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VISUAL LEARNING AND MATHEMATICS:A Sure Bet for All Students!

South Dakota

June 7, 2011

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Visual Learning Author and ConsultantBoston, MA

Author: MathStart

HarperCollins Children’s Books I SEE I LEARN

Charlesbridge Publishing

Pearson Education enVisionMATH Digits Prentice Hall High School Mathematics

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Topics: Visual Learning Math Is a Life Skill Communicating About Math Math Fluency Making Math Relevant Parental Involvement Making Connections Building Confidence

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What Is Visual Learning?

Visual learning is about acquiring and communicating information through illustrations, photos, diagrams, graphs, symbols, icons, and other visual representations. It is about making sense of complex data using visual models.

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Why is it Important?

We must teach the way students learn.

Pedro Noguera. Opening Session Address, NCTM National Meeting, Washington, DC, 2009

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Visual Learning approaches involve visualization, color cues, picture metaphors, concept maps, sketches, diagrams, and graphic symbols.

 Thomas Armstrong. Multiple Intelligences in the

Classroom, 1994.

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Research has shown that Visual Learning theory is especially appropriate to the attainment of mathematics skills.

Thomas Rowan and Barbara Bourne. Thinking Like Mathematicians, 1994.

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Effective teaching of “word problems” uses visual representations to develop students’ quantitative reasoning abilities.

Dr. Randall I. Charles

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What Einstein was able to do was to think visually.

Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, 2007.

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Question:

Can students in India and China relate to my stories given the cultural differences that are represented?

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Mathematics has been called a “universal language,” transcending cultural and linguistic differences. This in part explains why so many math concepts lend themselves to a visual explanation.

 

 Tufte, Edward R. Envisioning Information, 1990.

 

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Question:

Why would Chinese parents and educators be interested in stories by an American author?

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Math is a life skill!

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“Stories make math matter.”

Jeffrey Travis, Presenter

Opening Session

Flatland: The Power of Story in Mathematics

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Common Core Standards:Mathematical Practices

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1. Make Sense of Problems and Persevere in Solving Them.

Understand the meaning of the problem.

Make connections.

2. Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively.

Decontextualize/Contextualize

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3. Construct Viable Arguments and Critique the Reasoning of Others.

Make conjectures.

Use Logic.

Analyze. Question.

4. Model with Mathematics.

Solve problems in everyday life.

Use diagrams, tables, graphs, flowcharts.

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5. Use Appropriate Tools Strategically.

Identify relevant resources.

Detect possible errors.

6. Attend to Precision.

Use language and symbols consistently and appropriately.

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7. Look For and Make Use of Structure.

See patterns.

Recognize attributes.

8.Look For and Express regularity in Repeated Reasoning.

Find shortcuts.

Evaluate reasonableness.

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Understanding abstract math concepts is reliant on the ability to “see” how they work, and students naturally use visual models to solve mathematical problems. They are often able to visualize a problem as a set of images.

Thomas Rowan and Barbara Bourne. Thinking Like Mathematicians, 1994.

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By creating models, students interact with mathematical concepts, process information, observe changes, reflect on their experiences, modify their thinking, and draw conclusions.

 Thomas Rowan and Barbara Bourne. Thinking Like

Mathematicians, 1994.

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Student’s consideration of size and their visual comparisons of near and far objects are vital to their understanding of estimation. In fact, regarding estimation. “The visual transfer is most striking and theoretically most important.”

 Jean Piaget, Barbel Inhelder and Alina Szeminska. The

Child’s Conception of Geometry, 1960.

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Visual Learning Skills

Observation: Seeing - “What is it?” “What makes it that?”

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Visual Learning Skills

Observation: Seeing - “What is it?” “What makes it that?”

Recognition: Recall - “That’s a triangle. It has three corners and three sides.”

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Visual Learning Skills

Observation: Seeing - “What is it?” “What makes it that?”

Recognition: Recall - “That’s a triangle. It has three corners and three sides.”

Interpretation: Understanding - “What does that model tell me?”

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Visual Learning Skills

Observation: Seeing - “What is it?” “What makes it that?”

Recognition: Recall - “That’s a triangle. It has three corners and three sides.”

Interpretation: Understanding - “What does that model tell me?”

Perception: Analysis - “What might happen next?”

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Visual Learning Skills

Observation: Seeing - “What is it?” “What makes it that?”

Recognition: Recall - “That’s a triangle. It has three corners and three sides.”

Interpretation: Understanding - “What does that model tell me?”

Perception: Analysis - “What might happen next?” Self-Expression: Communication - “This is what it’s

all about.”

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Schools need to educate students in visual literacy to enable them to participate equitably in society.

 Carmel Diezmann. Visual Literacy: Equity and Social

Justice in Mathematics Education, 1995.

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Bar diagrams, visual representations, make problem solving accessible to ALL students, particularly ELL students.

Dr. Randall I. Charles

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“Math and creativity go hand-in-hand to make great things happen..”

Jeffrey Travis, Presenter

Opening Session

Flatland: The Power of Story in Mathematics

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Visual Learning Strategies Support STEM … Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

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STEMMA

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STEAM:

“The ARTS have a role in America’s future, too!”Joseph Piro, Education Week, April 7, 2011

“Make It Better,” Innovation Symposium at Rhode Island School of Design

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Verbal

Visual

Numerical

Comprehension

Thank you!