Unit 1: Confidence in Math
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- ETAP 623 Spring 2020 (Zhang)
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- Next Unit: Unit 2: Factors that Influence Confidence in Math
Look Ahead
We are going to start off this course by looking into what a lack of confidence means and how you might see it in your classroom.
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.
Reflect
To begin this unit, first write in your reflective journal. Answer the following question:
What do you know about your students and their confidence level in math?
If you have students you believe are not confident, what do you think the reasoning is?
Do you currently implement anything to focus on their confidence?
https://classroom.google.com/c/MTAxMjMyMTEzNDA4
Class Code: ps2pxvk
Confidence in Math
Math often has a negative connotation associated with it. People will say, “I’m not a math person” or, “I can’t do math”, and it is just accepted. It might be more difficult for some people, but most everyone is capable of learning math. As Willingham (2010) stated “While it is true that some people are better than math than others- just like some are better than others at writing or building cabinets or anything else- it is also true that the vast majority of people are fully capable of learning K-12 mathematics” (p. 14). The misconceptions about the ability to understand math contribute to the lack of confidence that people have in math. Watch the following video about myths about learning math and how they contribute to a lack of confidence in math.
Activity
Give students a survey you create in order to determine the general confidence level. Survey monkey is a great resource to use. Here is an example of a survey someone made to measure confidence in math:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VB3JP5R
Discuss
Upon giving the survey, post in the class discussion board. You should focus on the following:
• What were your results from the student survey?
• Were you surprised by the answers?
Post your initial discussion and respond to at least two classmates.
https://classroom.google.com/c/MTAxMjMyMTEzNDA4
Class Code: ps2pxvk
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Continue to Next Unit: Unit 2: Factors that Influence Confidence in Math