When I first discussed my capstone idea with my advisor, I was thrilled to hear that I could incorporate artwork into my project. It was a welcome opportunity to weave one of my passions into a project which revolved around my college studies over the past four years.
Professor Alanna Gibbons gave me so much guidance over the years as I sought to learn more about what it takes to become a caring and effective math teacher, and I was grateful to have her as a mentor for my capstone. I chose to focus upon several of the pedagogical methods used by educators to counter “math anxiety” in the classroom: differentiation, purposeful planning, and academic equity.
In the process of developing and completing my project I was also working as a student teacher in a middle school on Staten Island. Delving more deeply into the methodologies that mathematics teachers utilize helped me to create a more positive learning environment for my own students as well.
For instance, I found intriguing ways to differentiate lessons for my students, such as highlighting the main points of lengthy word problems for those who may struggle a bit more with the content, while providing higher level questions for students who finish working more quickly to challenge themselves with.
As for purposeful practice, I always try to incorporate group work time so that students can talk through new ideas and work out problems with one another. They may gain a better understanding of the material, but they may also come to think more deeply about it, as well.
I have also been putting mathematics into meaningful contexts for the class as well, whether it be incorporating students into realistic mathematical scenarios within word problems or with popular video game characters. I have been receiving input from my classes about things to include in my lessons, and I am happy to carry out their requests so as to make the lessons more personal to them.
With regard to academic equity, I have made note of the diverse backgrounds of my students and incorporated information about their different cultures into lessons. Indeed, sharing a survey with my students about their backgrounds and interests helped me very much in learning more about them as individuals. Taking into account their situations and any struggles they may be having, I tailor my lessons and interventions so that I may best uphold all students to high expectations and help them to achieve these goals with strong support.
I feel that if I continued this research, my project could indeed be developed further through extended studies of different techniques used in teaching mathematics. For instance, there are a number of theories on the way in which students learn, including behaviorism, cognitive, constructivism, connectivism, and humanism. Delving deeper into these theories would certainly be enlightening for educators and learners alike, as they allow us to better understand and apply the ways that we as people learn best, whether we are helping others learn or learning something new ourselves.
I would also be interested in perhaps extending my research into how art can be used to help teach mathematics, as the two subjects share significant connections than may first meet the eye. Indeed, there are a number of potential routes my project could take if I were to branch out my research on mathematics education.
This project has definitely embodied the culmination of my academic and intellectual experience over my past four years in the Verrazzano Honors Program. It was wonderful getting to contribute my artistic interpretations of my research, as well. Not only did I have the opportunity to reflect on my learning as a mathematics education student, but to do so in a way that also incorporates a bit of myself into the project through my art.
