Benefits of Journals
Knowing mathematics is doing mathematics. We need to create situations where students can be active, creative and responsive to the physical world. I believe that to learn mathematics, students must construct it for themselves. They can only do that by exploring, justifying, representing discussing, using, describing, investigating, predicting, in short by being active in the world. Writing is an ideal activity for such processes.
Joan Countryman – Writing to Learn Mathematics
As Joan Countryman points out, students must experience and relate their understanding of mathematics in order to truly internalize and learn math. Journaling about mathematics helps them achieve this. There are many benefits of having students write down their mathematical thought process in a journal. Journals can help students accomplish the following:
- Development of a connection with the subject of math
- Analysis and reflection and internalization of the concepts, skills and processes learned
- Reinforcement of the concepts they learn
- Development of analytical skills needed for problem solving
- Reflection and analysis of their own thinking processes
- Give teachers and peers a way to affirm that they understand a concept and can explain it well
One study demonstrates that students of a high school Algebra course who wrote out their mathematical thought processes in solving problems actually scored higher than those who did not on traditional tests (Nickerson, 2007). Regular use of math journaling to help hone the problem solving process along with review and guidance from teachers can result in developed skills in problem solving (Liljedahl, 2006).
In this course you will learn how to interpret mathematical data given in contextual and everyday situations. You will also develop skills for instructing the process of writing descriptive narrative of mathematical and algebraic stories as well as learn how to help students translate their mathematical narratives into formal mathematical language and equations.