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Dive Brief:
- With federal data continuing to show that student math scores are lower than pre-pandemic, math teachers like Sean Donovan of Brewer High School in Maine are refusing to accept that this is a “new normal.” In his classroom, Donovan has adopted a number of real-world techniques designed to boost the relevance of math lessons for his students.
- Donovan said that a combination of professional development sessions through the University of Maine and the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, as well as graduate work toward an instructional technology degree, prompted him to roll out inquiry-based digital projects. These grant students “ownership on what the topic is, how they present it, what digital platform they use, and how it’s relevant to them,” he said.
- Another initiative Donovan has undertaken is the use of “fun-tivities,” in which he teaches math more like a science class. “They’re doing an experiment, or they’re doing something with hands-on tools,” Donovan said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of hands-on prep. But as one teacher at a workshop said, ‘We don’t want science teachers to have all the fun.’”
Dive Insight:
“We give tests on paper. But most real-world tasks, or jobs, you’ve got to be able to communicate verbally,” Donovan said. “Having [students] reflect on their learning, it’s been really beneficial for them.”
The professional development from University of Maine emphasized this approach, he added.
As students prepare their digital projects for presentation, Donovan has the expectation that they will verbally explain in their own words the project’s purpose and results. “That’s something I don’t think most math teachers have done,” he said.
As for the hands-on “fun-tivities,” one example might be learning how to do architectural surveying work by leveraging trigonometry to estimate the height of the school’s athletic building towers, Donovan said. Others could include using spectrometers to measure light intensity or an auditory device to do the same with sound.
“The kids love them,” he said. “They’re always asking, ‘Can we do a fun-tivity today?’”
To gauge students’ engagement, Donovan has been using a simple Google form to ask them to rate different classroom activities from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest.
While Donovan likes to think his direct instruction is reasonably engaging, and he was reasonably happy with the scores overall. “They were higher when we were doing group work and hands-on activities,” he said. “There was measurable improvement.”
It’s also been enjoyable for him, as a teacher, to see what students can produce, Donovan said.
“It’s more work to grade, but it’s more enjoyable and fun,” he said. “If I’m having fun, I’m probably doing a better job.”
In another example of his approach’s success, he noted that he’s had students who are “kind of checked out” become engaged in producing a video on flight simulators and how all the math works.
“When you get them to pick something they’re interested in, they can really blossom as a student,” Donovan said. “I’m buying into it. I think the students have very much bought into it.”
While he quickly implemented such approaches across the board, Donovan would recommend that other educators start small when considering introducing more hands-on activities.
“Make it manageable for yourself, and make a commitment to it,” he said — especially if you’ve mapped out your plans and are wondering, “How am I going to squeeze a new thing in there without taking something out?”
“I still do basic quizzes, but for my summative end-of-unit assessment, I have replaced traditional tests with the digital projects,” he said.
