Chapter 2: Making Wise Curricular Decisions

Math curriculum should be:

Coherent: There should be connections among math concepts, procedures and skills
Focused: The curriculum should target significant topics and understanding of mathematics
Articulate: The students should experience interrelated mathematics

As teachers, it is our job to anticipate what students can do based on what they know, so as to build upon their
knowledge. As such we need to be trained and aware about how to adjust the activities and experiences that
generate knowledge so as to achieve continuous improvement and learning.

More on Coherence:
- There must be visible connections between purposes and everyday learning experiences
- Learning experiences must be placed in a context that helps the learner understand how those activities,
when connected, lead to some larger purpose (interrelated with other math topics, subject matter and life
experiences).
- The curriculum must take into account and allow for the different ways in which people make sense of
their learning experience.

The backward design of curricula

In this case, curriculum experts first identify the goal. The goal is what we want to achieve, the end result. So if
our goal is to promote the country’s economy via agriculture, then the goal is to prepare students who have
sufficient background information about agriculture. Hence, since we know the end result, we prepare the
curriculum to satisfy these needs, whether it’s through the activities, objectives, experiences, projects,
assessments… and so on. So questions experts ask are:
- What would count as evidence of achievement?
- What does it look like to meet these goals?
- What objectives help attain these goals?
- What type of assessment/textbooks/instructional methods would be appropriate?

Selecting appropriate material

- Academic rigor for clear understanding and setting of learning goals
- Equity to achieve high level of learning among a wide range of students (culture, learning style and
ability…)
- Developmental appropriateness to ensure that the instruction and activities are age appropriate and
related to their interests.

Questions to ask when selecting activities and projects

- Will the activities promote higher levels of cognition?
- Will students be able to transfer the skills learnt into their everyday lives?
- Do the material promote better understanding (for both teacher and student)?
- Do the material integrate assessment into the teaching and learning process?

Standards-Based Math should be: interesting, important, and relevant.

Investigations in Number, Data and Space
Investigation requires students to think deeply about the mathematics involved, understand the processes
involved, and use reasoning skills to arrive at the response. In this type of learning, students are actively
engaged to solve complex problems. They represent, compute, explain, use appropriate tools, and justify their
work. Moreover, students should be allowed to discuss their findings, thought process and strategies in the
classroom. In doing so, they clarify their thinking and maybe even of their classmates. Furthermore, the teacher
will be able to pin point any misconceptions early on, and provide suitable guidance.

Everyday Math
It is important for schools to provide teacher support. The program should offer teacher friendly materials,
instructional approaches and exploration exercises to promote learning based on standards based mathematics.
Everyday math achieves this by using students’ own lives to show how applicable mathematics in their lives
and provides a context that helps them understand the concepts better.

Math Trailblazers
Math trailblazers builds lessons around objects students see regularly in their world so as to ensure hands-on
experience. Students thus feel more engaged and interested in learning mathematics, and will take risks while
exploring the concepts with more confidence in their abilities.

Textbook as the Curriculum

The chosen textbooks should provide a good base of information so teachers do not have to constantly search
for ways to enrich their instructions.

Inventiveness
Sometimes, the textbook isn’t enough to teach all the key concepts as required by the curriculum or the
activities do not spark students’ interest. This is where the educator’s inventiveness comes to play, and the
ability to do research to find the appropriate material and to adapt that material to the students’ needs.