Internet Research for TechQuest Project

During my research for this TechQuest Project I have found three sites that have been particularly helpful so far and have learned some things along the way. The first site is a blog (http://continuities.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/geometry-before-algebra/) that started with a woman asking questions about the merits of having geometry before algebra. The 47 quality replies to the post have given me some ideas and a different perspective. Many people advocate taking algebra out of the geometry class all together. While I could still hit all of the standards without algebra mixed in, I would not be doing justice to the ones who can do it. What has changed in my mind is whether I should still demand it out of the students who do not have the skills at the beginning of the class. This would require me (or any teacher in this situation) to provide more differentiation than normal in the class, but may help to push and challenge all the kids while helping them to be successful and meeting the benchmarks.

The second site (http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Thompson_Snow.pdf) was a short paper supporting Peter J. Snow’s “Charting the Domains of Human Thought.” The major idea that I took from this paper was that the development of the brain can have an impact on the ability of a student to learn the concepts of algebra and geometry. It was his opinion that the correct sequence has geometry first.

The third site I found (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10297&page=50) is Chapter 5 from Technology and Assessment – Proceedings from a Workshop. It discusses its main point which is a cognitive tutor for Algebra, but what I found interesting was its support of technology for learning math. The program adjusts the content based on how the user is doing and is ultimately an individualized experience. My project is not that sophisticated, but it is of the same ilk. It will allow students with different abilities to be successful in different ways.

Finding good sites was not an easy task for me. I used Google and tried a couple of different strategies. First I used the keywords “geometry before algebra” and all the results in the first five pages, except the blog listed above, were not helpful. Next I tried “algebra scaffolding” and came up empty. Finally, I was somewhat more successful with “algebra technology”. I think using Google is not a great approach. Site dedicated to educational research would probably give better results, although I did find the blog to be very interesting and that would not be in a research database.