About Math Models

Mathematics Models

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This site is a companion to the curriculum I use in my classroom. Each page on this site accompanies a lesson from the curriculum. The Math Alive! curriculum (formerly known as the Visual Mathematics curriculum) is a hands-on, concept-building curriculum that emphasizes exploration and discussion. The curriculum has been published by the Math Learning Center at Portland (Oregon) State University since about 1989. My purpose here is to make the basic models and concepts we study accessible to parents and students in an on line format for use at home. Educators, students and parents are free to use or link to these materials for non-commercial, educational purposes.

One caveat: I do think algorithms are important. Students need to be able to compute efficiently no matter which curriculum the districts they learn in choose. There are many algorithms for the basic operations (as anyone who has spent time in other countries might have experienced), and it is important for teachers to help students symbolize their thinking into procedures that work for them. The 'standard' algorithms are a part of that constellation, and should be included. This is an important part of the teacher's task, and a crucial part of the debriefing of student explorations and discussions. The 'math wars' that have surfaced in response to recent attempts to rethink math instruction have clouded this issue, in my opinion. The most important issue is that teachers need to be proficient in math to teach it in a manner that builds on student knowledge and exploration.

I have not included many algorithms on these pages - the purpose here is to acquaint folks with models that might be useful in helping students understand the underlying concepts.

Visual Mathematics / Math Alive! philosophy and learner goals

Please e-mail your suggestions...Link to my other web site.

Construction of these pages began in December, 1999.