gamification. Some apps and websites that the group shared include:

Dragonbox:  Secretly teaches algebra to kids

Ken Ken:  Math games and puzzles

HippoCampus.org:  Turns instruction on its head using digital media to teach core content and using classroom time to engage students in Project Based Learning 

Gapminder.org:  A collection of data sets on social issues that matter.  Useful for middle and upper grade students to explore math questions that matter to them.

Please feel free to share your thinking on this subject. We welcome your comments.

Best,

Amanda Gerrie and Kim Coulthurst, Partners, Pathways Consultants