THE UNIFIED APPROACH IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS
Maksim Sokolov, Seneca College
Disclosure: just obvious thoughts
Subject matter knowledge
Educational psychology
Organizational
skills
Communication
skills
AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER MUST NOT COMPLAIN THAT GRAVITY EXISTS
A TEACHER MUST NOT COMPLAIN THAT CONFUSION EXISTS
OVERCOMING GRAVITY IS WHAT THE JOB IS ABOUT
OVERCOMING CONFUSION IS WHAT THE JOB IS ABOUT
OVERCOMING CONFUSION IS HARD
AN EASY WAY OUT IS TO CREATE MORE CONFUSION
JUST MAKE STUDENTS MEMORIZE FACTS
JUST MAKE STUDENTS REPEAT STEPS
JUST TELL THEM: “I AM AN EXPERT – YOU MUST BELIEVE ME”
FOUNDATION
COROLLARIES
EXAMPLES
HARD
HARD
HARD
VERY VERY HARD
AND YES, ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND ENGAGING STUDENTS IS HARD
ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS
EXPONENTS AND RADICALS
DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY
FOIL AND OTHER FOMULAS
%
INTEREST
PERPETUITIES
ANNUITIES
FOUNDATIONS REQUIRE MOST EFFORT
IDENTIFYING THE FOUNDATIONS IS HARD
IDENTIFYING GROUPS OF COROLLARIES IS HARD
IDENTIFYING SEQUENCE OF COROLLARIES IS HARD
SEPARATING MUST-KNOW FROM MAY-NOT-KNOW IS HARD
FINDING SIMPLE AND COMPREHENSIVE EXAMPLES IS HARD
SELECTING PRECISE AND SIMPLE WORDS IS HARD
“LESS IS MORE” IS HARD
FINDING PRECISE AND SIMPLE WORDS IS HARD
THE UNIFIED APPROACH IS HARD FOR A TEACHER, EASY FOR A LEARNER
THE UNIFIED APPROACH IS EDUCATIONAL ENGINEERING
LET’S DISCUSS