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Articles > Research: Examples that Imply the Need for Change
Research: Examples that Imply the Need for Change
Is there a problem with the traditional algebra course?
"Among students who voluntarily elect to study algebra or are placed by examination into a traditional algebra course, a failure rate of 40 to 50 percent is typical. Even after two years of algebra, many 12th graders display only a limited mastery of the major concepts–and often are unable to use their knowledge to solve problems. The large number of remedial mathematics courses offered by the nation's colleges and universities also attest to a general lack of algebraic competence resulting from traditional algebra courses, even by those fairly successful high school graduates who go on to college."
– Source: Mullis, I.V.S., Dossey, J.A., Owen, E.H., and Phillips, G.W. (1991) The State of Mathematics Achievement: NAEP's 1990 Assessment of the Nation and the Trial Assessment of the States. Washington D.C.: National Center for Educational Statistics.
What about geometry?
"In a sample of 1520 students in 74 classes from eleven schools in five states about thirty percent of the students reached a 75 percent mastery of proof. All of these students were in classes which taught proof, 24 percent were in honors classes, 46 percent were in regular classes, and 30 percent were in classes that were not tracked. Twenty-nine percent did not complete a single proof of the six given and 23 percent scored less than 25 percent of the points given. The article concludes that the data illustrates the severe mismatch between the intentions of the curriculum and what students actually learn."
– Source: Senk, S. (1985); "How Well do Students Write Geometry Proofs?"; Mathematics Teacher, 78; pp. 448-456.
The Advantages of Study Teams
Samples of the work of fifth graders in a year-long study in a classroom in which teaching methods emphasizing group work and use of manipulatives show students consistently going far beyond the expectations of traditional standards. The level of creativity and complexity of their work with fractions, for example, far exceeds any challenge they might have met had they been accelerated through a sixth or seventh grade textbook.
– Source: Parker, R. (1993) Mathematical Power: Lessons from a Classroom; Heneimann, Portsmouth, NH.
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