This is the half-way point of this course, and I want to offer a little review of the major idea of the course. I was able to tell a family member about this course yesterday, and he asked me, "so what does have to say about how to learn math?" I was happy that I actually had an answer to provide.
Stanford, through prof. Jo Boaler, is very clear about what students need in order to learn math. Students need to develop a growth mindset. They need to know and believe that they, everyone, can learn and understand math. Not as a, "you can do it!" false self-esteem thing, but as a fact about their brains, "anyone is capable, with hard-work practice and the right teaching methods, capable of succeeding at math. Students need to be taught how their brains work, given the opportunity to experience real learning, and reminded often that all students are capable of growing their understanding.
How we teach, allowing students to struggle, talk to one another, find different approaches, and make sense of the math they learning. How we help students in the classroom, praising mistakes, withholding answers, keeping things open to students thinking. How we assess, providing feedback instead of grades, celebrating mistakes as opportunities for learning, focusing on growth. All of those things, that is how students learn math.
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