New Insights and Their Implications

Throughout these past couple of months that I've been in this class, I have experienced math in a way that I would have never thought of before. I have learned that math should not be so procedural in that a teacher gives the student a formula and tells the student to plug in the numbers because he/she said so. Math should be about students finding those procedures out for themselves and learning why they need to be used. I have learned that my understanding of math is definitely instrumental instead of relational. I have always been showed how to do a problem, then been told to complete different problems like the one shown on my own. I never knew the relational understanding or the what to do and why's of math. By teaching students why they are using a certain formula or why they are going about a problem in a certain way, the student can obtain a better grasp of a mathematical concept. I have learned that we must teach in a way that the student can learn cognitively. We must first start with what the student already knows and build upon that. I think the LPUs are a great way for us to try and begin teaching in the way that we have recently been learning about. Although it may be difficult for us at first, I understand why it is important that we learn how to teach our future students in a way that they will have a relational understanding of mathematics.