Contextualized math helps students improve skills

Grounding mathematics problems in real-life contexts through video technology gives some low- and average-achieving students a double boost: They perform better on tests and then can apply what they learned to new projects.

That finding comes from a recent study of middle school students in Lodi, Wis. The study was directed by Brian Bottge, an assistant professor of rehabilitation psychology and special education, as part of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

“The video format has a big impact on students, including low-achievers in mathematics. They remember the problems better and can better transfer the skills they gained to real projects.” Brian Bottge Assistant professor of rehabilitation psychology and special education

One of the video lessons produced by Bottge for the study is titled “Bart’s Pet Project.” Bart is a middle school student who has saved up some money to buy a pet and build a cage for it. The challenge for him – and the students watching the video – is to design the cage so waste of building materials is minimized, insuring that he’ll have enough money left to buy a pet. All the clues to solve Bart’s problem can be found in the video.

Over several days, students analyzed the problem in groups, searching the video, sharing ideas and recording their procedures. The video-based students scored better on a post-test than students who had learned through typical text lessons and showed improvement on solving standard word problems.

“The video format has a big impact on students, including low-achievers in mathematics,” says Bottge. “They remember the problems better and can better transfer the skills they gained to real projects.” The video-based students, for example, were able to design and build kites and skateboard ramps on their own.

Bottge was inspired to develop his program by his 25 years as a K-12 educator. “Low-achieving students in math often become resistant to trying any longer, which leads in turn to behavioral problems,” he says. “So it was clear to me that they needed more of a reason to learn.

“Contextualized math in video provides that reason, because it anchors instruction in real life and engages their seeing, listening and speaking skills. The power of video technology can result in positive results for all students, including those disenchanted with mathematics.”

Students can get disenchanted because of confusion over problem-solving and how to teach it. “Teachers may withhold introduction of more complex and interesting content until students master easier material,” says Bottge.

Underlying such an approach are assumptions such as:

• Math is a set of rules that require memorization.
• Computational problems are always solved by using algorithms (step-by-step procedures).
• Problems always have one correct answer.

But real-world problems are often ill-defined, and their solutions do not follow a linear, prescribed route. “The challenge for teachers,” says Bottge, “is to find problem-solving activities that are set in the real world, are important to the learner and are manageable in the school context.”