FREE Stanford Online Course: How to learn math - for students

ABOUT THIS COURSE

How to Learn Math is a class for learners of all levels of mathematics. It combines really important information on the brain and learning with new evidence on the best ways to approach and learn math effectively. Many people have had negative experiences with math, and end up disliking math or failing. This class will give learners of math the information they need to become powerful math learners, it will correct any misconceptions they have about what math is, and it will teach them about their own potential to succeed and the strategies needed to approach math effectively. If you have had past negative experiences with math this will help change your relationship to one that is positive and powerful.

The course will feature Jo Boaler and a team of undergraduates, as well as videos of math in action - in dance, juggling, snowflakes, soccer and many other applications. It is designed with a pedagogy of active engagement.The course will run from May/June to the end of December, 2014.

CONCEPTS

Part 1: The Brain and Math Learning.

1. Knocking Down the Myths About Math.
   
   Everyone can learn math well. There is no such thing as a “math person”. This session give stunning new evidence on brain growth, and consider what it means for math learners.
   
2. Math and Mindset
   
   When individuals change their mindset from fixed to growth their learning potential increases drastically. In this session participants will be encouraged to develop a growth mindset for math.
   
3. Mistakes and Speed
   
   Recent brain evidence shows the value of students working on challenging work and even making mistakes. But many students are afraid of mistakes and think it means they are not a math person. This session will encourage students to think positively about mistakes. It will also help debunk myths about math and speed.
   

Part 2: Strategies for Success.

1. Number Flexibility, Mathematical Reasoning, and Connections
   
   In this session participants will engage in a “number talk” and see different solutions of number problems to understand and learn ways to act on numbers flexibility. Number sense is critical to all levels of math and lack of number sense is the reason that many students fail courses in algebra and beyond. Participants will also learn about the value of talking, reasoning, and making connections in math.
   
2. Number Patterns and Representations
   
   In this session participants will see that math is a subject that is made up of connected, big ideas. They will learn about the value of sense making, intuition, and mathematical drawing. A special section on fractions will help students learn the big ideas in fractions and the value of understanding big ideas in math more generally.
   
3. Math in Life, Nature and Work
   
   In this session participants will see math as something valuable, exciting, and present throughout life. They will see mathematical patterns in nature and in different sports, exploring in depth the mathematics in dance and juggling. This session will review the key ideas from the course and help participants take the important strategies and ideas they have learned into their future.
   

PREREQUISITES

There are no prerequisites for this course

G3 Camp Grandparents, Grandkids, Grand Valley!

G3 Camp

Grandparents, Grandkids, Grand Valley!

June 24 - 26, 2014

Grandparents and their grandchildren will be sharing a college experience by attending G3 — Grandparents, Grandkids, Grand Valley — a summer camp at Grand Valley State University (GVSU)  June 24-26, 2014. Families will spend three days and two nights on campus, sleeping in the living center apartments and eating in the common dining halls along with college students and others on campus.

During the three day educational camp, children ages 8-12 and their grandparents will attend hands-on learning activities in areas like art, history, science, mathematics, engineering, technology, and law enforcement, to name a few. Class sessions will be taught by Grand Valley faculty and held during the day in the campus academic buildings. In the evening, families can choose from a variety of activities including swimming, playing volleyball, using the climbing wall, and playing games. 

G3 is sponsored by GVSU’s Regional Math and Science Center and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For more information, call the Regional Math and Science Center at (616) 331-2267.  G3 Camp makes a WONDERFUL Christmas present!  Printable gift certificates are available online as well.

Register now!

Grandparents, Grandkids, Grand Valley (G3) Summer Camp

G3 is for grandparents and grandchildren (ages 8-12) to share a three-day educational experience while spending time together on the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) campus.  Participants will enjoy the college experience of living and dining on campus and attending classes while sampling many of the great opportunities that Grand Valley State University has to offer!

Grandparents and grandkids attend hands-on classes together which will be taught by GVSU faculty in a range of disciplines.  Evening activities will include swimming, the climbing wall, volleyball, biking, and games. 

June 25 - June 27, 2013 

Registration is now open!

Research: Math Anxiety Starts Young

Math anxiety begins young, with students showing signs of it as early as first and second grade, a University of Chicago researcher says.

Sian Beilock said the youngsters whose school work is hurt the most by math anxiety tend to be the highest achievers. That's because anxiety disrupts working memory, which is typically strongest in those students.
"You can think of working memory as a kind of 'mental scratchpad' that allows us to 'work' with whatever information is temporarily flowing through consciousness," Beilock said. "It's especially important when we have to do a math problem and juggle numbers in our head. Working memory is one of the major building blocks of IQ."
Beilock and three colleagues are the authors of "Math Anxiety, Working Memory and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School," previewed on the website of the Journal of Cognition and Development.
The team found that less adept students tend to deal with arithmetic in other ways than working memory, like counting on their fingers. But they found math anxiety can put students who do depend on working memory as much as a half-year behind those without it.
The study involved 88 first-graders and 66 second-graders in a big-city school system. The team found about half of high-achieving students suffer from math anxiety.
The researchers suggest ways of dealing with math anxiety, including having students write about it before they have to deal with arithmetic.

Reposted

Can comforting students who struggle in math demotivate them?

It's OK - you're just not good at math...

Can comforting students who struggle in math demotivate them—and decrease the number of students pursuing math-related subjects?

Four recent studies say yes on both counts. The studies investigated whether holding a fixed theory of ability—that is, believing that ability is innate—leads teachers not only to comfort students for their perceived low ability following failure but also to use practices that promote students’ long-term low achievement.

These are the report’s major findings:

• Instructors who held a fixed theory of math intelligence more readily judged students to have low ability in math than those who held a malleable theory, which supposes that people can improve their abilities through hard work and practice.
• Instructors who held a fixed theory of math intelligence were more likely to judge that a student had low ability on the basis of a single initial poor performance. They were also more likely to comfort students for their apparent lack of ability and use “kind” strategies that failed to motivate the students to improve, such as assigning less homework and not calling on them in class.
• Students who received comfort-oriented feedback—as opposed to more strategy-focused feedback—assumed the instructor had low expectations for what they might accomplish as well as lower engagement in their learning, even when that feedback was expressed positively—as in, “I know you’re a talented student in general; it’s just that not everyone is a math person.” Moreover, these students had lower expectations and motivation concerning their own abilities and performance. According to the authors, “It is not the case that instructors who believed math intelligence to be fixed failed to consider students’ best interests. Instead, it appears that their fixed view of intelligence led them to express their support and encouragement in unproductive ways that ultimately backfired” (p. 716). The authors conclude that an education system that focuses on accepting weaknesses is not as positive as intended.

Authored by Aneeta Rattan, Catherine Good, and Carol S. Dweck, the report is titled, “It’s OK—Not Everyone Can Be Good at Math: Instructors with an Entity Theory Comfort (and Demotivate) Students.” The report appeared in the April 2012 issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Source:  Ed Leadership September 2012 | Volume 70 | Number 1 Feedback for Learning Pages 8-9

Summer Astronomy Camp for 6th-12th grade students

Do you like to gaze at the stars, moons and planets? 
Are you interested in photography or science research? 
Do you like to meet new people with similar interests? 
If you said yes to any of the questions above, then Astronomy Camp may be the right opportunity for you!
Astronomy Camp is an overnight camp where you can work with experienced teachers and researchers to learn about astronomy. There will be guided activities to learn about constellations, sunspots, astrophotography, variable stars and much more! You may also work on individual or small group research projects. University
researchers and local astronomy teachers will provide guidance for completing your project.

At Astronomy Camp, you will use computerized telescopes, a CCD camera, solar filters, computers and other equipment at the Camp McGregor Observatory. Various astronomy experts will be present to make presentations about current research in astronomy.

Like true astronomers, you will work on your projects at night and sleep late during the day.

Astronomy Research Camp is open to students in 

grades 6th-12th.

The overnight camp will be held at Camp McGregor 

on Crispell Lake, near Jackson.

Dates: 2:00 p.m. 8/13/12 through 12:00 p.m. 

8/16/12

Registration has been extended until June 1.


For more information and to register, check out the application brochure.

7 tips for making students feel comfortable at school

Social and Emotional Learning expert Maurice Elias offers up seven ideas to keep in mind at the start of the school year.
From a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) point of view, the most important consideration at the start of the new school year is to create positive feelings and optimism about school. This has many practical implications for both educators and parents. Here are seven ideas to keep in mind:
Number One: Make a special effort to greet children in a positive and uplifting way at the start of school. Create a festive atmosphere, not a "get down to business" factory atmosphere.
Number Two: Highlight all the good and exciting things that will be happening at the beginning of the school year, as well as throughout the year.
Number Three:Give students a chance to share good memories about the summer, what they are looking forward to for the new school year, and something about themselves that they would like classmates to know. Time spent helping the students in a class bond in positive ways will bring large dividend later in the year as students work together in pairs, teams, and groups.
Number Four: Allow students to have input into setting the rules for the classroom, in terms of both "do's" and "don'ts."
Number Five: Give students an opportunity each day to reflect on what they are learning. Ask them to keep a journal and write down, at the end of the day, three things they are taking with them from the school day. Have them keep daily journals in one or some or all subject areas where, at the end of a class period or unit or project, they write down three things they are taking away from that unit of work.
Number Six: Parents, the parallel of all these apply to you. Keep the first days of school very positive. Allow time for routines to kick in. Don't get upset if your child is running late, or forgets things. Make it clear that you understand and expect by the end of the first week of school, routines will be set and work well. Ask your child for suggestions about ways to modify the routines that are not going well.

Also, after school, ask your child to share the best parts of the school day. Later, ask your child what they are looking forward to most the next day. Please note the words, "best" and "most." These are relative terms, so there will be a "best" part of a bad day and something to look forward to "most" even where the day is dreaded. In that way, you keep the focus positive. Remember, school is much more than classes. Asking about hallways, announcements, and things other than academic classes may garner special conversations.
Number Seven: Teachers and parents should share what the school is doing around social-emotional and character development, health, and such key areas as prevention of harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Parents, if you are not given this information proactively, seek it out. Teachers, your best hope for continuity and reinforcement of school messages out of school is if parents know what it is that their children are being taught! The essence of SEL is to be sure that the adults dealing with children understand that the gateway to learning is through children's social and emotional skills and experiences. Opening that gateway at the start of the school year will lead to a smoother path during all subsequent days.

Source URL: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-emotional-learning-tips-school-starts

This article originally published on 8/27/2010