Children rarely have an understanding of the importance of mathematics. Children are also falling behind in math and science due to a number of causes such as lack of understanding, boredom, or a lack of motivation to learn something new. An understanding of the use of math in real world problems is an effective way to develop intuitive learning and interest in children.
Professor Ron Eglash has started a program that allows students to learn math through relevant and interesting cultural practices. The program uses several different types of software developed by RPI students to accomplish this. The computer programs start out with a cultural background, moves on to a tutorial, and then the software itself.
Every Wednesday, we will go to the Ark Community Charter School in Troy and work with kids – mostly 4th graders – who enter the program and work with them using the software. The Ark Community Charter School is a school that receives government funding but is free from certain rules. Our program is meant to improve the grades of students in relation to other 4th graders who have followed standard learning procedures. We will be using a pretest to determine the effectiveness. We will present the results of the program to the NSF.
I am participating in this program as part of a course that promotes service and civic learning as well as community responsibility. I hope that this program will help motivate students to actively seek out potential uses for math skills and pursue a heavy math and science curriculum in high school and beyond.
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