Become Mathematical Problem Solvers
To be problem solvers, students need to know how to find ways to reach a goal when no routine path is apparent. To develop the flexibility, perseverance, and wealth of strategies that are characteristic of good problem solvers, students need to be challenged frequently and regularly with non-routine problems, including those they pose themselves. Learn to Communicate Mathematically The development of students' power to use mathematics involves learning the signs, symbols, and terms of mathematics. This is best accomplished in problem situations where students have an opportunity to read, write, and discuss ideas in the language of mathematics. As students communicate their ideas, they learn to clarify, refine, and consolidate their thinking. Make Mathematical Connections The study of mathematics should provide students with many opportunities to make connections among mathematical ideas (for example, the connection between geometric and algebraic concepts) and among mathematics and other disciplines (for example, art, music, psychology, science, business). The curriculum should portray mathematics as an integrated whole that permeates activities both in and out of school. These connections make mathematics meaningful and useful to each Beaumont student. |
Learn to Reason Mathematically
Students who reason mathematically gather data, make conjectures, assemble evidence, and build an argument to support or refute these conjectures. Such processes are fundamental to doing mathematics. Become Confident of Your Mathematical Abilities As a result of studying mathematics, students need to view themselves as capable of using their growing mathematical power to make sense of new problem situations in the world around them. School mathematics must endow all students with a realization that doing mathematics is a common human activity. Students learn to trust their own mathematical thinking by having numerous and varied experiences. Learn the Value of Mathematics In addition to providing the tools to solve problems, mathematics provides a way of thinking about and understanding the world around us. Students should have numerous and varied opportunities to think mathematically about their world. They should also explore the cultural, historical, and scientific evolution of mathematics so that they can appreciate the role of mathematics in the development of our contemporary society. |