Project 2061 identifies scientific literacy (which embraces science, mathematics, and technology)
as a central goal of education and the failure of US education to produce scientifically literate population as a national crisis.
Because mathematics is so basic and used extensively in science and technology, so mathematics should be a central component of scientific literacy. It is a powerful indicator of technological readiness.
A "new" definition of mathematical literacy for US is proposed.
Shift of focus of school maths from its current (before 1989) dualistic approach ie minimal
mathematics for the majority of students, and advanced maths for a minority of students to
a common core of maths for all students throughout their school experience.
One of the main issues to be considered is :
"What should high school graduates know about mathematics (common core) to equip them for life in a technologically advanced society?"
High school maths must adopt broader goals for all students (NCLB principle- all students!!).
It must provide experiences that encourage and enable students to value maths, gain confidence in their own mathematical ability, become powerful mathematical thinkers and effective problem solvers.
Broader goals in term of curriculum standards such as
1. maths as problem solving (eg mathematical modeling, problem posing etc)
2. maths as communication (eg multiple representations- concrete, pictorial, graphical, algebraic, words/written and oral/verbal of mathematical ideas/concepts)
3. maths as reasoning (eg inductive and deductive reasoning, spatial reasoning, logical arguments, make and test conjectures, proving etc )
4. mathematical connections (eg maths as an integrated whole, connections among topics, with other disciplines - science, technology, business etc).
No comments:
Post a Comment