In creating the IB Math Studies course I tried to create a new way of learning, at least for a mathematics course. The goal is to help students learn how to learn and apply math without an “expert” to instruct them. The classroom portion of the course is a work in progress, however, it is definitely not the typical math class. There is very little lecture, students help each other answer questions and for the most part, class is set up as a discussion. The students are very uncomfortable with the format at first, but most enjoy the different style of learning once they are used to it.
The project that is required by the IB council was troublesome for me last year. I wanted to guide the students to create a quality product, but had only my limited experience to draw on. There are no other teachers in Indiana that are teaching the course in the same format that I decided to work with so I have limited ability to collaborate with colleagues. Working with a digital format is what many of the students chose last year for their presentations and I believe that is how the majority of students prefer to create projects. The presentation of the final project allows students to give each other feedback and allows everyone to critique the projects. When done appropriately, I believe that this will push the students to create better projects and work together before the final project is actually due.
Using a blog will help the students organize their thoughts and gather digital resources for their projects. The blog will also allow students to have another line of communication with me when they have questions. Currently, I only have the blog prompts posted for the first three weeks of school, but the remainder of the prompt topics are available on the scope and sequence for the course. I do not want to get too far ahead with the prompts as I would like to connect them to what we discuss during class and can only know what that will be once the class has happened. This class comes with a great deal of flexibility and I do not want to limit that with having preset ideas that I feel I must follow because I have already put them in print.
The montage will allow students to experiment with digital presentations before their final presentation is due. Most students are comfortable with powerpoint, but my goal is for them to push past creating slides so they can add new levels to their repertoire of skills. The montage will also allow me to have a record of the process that students went through in order to create their final projects. The montage that is linked to the home page for the project is last year’s students working on a project. It is a quick example of what I am expecting from the students for their montage. Later in the semester I will add a rubric that will allow students to know exactly how their montage will be scored.
Overall, the goal of the IB Math Studies course is to help students understand the “why” and “where” of mathematics instead of memorizing rules and formulas. Almost every aspect of this course is different from any other mathematics class that students have experienced. With the addition of a digital component, the course will add another dimension to their education.
