Committees and Reports that have Influenced the Changing Mathematics Curriculum

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Committees and Reports that have Influenced the
Changing Mathematics Curriculum
This PP is one of a series of resources produced
by the Center for the Study of Mathematics
Curriculum. The CSMC is one of the Centers for
Learning and Teaching supported by the National
Science Foundation. These materials are provided
to facilitate greater understanding of
mathematics curriculum change and permission is
granted for its educational educational use.
General Education in Mathematics

http//www.mathcurriculumcenter.org
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Mathematics in General Education

• Progressive Education Association
• 1940
• September 20, 2004

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Why was there a report?

• Society educational needs were changing
• More students were attending secondary school in
  1900, 11.4 attended secondary school compared to
  64 in 1934
• Curriculum was needed for all students in school

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The Commission of Secondary School Curriculum
appointed a committee consisting of

• 8 members which included
• Teachers of Mathematics
• And for the first time
• Teachers of Education

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Committee Members

• Albert A. Bennett, Brown University
• Cuthbert Daniel, Editorial Consultant, Radio
  Research Project, Princeton University
• Harold Fawcett, Ohio State University School
• Maurice L. Hartung, University of Chicago
• Robert J. Havighurst, Director for General
  Education, General Education Board
• Joseph Jablonower, Board of Examiners, New York,
  N.Y.
• Ruth Kotinsky, Secretary of Commission on
  Secondary School Curriculum, PEA
• V. T. Thayer, Educational Director of Ethical
  Culture Schools Chairman of Commission on
  Secondary School Curriculum, PEA

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Timeline

• 1923 Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary
  Education Report
• 1929 Stock Market Crash
• 1930s Great Depression
• 1932 Commission appointed
• 1939 WWII begins
• 1940 Mathematics in General Education

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Report contains four sections

• Part I The Teaching of Mathematics in
  Relation to General Education
• Part II Major Understandings Growing out of
  Mathematical Experience
• Part III The Development and Nature of
  Mathematics
• Part IV Understanding the Student and
  Evaluating His Growth

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Purposes of General Education

• Development of adolescent
• Educational needs
• Ideals of democracy

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Role of Mathematics in General Education

• Wise consumer
• Problem-solving
• Analyzing social issues
• Social sensitivity in interpreting data
• Mathematically esthetic appreciation

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Mathematical Experiences

• Formulation and Solution
• Students must be helped to formulate and solve
  their own real world problems.
• The students attention needs to be brought to
  focus on the process of coming up with solutions
  to their every day problems.

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Mathematical Experiences

• Data
• Gathering and Understanding Data
• Process of Organizing Data
• Use of Tables and Graphs

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Mathematical Experiences

• Approximation
• Approximation in Measurement
• Statistical Concepts
• Central Tendencies
• Measures of Dispersion

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Mathematical Experiences

• Function
• Functions and variables
• Linear functions
• Quadratic functions
• Powers and Polynomials
• Periodic
• Functions with several independent variables.

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Mathematical Experiences

• Operations
• Concepts basic to counting and operations.
• Concepts basic to other operations.
• Drawing a circle and straight line.
• Drill only information that is needed.
• Correctness in Computation
• Caused student to check the answer

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Mathematical Experiences

• Proof
• Wide and narrow view of proof.
• Deductive and Inductive Proof
• Logical If-Then

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Mathematical Experiences

• Symbolism
• Effective use of symbols in and outside of
  mathematics.

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Developments in the Nature of Mathematics

• Mathematics as a response to the needs of the
  times
• Commerce, surveying, architecture
• Necessity not only driving factor
• Curiosity, competition, genius
• Mathematics has been cumulative in development

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Developments in the Nature of Mathematics

• Mathematical ideas seem to occur independently
  and simultaneously.
• Example development of calculus
• Publishing findings became a priority.
• Example mathematical journals became common
• Connections discovered between problems thought
  unrelated.
• Example conic sections and laws of motion
• Practical applications found for abstract
  mathematics.
• Example boolean algebra used in computers

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Development of Mathematical Understanding

• Relationship between mathematical concepts must
  not be scattered
• Connect history of mathematics to the rest of
  history
• Develop appreciation of mathematics

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In these days when one hears so often the
accusation that mathematics is dull and without
human interest, the teacher can ill afford to
neglect the historical side-lights that may serve
to illumine the whole subject for some students,
p.264
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Understanding the Student

• Observing the student as an adolescent
• Particular attention must be made to be sensitive
  to adolescent changes
• Dealing with student crushes on teachers
• Emotional aspects of adolescence

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Case Study

• Paul
• An in depth study of a child from infancy
  through adolescence followed by the implications
  for teachers to apply current knowledge of human
  development to all students.

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Evaluation of Student Achievement

• Checklists using often, occasionally, and never
• Tests with multiple choice answers of true,
  probably true, insufficient data, probably false,
  and false
• Sample interpretations of student performance are
  given

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Significance of Report

• Broad focus of mathematics particularly beyond
  arithmetic, algebra, and geometry
• Direction given for dealing with diverse
  populations of students that were now enrolling
  in school
• Unfortunately the reports findings were
  forgotten as the world descended into war