Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu
-
0:16 - 0:22SB: Welcome. Hello everyone.
Today Dan and I are going to be ... -
0:22 - 0:26– let's see if we can get this presentation going...
all right, all right, cool! Ha, ha ... – -
0:26 - 0:29So, above all welcome. Today we're going to
be talking to you guys about -
0:29 - 0:34changing perceptions, motivation,
students, efficiency, effectiveness -
0:34 - 0:36DN: Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sean!
SB: What? -
0:36 - 0:39DN: Do you have any idea how many words
you just put in the audience...? -
0:39 - 0:41SB: Yeah! Oh!
-
0:41 - 0:43DN: Let's clear things up a little bit.
-
0:43 - 0:45What are the main ideas
we're going to be talking about today? -
0:45 - 0:47SB: OK, all right, fair enough.
-
0:47 - 0:52How about perceptions, students,
math, themselves... -
0:52 - 0:55Yeah, something like that.
DN: Ok, that clears things [up] a little bit better. -
0:55 - 0:57But can you organise the ideas
-
0:57 - 1:00so it is perfectly clear to the audience
what we are talking about? -
1:00 - 1:03SB: Ok, I'll take care of that. (Laughter)
Sorry, so, I get a little excited. -
1:03 - 1:09Talk about changing perceptions of math
by teaching students to teach themselves. -
1:09 - 1:13DN: All right, here we go! Much better.
So, as our title screen just showed you, -
1:13 - 1:16how we organise words affects
how we understand -
1:16 - 1:18the very meaning those words
are meant to convey. -
1:18 - 1:21So if we don't take the time
to organise words, -
1:21 - 1:23we can be very overwhelmed and confused
-
1:23 - 1:28by something like this, instead of having...
-
1:28 - 1:30yeah, that's overwhelming and confusing.
-
1:30 - 1:34Instead of having something clear
and understandable, like this. -
1:35 - 1:36So the next thing we want to talk to you about,
-
1:36 - 1:38is how prior organisation of words
-
1:38 - 1:42can affect how we understand
and perceive new words -
1:42 - 1:45and the ideas those words
are supposed to represent. So... -
1:45 - 1:48SB: Ok, all right, so you know
what I want to say? -
1:48 - 1:51Did I tell you that Marcy
and I are getting a dog? -
1:51 - 1:55DN: Yeah, I don't think this is the proper time
to talk about that! -
1:55 - 1:57SB: We got the time!
DN: But I guess we... (Laughter) -
1:57 - 2:01Actually, this is kind of embarrassing,
but I don't really know what a dog is, -
2:01 - 2:03er, can you explain?
-
2:03 - 2:05SB: Dan you're a high-school teacher
and you don't know what a dog is? -
2:05 - 2:07DN: Hopefully none of our students
are watching. (Laughter) -
2:07 - 2:09SB: Alright. I mean, you guys,
stay with me on this. -
2:09 - 2:13A dog is, you know, four legs,
has a head, furry and can lie down. -
2:13 - 2:17I mean we all agree, right?
That's what a dog is. Dan? -
2:17 - 2:19DN : Don't you guys already have
already one of those things? -
2:19 - 2:22SB: Oh my, Dan!
You're blowing this presentation, bud! -
2:22 - 2:24Come on, man, let's get it together.
-
2:24 - 2:28What do you think, can you draw a picture
for this people of what you think it is? -
2:28 - 2:31DN: this.. ugly table with a '70's shag cloth,
-
2:31 - 2:33in the middle of you guys' living room,
that's a dog, right? -
2:33 - 2:37SB: Dan! How can you confuse four legs..?
I.. You know ... I don't even.. -
2:37 - 2:42This is a dog, Dan. It's got four legs,
it barks, it goes woof... -
2:42 - 2:44DN: Aw! I've seen one of those before.
-
2:44 - 2:47SB: All right. Dan you've got
to fix it for these people! -
2:47 - 2:51They.. you got it.
How did you confuse a dog into a table? -
2:51 - 2:54DN: Ok, well, you said four legs.
Furniture has four legs, -
2:54 - 2:58... lies down, folding table, OK?
-
2:58 - 3:01Furry, '70s shag carpet,
you can put that on a table, -
3:01 - 3:04Clearly that's a dog, Sean.
That's a dog! -
3:04 - 3:08SB: Dan, I'm actually not...
I'm not even mad, I'm actually impressed. -
3:08 - 3:10How you did that is beyond me.
-
3:10 - 3:14Four legs: How about an animal?
Dan, did you stop to think about that? -
3:14 - 3:19Furry, lies down... THAT is a dog, Dan!
-
3:20 - 3:25OK? Got it? All right! So, what this is meant
to illustrate is dog vs. table. -
3:25 - 3:31This idea is, schema is the very ways
we organise words in our brain, -
3:31 - 3:37especially the organization of prior words
affects how we perceive new words. -
3:37 - 3:41in the case of math, where it's even more abstract,
this gets challenging. -
3:41 - 3:43You know, in this case I could show
a picture to Dan and be like, -
3:43 - 3:48"Oh this is a dog, got it?" All right!
But how about in math? -
3:48 - 3:51where we're like,
"Ok, hey, come here, quadratic formula! -
3:51 - 3:53Come on kids, pet the quadratic formula!"
-
3:53 - 3:58Or, "Did you see that pesky quadratic formula
running across the street yesterday?" -
3:58 - 4:02I didn't think so. All right?
As ideas get more abstract, -
4:02 - 4:06we ourselves need more set
and firm schemas. -
4:06 - 4:10Dan's going to talk a little bit
about how that looks in math. -
4:10 - 4:12DN: So, based on dog vs. table,
-
4:12 - 4:17what is the key component to correctly
perceiving and learning mathematics? -
4:17 - 4:20Developing proficiency with number use
seems pretty important, -
4:20 - 4:24memorization of processes
seems pretty important, -
4:24 - 4:26cognitive organization of math words
seems pretty important, -
4:26 - 4:29but Sean, I realize you didn't know
what I put in D there. -
4:29 - 4:31I'm sure the entire audience wants
to talk about spaceships. So... -
4:31 - 4:34SB: Don't... Just stop!
He's going to try to show you -
4:34 - 4:38through a schema how
he can connect perceiving and learning -
4:38 - 4:40all the way to spaceships
and now you're gonna let him do it. -
4:40 - 4:42DN : All right, all right!
SB: Dan please, let's get to the point. -
4:42 - 4:44DN: Ok. So the real answer's actually C.
-
4:44 - 4:47Based on this, Sean and I wondered:
-
4:47 - 4:49what are the math words
that students actually have to organise -
4:49 - 4:51as they're going through their education?
-
4:51 - 4:54Well, what we did is we went through
the common core standards. -
4:54 - 4:56Now if you're not familiar with them,
these are a set of standards -
4:56 - 4:59that are sweeping across
the entire United States, -
4:59 - 5:02almost every state has begun
adopting them in some way. -
5:02 - 5:05These are the words that a kindergartener
is expected to know, -
5:05 - 5:10at least to have in their vocabulary
based on the concepts in those standards. -
5:10 - 5:12OK? Then we move on to first grade.
Now we realize you'll never -
5:12 - 5:14be able to read all these,
but I just want you to get the big picture. -
5:14 - 5:16OK? Let me move on to second grade.
-
5:16 - 5:19And we're just going to jump up
to sixth grade for you. -
5:19 - 5:22You'll notice a similarity
between this and our title screen. -
5:22 - 5:25It's pretty overwhelming as you can see,
why some students -
5:25 - 5:28get to sixth grade math and go,
"I'm done, can't do this anymore." -
5:28 - 5:33So, what we wondered was,
is it possible to organise these? -
5:33 - 5:36Well, not only is it possible,
we've actually done it. -
5:36 - 5:39So, instead of having a confusing
mess of words, -
5:39 - 5:42you can cognitively organise them
based on definition. -
5:42 - 5:44Right, so when a student is
on the first grade -
5:44 - 5:47instead of having a bunch
of words strewing around, -
5:47 - 5:49they start connecting them
to everything else. -
5:49 - 5:53Now we're going to jump up to sixth grade again
for the second time, -
5:53 - 5:55now we realize you can't see
everything on there. -
5:55 - 5:59However, things are now organised.
So they can perceive and understand -
5:59 - 6:01all this information in a proper manner.
-
6:01 - 6:05The observation that Sean
and I had from this was: -
6:05 - 6:07well, what if they don't know
any of these words? -
6:07 - 6:09what if they don't have one
of these connections? -
6:09 - 6:13What if one of these connections is connected
in a not-so-efficient way? -
6:13 - 6:17So, what we thought was,
not only will it affect their success, -
6:17 - 6:19but if they're overwhelmed
by all this information, -
6:19 - 6:22it's going to affect their confidence
in mathematics -
6:22 - 6:25and it's going to affect their motivation
to even try mathematics. -
6:25 - 6:27So Sean, do you want to give a little context to that ?
-
6:27 - 6:29SB: Yes, I will try to give you guys some context.
-
6:29 - 6:31So stop, think for a moment:
-
6:31 - 6:35what is an activity, a job or an interest
that you are personally doing right now -
6:35 - 6:38that you feel very confident in?
I would imagine that if I asked you to list -
6:38 - 6:41a whole series of words
that were related to that, -
6:41 - 6:43you could give me a long list,
-
6:43 - 6:45you could even describe to me
how they were connected. -
6:45 - 6:51Imagine when you first started that.
What if Dan and myself gave you a map? -
6:51 - 6:53What if we showed you
how those words were connected? -
6:53 - 6:55How would that have affected your perceptions?
-
6:55 - 6:57How would that have affected your motivation?
-
6:57 - 7:01How much quicker could you've gotten
to the level you're at now? -
7:02 - 7:05With that, we're going to show you
how this works in our class: -
7:05 - 7:11all critical terms plus organization
leads to effective perceptions -
7:11 - 7:15which help to drive
motivation and success. -
7:15 - 7:17DN: So, as Sean just said,
we are going to talk about -
7:17 - 7:20how we created an experience
in our classrooms -
7:20 - 7:23where students can now cognitively
organise information, -
7:23 - 7:25effectively perceive information
-
7:25 - 7:29and have an overall clear
understanding of mathematics. -
7:29 - 7:32Now, just like this basic outline here,
-
7:32 - 7:36what we do is we get our students to move
from something that's scary and messy -
7:36 - 7:38– this is like kindergarten information –
-
7:38 - 7:42into something that's organised
and understandable like this. -
7:42 - 7:45So, as you said before,
we start off with vocabulary. -
7:45 - 7:49Ok, we'll show just a few terms up here,
in just a moment, -
7:49 - 7:51that you've probably seen before.
-
7:51 - 7:53We're not going to test you, don't worry!
-
7:53 - 8:00You're after TEDxHonolulu stuff,
it's not going to be dependent on passing a test, -
8:00 - 8:04but from gaining to go through and build
their vocabulary in literacy with these, -
8:04 - 8:07we then have them start mapping them out,
based on definition. -
8:07 - 8:10In kindergarten,
the starting point is normally numbers. -
8:10 - 8:13And then from there,
we have our students go through -
8:13 - 8:16word by word and look at the definition,
-
8:16 - 8:19and you can actually see connections
in those definitions: -
8:19 - 8:24Whole Numbers, Counting, Place Values,
all have numbers in the definitions. -
8:24 - 8:28SB: So, you can start to do as you saw
with operations as expressions, -
8:28 - 8:31– I'll just go back real quick –
kinda show you what that looks like. -
8:31 - 8:33We can even start to hit them
with more terms -
8:33 - 8:35and they start to know where to place them.
-
8:35 - 8:38What we've categorized
in this slide is a tipping point: -
8:38 - 8:42you can see that as you get more and more,
it starts to become more and more clear, -
8:42 - 8:46without even showing them math,
how these ideas relate. -
8:46 - 8:49The best part is that they can do this
on their very own. -
8:49 - 8:53Dan now is going to show you what it looks like
when we show them math content. -
8:53 - 8:55DN: So, notice, we haven't done
any math problems yet. -
8:55 - 8:57Our students now
have a big picture understanding -
8:57 - 9:00of how everything is related.
They are not quite as overwelmed -
9:00 - 9:04when we start presenting them with activities,
labs, examples that they go through on their own. -
9:04 - 9:08So, we do a thing in our class where essentially
-
9:08 - 9:10when I go through this content,
they make a tweet. -
9:10 - 9:13Now if you're not familiar with Twitter,
and hopefully all of you are now, -
9:13 - 9:17essentially it's just a quick
little visual and a phrase -
9:17 - 9:19that attaches to that word.
-
9:19 - 9:21So for example with numbers,
they might say something like, -
9:21 - 9:24"How many? Give a few examples."
OK? -
9:24 - 9:29And then they run the whole numbers
and an observation they might make is, -
9:29 - 9:31"Zero, count up by one."
I give a quick little example. -
9:31 - 9:34This continues on and on,
but we realize sometimes -
9:34 - 9:37two things can come up at once.
-
9:37 - 9:39Now that they have a structure in place,
-
9:39 - 9:42they can now handle working with multiple ideas
at the same time, -
9:42 - 9:47and know how this content fits together
to create an overall big picture understanding. -
9:47 - 9:52So, we move from something
that's kinda scary like this -
9:52 - 9:55into something that's organised
and makes sense like this. -
9:55 - 9:59Now some of the effects
this has had on our students is, -
9:59 - 10:02they now have this perception
in their mind of – -
10:02 - 10:06"Ok, well, if I see this word, I know
what content's connected to it from my tweet. -
10:06 - 10:09If I see this word I know
what other words it's connected to -
10:09 - 10:11and the content that's connected to those,
-
10:11 - 10:14instead of this disorganised mess
that's in their heads sometimes -
10:14 - 10:17when they are doing things high-pressured
like taking a test, -
10:17 - 10:20ACT, PSAT, things like that.
-
10:20 - 10:23So, Sean is going to show us
some more results. -
10:23 - 10:25SB: So, what does this afford us
in our classroom? -
10:25 - 10:29As far as performance goes,
we've completely and entirely -
10:29 - 10:33started getting our students
to teach themselves, OK? -
10:33 - 10:36Stop and think about that:
actually teaching themselves, -
10:36 - 10:41that can go on to any other class.
So we've created a lasting student achievement, -
10:41 - 10:45regardless of whether they connect
with the next year's or following years' teacher -
10:45 - 10:49or then they go off to college
where it's lecture blaze, hands-on – -
10:49 - 10:52they can actually have the confidence
to teach themselves. -
10:52 - 10:56The most amazing part is: we've managed
to do this without lecturing. -
10:56 - 11:01That's right!
Not one day of standing up like this -
11:01 - 11:03towards you guys right now, lecturing.
-
11:03 - 11:05In fact, if we had it our ways,
we would have just given you -
11:05 - 11:10the list of words of how to do this
and we would've had you start building the map, all right? -
11:10 - 11:14But for you non-teachers,
our students come in every day. -
11:14 - 11:17They sit down, they start working
in collaborative groups, -
11:17 - 11:20they're on their own and they start
working with the words. -
11:20 - 11:24They make their own connections
and they start to start problem solving -
11:24 - 11:27creatively, entirely on their own!
-
11:27 - 11:31So Dan's going to share a little with you
how this has affected his algebra class. -
11:31 - 11:34DN: So, this kind of the mess
I can hear of teaching: -
11:34 - 11:37I'm an emergency hire, which means
I've no formal teacher training whatsoever. -
11:37 - 11:42Last year in my freshman algebra class,
my passing rate was only 52%. -
11:42 - 11:44Now, after implementing this,
-
11:44 - 11:49I have moved from a 52% passing rate
all the way up to an 86% passing rate. -
11:49 - 11:55(Cheers)
(Applause) -
11:55 - 11:57(Laughter)
-
11:57 - 12:00SB: I've been teaching geometry now
for five years. -
12:00 - 12:02I originally came over with Teach for America,
-
12:02 - 12:04for those of you that are familiar with that,
-
12:04 - 12:08I came over in 2006,
the first quarter I actually came to Hawaii. -
12:08 - 12:11I was placed to Waipahu,
I did my two years, I stayed longer -
12:11 - 12:13'cause I enjoy the students here
in Hawaii so much. -
12:13 - 12:15They're great kids out here!
-
12:15 - 12:17For those of you who haven't had an opportunity
to be in a classroom, -
12:17 - 12:19they're amazing!
-
12:19 - 12:23I've never been able to break 60% pass rate
in my geometry class, -
12:23 - 12:27which has driven me nuts!
Last year I actually almost quit! -
12:27 - 12:30I had applied, took my LSAT,
I was looking at law-school and then -
12:30 - 12:32Dan and I started thinking
about these ideas -
12:32 - 12:37and I've been able to move
them from 58 to 89%. -
12:37 - 12:40(Cheers)
(Applause) -
12:44 - 12:47DN: So, the next class we're going to talk
to you about is statistics and probability. -
12:47 - 12:49It's a new course at the school
that we started, -
12:49 - 12:52so there is no previous statistics on it.
-
12:52 - 12:55However, the book that we're using
is a college textbook, -
12:55 - 12:57the students are currently
teaching themselves college material, -
12:57 - 13:03and I have all of my students passing
my class right now. -
13:04 - 13:09Dramatic!
(Applause) -
13:09 - 13:14The next group, I'm most proud of,
as for the reason I joined Teach For America, -
13:14 - 13:16for those of you who're not familiar with them,
-
13:16 - 13:18you leave your undergraduate
-
13:18 - 13:21and you go to schools
where students face many challenges. -
13:21 - 13:26Many of my students face things
from teen pregnancy to domestic violence, -
13:26 - 13:29homelessness, health care issues,
-
13:29 - 13:33the list is long and very long.
-
13:33 - 13:37Because of this, we've had to come up
with new ways of teaching. -
13:37 - 13:39There's a lot of teachers doing great things
-
13:39 - 13:42but one thing we're proud of is,
because we don't lecture, -
13:42 - 13:45we can actually work
with each student one-on-one. -
13:45 - 13:48So instead of asking,
"Hey, how is that math problem going?" -
13:48 - 13:50we move beyond that
and we can now ask students, -
13:50 - 13:54"Hey, how is everything in your life going?
Everything all right at home?". -
13:54 - 13:58And now that students instead of walking
in our class going, "Oh, God, math!", -
13:58 - 14:01they're like, "Oh, hey, I know
Mr. Briel and Mr. Nash care." All right. -
14:01 - 14:05Just that simple question has allowed me
to move from 12% -
14:05 - 14:09to 65% and these
are students that had failed math 2, 3 – -
14:09 - 14:13I have actually quite a handful
of 4th time in algebra! -
14:13 - 14:17And now they at least come to class
and they feel that they can learn. -
14:18 - 14:22(Applause)
-
14:24 - 14:27DN: So, what does this actually afford us?
-
14:27 - 14:30Well, by organizing ideas,
we've been able to change and shift -
14:30 - 14:33our perceptions of what learning actually is.
-
14:33 - 14:37So, from this, we've actually been able
to create a classroom experience -
14:37 - 14:40that allows our students to organise ideas
-
14:40 - 14:42and change their perceptions of learning,
-
14:42 - 14:45and now we have a class where our students
are learning how to do things like -
14:45 - 14:51critically think, creatively problem-solve,
all on their own, instead of listening to me talk. -
14:51 - 14:54And thank you for all listening.
I know I'm kind of boring. -
14:54 - 14:59On top of that, we as teachers
have also been able to re-establish -
14:59 - 15:01our value in the classroom.
-
15:01 - 15:05Instead of just our content-area expertise,
we can now create an experience -
15:05 - 15:08for our students
where it's completely them doing everything -
15:08 - 15:10and we're just there to help them through it.
-
15:10 - 15:13So, and on top of that, what's kind of even more
impressive to us is -
15:13 - 15:17now we have students who are seeing
the value of learning and education. -
15:17 - 15:19Next two quotes
we're going to show to you are quotes -
15:19 - 15:23directly from our students
about their experience in their classroom. -
15:23 - 15:26First one says,
"Now, since I had this class, -
15:26 - 15:28I think smart is just organised.
-
15:28 - 15:30If everyone had a mental map
and organised every idea, -
15:30 - 15:33then everyone will be as smart as the other."
-
15:33 - 15:37This is from a student who is currently
taking algebra 1 for the third time. -
15:37 - 15:39So, the next quote:
-
15:39 - 15:43"The day we are born, we pick things up,
learn, and we adapt. -
15:43 - 15:46We understand things based on the ideas
we have learned. -
15:46 - 15:49Our understanding of new ideas changes
based on the way -
15:49 - 15:52we organised past experiences and ideas.
-
15:52 - 15:54If one of our experiences
or ideas is a bad one, -
15:54 - 15:58then it will affect how we perceive
new ideas or experiences. -
15:58 - 16:02We can use maps to change
the way we organise things in our mind -
16:02 - 16:04to see all the possibilities in our lives."
-
16:04 - 16:07This is from a second-time student in algebra 1
-
16:07 - 16:11based on the experiences
they've had in our classroom. -
16:11 - 16:14So, what has this afforded us?
-
16:14 - 16:17Well, we believe we've been able
to actually start developing critical thinkers -
16:17 - 16:22by teaching our students to organise ideas,
recognise how they organise these ideas -
16:22 - 16:26affects their perceptions.
And this goes way beyond the classroom. -
16:26 - 16:33Imagine: thinkers that understand
and recognise the very ideas and the power -
16:33 - 16:35and how they organise them
-
16:35 - 16:38will affect the possibilities
they see in their very lives. -
16:38 - 16:41Think of the impact
this would have on individuals: -
16:41 - 16:45individuals would recognise
that all they needed to reach -
16:45 - 16:48the possibilities in their lives
would be the critical terms, -
16:48 - 16:52the time to organise them
and just the time to see it all materialise. -
16:52 - 16:55Imagine the impact
that would have on communities: -
16:55 - 16:59communities can come together
when individuals meet! -
16:59 - 17:01They will recognise that,
"Hey we don't disagree, -
17:01 - 17:03these are just perceptual differences!
-
17:03 - 17:06We can take the time to collect the words
from everyone's maps -
17:06 - 17:09and come up with powerful solutions.
-
17:09 - 17:12They're not just to address just one perception
but many perceptions." -
17:12 - 17:15What impact would this have on society?
-
17:15 - 17:20Think about that: a whole society
where everyone's coming together. -
17:20 - 17:24It's because of this
that we think developing critical thinkers -
17:24 - 17:26is not only necessary for our children,
-
17:26 - 17:29but ourselves as well!
-
17:30 - 17:34The most important part is –
we believe developing critical thinkers -
17:34 - 17:39is the lifeline for individuals,
communities, to society -
17:39 - 17:44to become what they want,
can, dream and should be. -
17:44 - 17:45Thank you very much.
-
17:45 - 17:48(Applause)
(Cheers)
- Title:
- Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu
- Description:
-
Sean Briel & Daniel Nash team up to reshape the very perceptions of how people learn by reshaping the way Math is learned and taught.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 18:00
Judith Matz approved English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Judith Matz edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Judith Matz edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Tatjana Jevdjic commented on English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Tatjana Jevdjic edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Tatjana Jevdjic edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Tatjana Jevdjic edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu | ||
Tatjana Jevdjic edited English subtitles for Changing Perceptions of Math: Sean Briel & Daniel Nash at TEDxHonolulu |
Tatjana Jevdjic
I have problem to save my edits here!
Tatjana Jevdjic
They're speaking very fast.
I returned going to instead of "gonna" and American English spelling for organise.
@13:58 Mr. with a period because they are American.
Regards
Tatjana