Everyone should care about the math mindset of people in this country ! It has become a social norm to accept the philosophy that some people are good at math and many are not. The United States is falling behind in math achievement compared to other developed countries. These findings are particularly important in light of continued concerns with US mathematics achievement. In the most recent international comparisons students in the US ranked 40th out of 72 countries (OECD, 2016). This is not a new problem for the United States this has been going on for decades. The continued struggles our math students have been experiencing has developed other problems affecting math learning.Low mathematics achievement is not the only problem that faces the US—math anxiety is widespread among school children and the general population (Ashcraft and Krause, 2007; Foley et al., 2017). Algebra a course widely considered to be the “gateway” to advanced high school math and science (U.S. Department of Education, 1997). There is extensive amounts of data illustrating this serious issue with math in the United States. It is believed in this exciting time of a math revolution that the secret to success is in opening the students mindsets. The work of Carol Dweck and Jo Boaler is proving that “when people change their ideas about the malleability of their potential, from “fixed” (my ability is not changeable) to “growth” (my ability changes as I learn) their learning and achievement improves” (Dweck, 2006). The students in Math 1 classes at Valley Oak High School have all failed 1 to 2 full years of Math 1, they are defeated with very fixed mindsets.Creating a learning environment promoting a positive math mindset using Jo Boaler curriculums, collaborative learning, Math Vision Projects, and C-Stem curriculum is hypothesized to result in higher passing rates. The resulting higher rate of students passing Math 1 will result in more students being able to move on to more advanced math classes.
This research project has the independent variable of a positive learning environment promoting mindset lessons, collaborative interactions, and student reflections. The dependent variable is the data that will be measuring mindset growth, improved Math Inventory scores, and final trimester passing grades. Data will be collected for each trimester gathering final grades, MI scores, and mindset survey results. The mindset survey results will be measuring on a scale from 1-5 how students felt before the class and how students felt after a trimester in the class. 1 is fixed mindset and 5 is growth mindset. These results will then be used to calculate the effect size to determine the extent of growth that has occured. The same comparison of effect size will be used to evaluate Math Inventory results and final trimester grades. As a district the goal is to see one years growth in one years time. Jo Boaler,Jack A.Dieckmann, Garciela Perez-Nunez, Kathy Liu Sun, Cathy Williams (2018): Changing Students Mindset and Achievement in Mathematics: The Impact of Free Online Course. Jo Boaler , Carol Dweck (2016): Mathematical Mindset Linda Darling - Hammond (2010): The Flat World and Education Mark H. Ashcraft, Jeremy A. Krause, Psychonomics (2007)
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Julie LovieJulie Lovie Is a Math and Science teacher at Valley Oak High School with 25 years experience in teaching at a continuation high school. Julie Also teaches at Napa valley Adult School in the High School Diploma Program. She is passionate about the environment, loves gardening, and learning. Archives
June 2019
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