I began this research project by looking into math phobia which tends to manifest in specialized math anxiety when one is placed in situations where math is required. I observed correlations that exist between a students feelings towards math and their performance in a math course and through data collection I was able to establish a negative correlation between a students level of math anxiety and their performance in a math course (The higher a students level of math anxiety, the lower their performance level).
As I looked closer into causes of math anxiety I explored the concept of cognitive load, a person’s ability to process information and the brain's ability to move information from working memory to long term memory. Math anxiety places a severe strain on cognitive load, comprising a person's access to working memory and thus their ability to learn. Through a survey on contributing factors to math anxiety, I found that a major reason my students felt math anxiety was their lack of preparation before coming to class. Outside of class my students were not committing any time to practicing what we discussed in class, including doing any of my assigned homework. My students were relying solely on the brief instructional periods we have to prepare them for the rigor of secondary math courses. It was at this point that I decided my assigned homework was ineffective at preparing students and so I needed to attempt a flipped or blended instructional model. My biggest struggle when first setting up a blended classroom was figuring out a way to effectively and efficiently create content that I could have students engage with at home, before coming to class. I first tried using content that was already created by searching for videos related to my content on different video hosting sites but all of the content that I found was too broad to be effective. I realized that I would have to create original content and it was through this need that I found “ShowMe” an iPad app that allows me to easily create videos, screencasts and interactive medias for my students. What makes this app so effective is its ease of use and how it allows users to easily integrate slideshows, voiceover and annotations in a powerful way that lets users easily guide students learning to desired objectives. When I first began this process I looked at technology as a replacement for things that I was already doing in my classroom. I used to think that instead of doing an example for students I could show a video of someone else doing an example. I was thinking very surface level, simply replacing with the tools I had available. In building my knowledge of the TPACK model I am seeing that by developing deep understandings of pedagogy, technology and content, teachers are able to integrate technology as a means of increasing the effectiveness of one’s instruction. Now instead of simply replacing with technology I am integrating with activities like: having students record themselves doing a problem, uploading the videos to flipgrid and then commenting on the work that their peers are doing. Using technology to develop my students ability to collaborate in more creative ways is how TPACK has helped improve my instructional practices.
1 Comment
Catalina Goldstein
4/20/2019 11:01:22 am
10/10 would recommend your TED talk. Isn't that how we all imagine new ideas being presented? We're not sitting in some Holiday Inn conference room or at a suburban district office. Your project is really exciting to me because you're using technology as more than a fancy pencil. You're engaging students who have previously had difficulties in math to be not only passing but proficient.
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