[net-gold] Remediation for Remedial Math #2
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 01:10:14 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 11:31:16 -0700
From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Net-Gold] Remediation for Remedial Math #2
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ABSTRACT: In a previous post "Remediation for Remedial Math" I wrote:
"In my opinion, the major problem my not be inherent difficulty for
many students of the algebra on which remedial courses concentrate,
but the fact that such courses are ineffectively taught as
passive-student lecture courses. Jerry Epstein's (2007) 'Calculus
Concept Inventory' <http://bit.ly/bqKSWJ> is beginning to show the
abysmal ineffectiveness of standard introductory calculus courses.
Similarly an 'Algebra Concept Inventory' might show the same thing
for current algebra courses."
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To which LrnAsst-L's Jered Wasburn-Moses responded at
<http://bit.ly/KKRm0z> (paraphrasing; my CAPS) "I think Hake misses a
key difference between physics (his own field) and mathematics:
EDUCATIONAL INERTIA. By the time they reach college developmental
education courses, students have strongly-entrenched beliefs about
mathematical content, mathematical classrooms, and themselves as
mathematical learners."
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But my experience has been that the same is true for K-16 physics and
other sciences, in that not only students but also teachers and
professors have strongly-entrenched beliefs about education. So
central is the problem of "educational inertia" that I was moved to
post:
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(a) Lesson #13 of "Lessons from the Physics Education Reform Effort"
(Hake, 2002) at <http://bit.ly/aL87VT>: "The monumental inertia of
the educational system may thwart long-term national reform";
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(b) "Eleven Quotes in Honor of Inertia" [Hake (2006)] at
<http://bit.ly/g7jdeU>;
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(c) an essay "Can Scientific Research Enhance the Art of Teaching?"
[Hake (2007b)] at <http://bit.ly/a7xJxR> (1.2 MB): "University
Leaders Bemoan the Inertia of Higher Education: Why Is It So Slow To
Recognize the Value of Interactive Engagement Methods in Promoting
Higher-Level Learning?"
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In my post "Remediation for Remedial Math" [Hake (2012)], I wrote:
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"In my opinion, the major problem may not be inherent difficulty for
many students of the algebra on which remedial courses concentrate,
but the fact that such courses are ineffectively taught as
passive-student lecture courses. Jerry Epstein's (2007) 'Calculus
Concept Inventory' is beginning to show the abysmal ineffectiveness
of standard introductory calculus courses. Similarly an 'Algebra
Concept Inventory' might show the same thing for current algebra
courses."
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Jered Wasburn-Moses (2012) of the LrnAsst-L list responded:
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". . . . . I think Hake misses a key difference between physics (his
own field) and mathematics: educational inertia. By the time they
reach college developmental education courses, students have
strongly-entrenched beliefs about mathematical content, mathematical
classrooms, and themselves as mathematical learners. . . . . Hake's
one-sentence treatment leaves a great deal of complexity
'off-screen.' "
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I agree that "educational inertia" tends to thwart educational reform
in developmental education courses. But my experience has been that
the same is true for K-16 physics and other sciences in that not only
students but also teachers and professors have strongly-entrenched
beliefs about education.
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Section III of "The Impact of Concept Inventories On Physics
Education and It's Relevance For Engineering Education" [Hake (2011)]
is titled "For Physics Education the Road to Reform Has Been All
Uphill!" Therein I wrote [paraphrasing, bracketed by lines "HHHHH. .
. . ."]:
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HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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Eric Rogers (2003) in "Diffusion of Innovations" begins Chapter 1
"Elements of Diffusion" by quoting Niccolo Machiavelli (1513):
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"There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success,
nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of
things.... Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack the
innovator they do so with the passion of partisans, while the other
defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party alike are
vulnerable."
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And then wrote: "Getting a new idea adopted, even when it has obvious
advantages, is difficult. Many innovations require a lengthy period
of many years from the time they become available to the time when
they become widely adopted. Therefore a common problem for many
individuals and organizations is how to speed up the rate of
diffusion of an innovation."
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Lesson #13 of Hake (2002) is "The monumental inertia of the
educational system may thwart long-term national reform. The glacial
inertia of U.S. educational system is not well understood. An issue
of 'Daedalus' (1998) contains essays by researchers in education and
by historians of more rapidly developing institutions such as power
systems, communications, health care, and agriculture. The issue was
intended to help answer a challenge posed by physics Nobelist Kenneth
Wilson: 'If other major American 'systems' have so effectively
demonstrated the ability to change, why has the education 'system'
been so singularly resistant to change? What might the lessons
learned from other systems' efforts to adapt and evolve have to teach
us about bringing about change - successful change - in America's
schools?' As far as I know, no definitive answer has yet been
forthcoming."
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HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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So central is the problem of "educational inertia" that I was moved to post:
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a. "Eleven Quotes in Honor of Inertia" [Hake (2006)] at
<http://bit.ly/g7jdeU>; and
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b. an essay "Can Scientific Research Enhance the Art of Teaching?"
[Hake (2007b)] at <http://bit.ly/a7xJxR> (1.2 MB) wherein I wrote:
"University Leaders Bemoan the Inertia of Higher Education: Why Is It
So Slow To Recognize the Value of Interactive Engagement Methods in
Promoting Higher-Level Learning?"
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Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake>
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"If you try to introduce people to a paradigm shift, they will hear
what you have to say and then interpret your words in terms of their
old paradigm. What does not fit, they will not hear."
Myron Tribus (2001), former director of the Center for Advanced
Engineering Study at MIT
- see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Tribus>
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REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 15 May 2012; most shortened by
<http://bit.ly/>. ]
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"Daedalus." 1998. Special issue on "Education yesterday, education
tomorrow," volume 127(4). Focuses on K-12 education. The online
description, formerly at <http://daedalus.amacad.org/inprint.html>
has rotted. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
<http://www.amacad.org/>, former publishers of Daedalus, has seen fit
to give contents of issues at
<http://www.amacad.org/publications/back_issues.aspx> only back to
Fall 2001. The current publishers, MIT press, display an even more
limited list of issues back to Fall 2003 at
<http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/daed>.
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Epstein, J. 2007. "Development and Validation of the Calculus Concept
Inventory," in "Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on
Mathematics Education in a Global Community," 7-12 September, edited
by Pugalee, Rogerson, & Schinck; online as a 48 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/bqKSWJ>.
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Hake, R.R. 2002. "Lessons from the Physics Education Reform Effort,"
Ecology and Society 2: 28; online at <http://bit.ly/aL87VT>. For an
update on the six lessons on "interactive engagement" see Hake
(2007a).
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Hake, R.R. 2006. "Eleven Quotes in Honor of Inertia," online on the
OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/g7jdeU>. Post of 13 Jun 2006
15:01:14-0700 to AERA-L, PhysLrnR, and POD.
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Hake, R.R. 2007a. "Six Lessons From the Physics Education Reform
Effort," Latin American Journal of Physics Education 1(1), September;
online as published (with AIP style numbered references) as a 124 kB
pdf at <http://bit.ly/bjvDOb>. Also available with more reader
friendly APA style references as a 684 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/96FWmE>.
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Hake, R.R. 2007b. "Can Scientific Research Enhance the Art of
Teaching?" invited talk, AAPT Greensboro meeting, 31 July, online as
a 1.2 MB pdf at <http://bit.ly/a7xJxR>.
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Hake, R.R. 2011. "The Impact of Concept Inventories On Physics
Education and It's Relevance For Engineering Education" invited talk,
8 August, second annual NSF-sponsored "National Meeting on STEM
Concept Inventories," Washington, D.C., online as a 8.7 MB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/nmPY8F> and as ref. 64 at <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>.
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Hake, R.R. 2012. "Remediation for Remedial Math," online on the OPEN!
AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/IQoSPw>. Post of 12 May 2012
10:24:19-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the
complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists
and are on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/M7idpO> with a
provision for comments.
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Machiavelli, N. 1513. "The Prince". For A 2011 edition published by
Simon & Brown see Amazon.com at <http://amzn.to/rp35T8>, note the
searchable "Look Inside" feature.
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Rogers, E.M. 2003. "Diffusion of Innovations," 5th edition. Free
Press. Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/qk0WZP>, note the
"Look Inside" feature.
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Wasburn-Moses, J. 2012. "Re: Remediation for Remedial Math,"
LrnAsst-L post of 14 May 2012 15:47:34+0000; online on the OPEN!
LrnAsst-L archives at <http://bit.ly/KKRm0z>.
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