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What Means Math
for Me
Investigation
from teachers and students at "Mihai Eminescu" High School in Calarasi,
Romania
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Math Report
1.The data of the study
are the result of the teaching activity of the school masters and teachers
indicated in the project.
2.Conclusions:
- the results of the test have been
of great interest for us too;
- this was the first test of this
kind, our students were subject to;
- on the whole the statistics has
been interesting and helped us get closer to our students and understand
the way they see math according to each age.
3.The most interesting differences:
- younger children clearly remember
when they counted for the first time, ilder students often answering "I
don't know";
- almost all of them perceived math
as being easy and interesting during their first school years;
- all of them got both good and
poor grades.
4. As they grow up, students become
more and more aware of the role math play in their every day life, in choosing
a future job, and so on.
5. The answers to the questions
"What do you think math will help you at in the future" (#7) and "Do you
like math?" (#1) were the most interesting ones. The 10th graders gave
6 negative answers although they attend science classes.
Questions #6 got an amazing answer:
students are not afraid of math.
WHAT MEANS MATH FOR ME
1. Do you like math? Why? If not,
why not?
| 1st
grade A, 22 students |
4th
grade A, 21 students |
10th
grade C, 25 students |
| 22 (Yes) |
19 (Yes) |
19 (Yes) |
| 2 (No) |
2 (No) |
6 (No) |
2. At what age did you start
counting? ("Y" means years)
| 1st
grade A
22 students |
4th
grade A
21 students |
10th
grade C
25 students |
| 3Y |
4 Y |
5 Y |
Don't Know |
3 Y |
4 Y |
5 Y |
Don't Know |
3 Y |
4 Y |
5 Y |
Don't Know |
| 4 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
4 |
|
10 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
3) How did math seem to
you in 1st grade?
3a) How about at high school? ("I"
interesting, "N" nice, "E" easy, "H" hard)
| 1st
grade A
22 students |
4th
grade A
21 students |
10th
grade C
25 students |
| I (8) |
N (18) |
I (24) |
| E (12) |
|
E (16) |
| H (2) |
H (3) |
H (9) |
4) What was your best mark?
What about your loest one?
| 1st
grade A
22 students |
4th
grade A
21 students |
10th
grade C
25 students |
| V.W 22 |
V.W. 21 |
10- 25 |
| W 21 |
W 8 |
7- 6 |
| S 1 |
S 13 |
6- 2 |
| |
5- 2 |
| 4- 8 |
| 3- 7 |
5) Do you like Fun-Math?
("Y" yes, "N" no)
| 1st
grade A
22 students |
4th
grade A
21 students |
10th
grade C
25 students |
| Y 22 |
Y 15 |
Y 19 |
| N 0 |
N 6 |
N 6 |
6) Are you afraid of Math?
("Y" yes, "N" no)
| 1st
grade A
22 students |
4th
grade A
21 students |
10th
grade C
25 students |
| N 21 |
N 15 |
N 21 |
| Y 1 |
Y 6 |
Y 4 |
7) What do you think Maths
will help you at in the future?
1st grade - Frequent answers:
- choosing jobs 9
- becoming a maths teacher 4
- working with computers 1
- counting 5
- not getting tricked at shopping
2
- teaching my children 1
4th grade - Frequent answers:
- choosing my job 12
- shopping 5
- every aspect on life 4
10th grade - Frequent answers:
- choosing my job 7
- shopping 2
- every aspect on life 16
The students have been questioned
from 3 different grades. What math means for them can be resulted from
their answers.
Reporters:
Liviu Militaru, 11th grade,
Lucia
Lazarescu, 9th grade and Ioana Dumitru
Coordinators:
Carolina Lazarescu, Rodica Captariu,
Ioana Dumitru,
Viorica Marin, Similea Silvia,
Ninel Petre
''Mihai
Eminescu'' High School
Calarasi, Romania
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