Madison Miller
Return to: ETAP 623 Spring 2020 (Zhang) | Madison Miller's Mini-Course
About Me
Hi everyone! My name is Madison Miller and I am a full time graduate student at UAlbany in the CDIT program. I graduated from Hartwick College in May 2019 with a B.A. in Mathematics. I am a certified math teacher 7-12 and currently substitute at local schools.
My Topic and Purpose
The topic that this course addresses is confidence in mathematics. This course is aimed to help participants understand a lack of confidence in this subject that some students might face. By understanding the struggle, participants can be better equipped to implement ideas to offset it. Participants will work together to learn about possible ideas as well as share their own. Some questions we will be focusing on throughout the course are:
What does it mean to have low confidence in math?
How does it impact the students?
What are some ways to work against this?
How does a growth mindset help?
How does a positive classroom environment help?
How does scaffolding help?
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
• Understand how common a lack of confidence is in math
• Identify when there is a lack of confidence
• Learn to boost confidence through: growth mindset, positive classroom environment, feedback
• Apply their knowledge to their own classroom and monitor results
Needs Assessment/Learner Analysis
Problem: There is a negative connotation associated with math. Many students have the idea that they just are not good at it, or unable to learn it. This lack of confidence makes learning more difficult, so it is imperative to address. While it might be difficult, it is possible to help counteract this mindset.
What is to be learned: Participants will learn more about how common this mindset is, how it impacts their students, and how to build the confidence of their students in math.
Learners: Learners are anyone who teaches math. While many of the practices that will be discussed can be used in all classrooms, the information about confidence in math is strictly math.
Instructional Context: This course is fully online and available through the KNILT website. Participants will need a computer, internet access, a gmail account, and access to a classroom in order to participate. For some resources given, participants may need access to databases as well.
Goals: Participants will learn more about the lack of confidence in math that many of their students face. They will be introduced to resources and information in this course, but they will be researching as well in order to implement the best practices. Upon implementing, they will share their findings with their peers and learn with/from each other.
Performance-Based Objectives
Participants Will Be Able To:
Determine the impact that confidence in math has on the students’ learning.
Explain concepts that help build confidence in the math classroom.
Create a plan with strategies to implement in their classroom that will increase their students’ confidence in math.
Evaluate the effectiveness of their plan that they implemented in the classroom.
Task Analysis
The following describes the prerequisites, target performance objectives, and actions to achieve those learning objectives:
Unit 1: Information on Confidence in Math
Prerequisites: access to a classroom, gmail account, motivation to learn about confidence in math
Target Objective: Determine the impact that confidence in math has on the students’ learning.
Actions: Participants will reflect on their current practices, the math confidence of their students, and learn about the impact confidence in math has on learning.
Specific Unit Learning Objectives
By the end of Unit 1, participants will be able to:
• Show their understanding of their practices and students’ confidence prior to beginning this course by writing in their reflective journal given the link provided, answering each bullet point in the instructions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of their students’ current confidence level in math from the survey they administered by posting in the discussion board, adhering to each bullet point in the instructions.
Unit 2: Factors that Influence Confidence in Math
Prerequisites: access to a classroom, gmail account, understanding that confidence in math is an issue
Target Objective: Explain concepts that help build confidence in the math classroom.
Actions: Participants will read, research, and discuss concepts that help build confidence in the classroom.
Specific Unit Learning Objectives
By the end of Unit 2, participants will be able to:
• Show their understanding of the importance of confidence in math by writing in their reflective journal given the link provided, answering each bullet point in the instructions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the factors that influence confidence in math by posting an article regarding this along with a response in the discussion board, adhering to each bullet point in the instructions.
Unit 3: Strategies to Implement to Boost Confidence in Math
Prerequisites: access to a classroom, gmail account, understanding of factors that influence confidence in math
Target Objective: Create a plan with strategies to implement in their classroom that will increase their students’ confidence in math.
Actions: Participants will read and research strategies that help increase confidence in math and will use that information to create a plan for their classroom.
Specific Unit Learning Objectives
By the end of Unit 3, participants will be able to:
• Show their understanding of the factors that impact confidence in math by writing in their reflective journal given the link provided, answering each bullet point in the instructions.
• Create and post a plan in the discussion board with strategies to increase the confidence in math of their students given examples and resources listed in the lesson, adhering to each bullet point in the instructions.
Unit 4: Implement and Reflect
Prerequisite: access to a classroom, gmail account, completed strategy plan
Target Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of their plan that they implemented in the classroom.
Action: Participants will reflect on how their plan was implemented by posting in the discussion page. They will read posts of other classmates and learn from their experiences and their suggestions.
Specific Unit Learning Objectives
By the end of Unit 4, participants will be able to:
• Show their understanding and reflection of implementing their plan by writing in their reflective journal given the link provided, answering each bullet point in the instructions.
• Compare and contrast the results of the survey they gave to their students before implementing their plan and after implementing their plan until a consensus is reached.
• Contribute their results from implementing their plan of strategies to the class discussion board, adhering to each bullet point in the instructions.
Curriculum Map
Click this link to view the curriculum map in google classroom!
https://classroom.google.com/c/MTAxMjMyMTEzNDA4/p/MTAxMjMyMTEzNTQ5/details
Class Code: ps2pxvk
References and Resources
American Psychological Association, Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. (2015). Top 20 principles from psychology for preK–12 teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ed/schools/cpse/top-twenty-principles.pdf
Bielaczyc, K. & Collins, A. (1999). Learning Communities in Classrooms: A Reconceptualization of Educational Practice. Retrieved from https://blackboard.albany.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4047142-dt-content-rid-88493561_1/courses/2203-ETAP-623-5665/2203-ETAP-623-8567_ImportedContent_20200114035357/Readings/bielaczyc1999.pdf
Busting math myths. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=waEbChsa0LY&feature=emb_title
Hoyun Cho, & Gary D. Lawrence. (2015). Building a Positive Mathematics Community. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 20(8), 499-502. doi:10.5951/mathteacmiddscho.20.8.0499 Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.albany.edu/stable/pdf/10.5951/mathteacmiddscho.20.8.0499.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5152%252Ftest&refreqid=excelsior%3A584c225a0e910449433687a82b3ad634
Kathy Liu Sun. (2018). News & views: Beyond rhetoric: Authentically supporting a growth mindset. Teaching Children Mathematics, 24(5), 280-284. doi:10.5951/teacchilmath.24.5.0280 https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.albany.edu/stable/pdf/10.5951/teacchilmath.24.5.0280.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5152%252Ftest&refreqid=excelsior%3Ad380b394f39c9938494558c0763681ea
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O’Loughlin, R. E., Edwards, S. A., and Woolf, B.P. (2017). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Pearson Education.
Math Confidence Survey SSP Formative. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VB3JP5R
Mayer, R. E., & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction. New York: Taylor and Francis.
Melinda (Mindy), S. Eichhorn, Peter J. DiMauro, Courtney Lacson, & Barbara Dennie. (2019). Building the Optimal Learning Environment for Mathematics. The Mathematics Teacher, 112(4), 262-267. Retrieved May 7, 2020, from https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.albany.edu/stable/pdf/10.5951/mathteacher.112.4.0262.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5152%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A14cdde879b9ea93c6625798da3e460e6
MINDSETS: HOW TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS (AND YOURSELF). (2012). Educational Horizons, 91(2), 16-21. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.albany.edu/stable/42927161
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, D.C: The National Academies Press.
Nebesniak, A., & Heaton, R. (2010). Student confidence and student involvement. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 16(2), 96-103. Retrieved May 7, 2020, from https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.albany.edu/stable/41183575?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=positive&searchText=learning&searchText=environment&searchText=and&searchText=confidence&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpositive%2Blearning%2Benvironment%2Band%2Bconfidence&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-5152%2Ftest&refreqid=search%3A200ae964a9481fe5b3360328e42ece55&seq=7#metadata_info_tab_contents
Regional Educational Laboratory. (2018). Growth mindset in math. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northwest/pdf/math-attitudes-training/powerpoint-growth-mindset.pdf
Romero, Carissa. (2015, July). What we know about growth mindset from scientific research. Retrieved from http://mindsetscholarsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/What-We-Know-About-Growth-Mindset.pdf
Schubert, E. (2019). Stopping the Cycle of Math Anxiety: Recommendations for Teachers and Schools. Delta-K, 55(2), 15–24. Retrieved from: http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=137387704&S=R&D=eue&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESep644y9f3OLCmsEieqLBSrqq4Ta%2BWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGqtk%2B3rK5MuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA
Willingham, Daniel T. (2010). Is it true that some people just can’t do math? American Educator, 14-19.