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Re: Learning and Mathematics: Hiebert & Wearne, Teaching
Posted:
Feb 26, 1996 4:22 AM
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Will Craig wrote:
>I think most of the criticism of text-book based instruction has to do >with the sense that it lends itself to inflexibility, a lac=
k of
responsive- ness to the abilities and interests of the students. Also of concern is the sort
>of second-hand learning that can only come with predigested, pre- organized
>information. Where is the personal construction of understanding if
>everything is all planned/spelled out for you? Above, you allude to using
>the textbook as a supplemental material, and there seems to be a possibility
>in that if the texts are used in the sense of first-hand material now and
>then. The problem with textbooks is that they are specifically designed with
>the conveyor-belt type of instruction in mind. Maybe if textbooks were
>available in the classroom for students to use when they felt like it they
>could figure out how best they could use them.
I think that Will makes some good points here. In a perfect classroom there
would be no standard text but a bookshelf of resources that students could
refer to when they needed to do so. However, it also strikes me that having
a standard text helps a lot of students. Let's take an average high school
history or science class where most of the class time is spent in lecture.
It is vital for a student to be able to come home and read a chapter to
reinforce the ideas presented in lecture. I think eliminating a standard
text that every student has would leave some students lost, staring at
incomprehensible notes from a lecture. I have found classes where the
teacher or professor presents material in lecture in a completely different
manner than the text does. I can read the text and get a different take on
the material and try to truly understand the concepts. I wish that I could
say there is no need for standard texts but as of now, I find them helpful.
I admit that to base an entire course on a text is detrimental and I suggest
that a standard text be used as a supplementary resource to what goes on in
class.
Dana Lehman
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