Preparing Our Educators

Patton College Professor Presents new Way to Learn Mathematics

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Tim McKeny presents findings from his "Better Mathematics Through Literacy" program.

Patton College of Education assistant professor of mathematics Tim McKeny presented findings from his “Better Mathematics Through Literacy” program to a packed room in McCracken Hall on Friday, October 28.

“It’s a good time to share what we’ve been up to for five years,” he said.

During those five years, McKeny and his team consisting of Dr. Barry Oches, Dr. Jim Sulzman, Dr. Linda Rice, Brian McCoy, Chelsie Wollett, Derek Sturgill and Carolyn Ervin have sought to improve mathematics education for both students and teachers who may not respond to traditional methods of education.

BTML borrows concepts from the Mathematics Reform Movement of the ‘90s and reframes math problems into logic questions, emphasizing reasoning over memorization.

The process also focuses more on student’s needs and methods of learning than prevailing textbook knowledge.

“It’s a huge fundamental switch to start teaching in student-centered ways,” McKeny said.

McKeny compared the concepts of illiteracy and innumeracy saying that while illiteracy is seen as unfortunate and shameful, “innumeracy can often be flaunted.” People feel no discomfort admitting that they are just not “numbers people.” McKeny began the BMTL program to combat these prevailing attitudes about mathematics.

The program splits participants up into learners and teachers and operates through three phases. The first is a BMTL summer institute, which provides weeklong on-campus instruction in reasoning-based mathematics education. The second is a follow up during the academic year. And the third is the action research final symposium.

In the five years of development; the program has influenced 237 classroom, teachers, 25 Appalachian counties, 45 school districts and approximately 6,000 students while receiving $700,000 in funding.

McKeny and his team administered standardized tests to students in the program to measure the results and while it is still too early to draw conclusions, students in grade one have shown significant improvement in test scores and students in later grades have showed little improvement.

McKeny, however, presented the case studies of two anonymous teachers who went through the program and were very enthusiastic about the results.

“You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube,” McKeny said. “These teachers couldn’t go back (to the old way of teaching).”

Story by Alec Bojalad