Why teach mathematics with art?
"teaching of mathematics involves many challenges. Students come to class with preconceived notions and past experiences about their mathematical potential. My middle school students arrive with varied abilities to observe and be at peace with abstraction. Often they bring anxiety of expected performance. Relaxing students into a position of playing and engaging with mathematics has helped them become at ease in the classroom, readily admit to skills or concepts that pose difficulties, and become enthusiastic and successful in their study of math.
My job is to let students experience a great deal of mathematics, much of which is familiar, but examined in a more abstract and generalized approach. This maintains their interest while demonstrating recurrently that math makes sense. To be successful in this endeavor, each student must be reached at his or her individual level of abstraction and motivated in a way that is also individual to that student’s talents and experiences. Each student must experience success and a sense of growth.
For many years I have used art to engage student interest, differentiate learning, and make mathematics visually meaningful. In creating this site, I have tried to help teachers learn to use art to reveal mathematical concepts while engaging students in the meaning and logic of mathematics. I use art to demonstrate the meaning of the mathematics; to emphasize the applications of mathematics to our world; to engage students of varied interests and talents; and to show respect for the varied talents of my students. My students and I delve into a great deal of mathematics and have fun."
http://www.ldlewis.com/Teaching-Mathematics-with-Art/Philosophy.html
"teaching of mathematics involves many challenges. Students come to class with preconceived notions and past experiences about their mathematical potential. My middle school students arrive with varied abilities to observe and be at peace with abstraction. Often they bring anxiety of expected performance. Relaxing students into a position of playing and engaging with mathematics has helped them become at ease in the classroom, readily admit to skills or concepts that pose difficulties, and become enthusiastic and successful in their study of math.
My job is to let students experience a great deal of mathematics, much of which is familiar, but examined in a more abstract and generalized approach. This maintains their interest while demonstrating recurrently that math makes sense. To be successful in this endeavor, each student must be reached at his or her individual level of abstraction and motivated in a way that is also individual to that student’s talents and experiences. Each student must experience success and a sense of growth.
For many years I have used art to engage student interest, differentiate learning, and make mathematics visually meaningful. In creating this site, I have tried to help teachers learn to use art to reveal mathematical concepts while engaging students in the meaning and logic of mathematics. I use art to demonstrate the meaning of the mathematics; to emphasize the applications of mathematics to our world; to engage students of varied interests and talents; and to show respect for the varied talents of my students. My students and I delve into a great deal of mathematics and have fun."
http://www.ldlewis.com/Teaching-Mathematics-with-Art/Philosophy.html