As Erlwanger examined some mathematical conceptions of 6th grader Benny, he concluded that Individually Prescribed Instruction had some serious weaknesses and flaws. IPI was a very ample effort to make mathematics teachable to the individual and was supposed to be beneficial to students in helping them learn math at their own pace. When Benny was asked by Erlwanger to explain some of the rules he had for different mathematical procedures, Erlwanger discovered that Benny had made up many rules of his own to try and make sense of math, and many of these rules were incorrect. Benny had been able to excell through the IPI course with these major misconceptions and this was not the intention of IPI. The teachers were also so uninvolved in IPI that none of Benny's teachers knew he had incorrect ways of doing mathematics, they all believed him to be a star pupil.
Currently in mathematics teaching, teachers can still be very distant from the students in their classes. I feel that in many math courses taken by students today, teachers have interest in the students learning collectively, but not individually. Many teachers ask students collectively if they understand a concept being taught, but they never bother to ask the individual. It seems as if many have an attitude of, "If at least this certain amount of students understand what is going on, then I have done my job, and too bad for the rest." Perhaps that is stated harshly, but it is an attitude that I have percieved. Teachers do not conference with their students about their learning and because of this, students feel less responsible for their learning and fall behind in their classes. Slight teacher interest for each individual student would make success for students more achievable.
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You picked a very good topic to argue. It relates a lot to the main topic, and it relates to teaching today. I like your perspective on it.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean when you refer to students feeling less responsible for their learning? I'm not so sure that comment is very clear as to what you mean.
I really like your point that you emphasized. I agree that teachers don't really find out if their students understand the material they are learning. I have a question though. Is it entirely the teacher's responsibility for their students learning? Some students are too afraid to speak up, even one on one with their teacher. That is just something to think about. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a realistic point you are making. I totally agree that teachers focus more on teaching collectively rather than individually. It almost seems as if you believe that IPI and teaching students collectively are very similar in bringing problems with a students knowledge. That is really intersting! I did have to read this a second time though because i was a little confused about "who" said the quoatation. Make sure you are specific and clear. Otherwise, really good ideas!
ReplyDeleteYou had a very clear topic sentence containing a main point of the article.
ReplyDeleteI would go into a little more detail of how some of Benny's misconceptions came about. For example, the emphasis IPI put on the answer key.