ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612020063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Eighth-grader Ryan Strickland draws angles and lines for his geometry class on a computer screen. He can quickly change the angles or rearrange his diagram with a few clicks on his computer.
He doesn't have to try to hold a ruler firmly with his left hand and draw with his right hand to create parallel lines on a sheet of paper. He can produce them instantly on the computer.
"Using a computer is a more visible and hands-on way to learn than listening to a lecture," Ryan said. "I get a better understanding of things because I'm working individually and I'm more involved."
The students in Ryan's class at James Madison Middle School in Roanoke have a computer lab at least once a week to learn more about angles, lines, triangles and other concepts in geometry.
They use a computer software program called "Sketchpad Lab" to confirm concepts they've learned in their classroom and to explore new geometric concepts.
Computers and technology are replacing chalkboard problems and work sheets in geometry and math classes in Roanoke's middle and high schools.
In the city's elementary schools, teachers have started using small plastic balance bars, colorful chess pawns and cubes with numbers on them to teach algebra concepts to fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders.
By adding and removing pawns and cubes from each side of the bar, teachers are helping children understand the concept of balance, said Tina Weiner, coordinator of mathematics for city schools.
"If you try to teach children at this age about algebraic equations and that equations have to be balanced, they are not ready for abstractions," she said.
But children can understand the concept with the balance bar, Weiner said. "The idea is to help them understand the basis for an equation. It's hands-on algebra."
In kindergarten and the first three elementary grades, teachers also have begun using small plastic blocks to help teach pupils about geometric shapes and principles.
"We're bringing more mathematical concepts down into the middle and elementary schools," Weiner said.
"It's getting math off the chalkboard and down to the desks where children can use their hands and become more involved," she said. "We're trying to help prepare them earlier so they can understand concepts better."
The new approach is part of Roanoke's effort to improve math education in all of its elementary, middle and high schools - a goal of Superintendent Wayne Harris.
"I've really pushed this because when students do good in math, they tend to perform well in other subjects," Harris said.
Roanoke has instituted a training program to help teachers improve math instruction.
"We're teaching teachers how to teach algebraic concepts in the elementary grades," Harris said. Some middle-school teachers also are receiving the training.
A new international study indicates that changes in the way that United States schools have traditionally taught math may be long overdue.
American eighth-graders ranked 28th in math tests given to students in 41 nations, far behind Asian countries at the top of the list.
The U.S. students rated in the top half in science, ranking 17th, according to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, which included the testing of students from 1991 to 1995.
The study covered fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students, but only the eighth-grade results were released initially.
Experts have suggested that the United States lags in math scores because of the way math has been taught in this country.
In the United States and Germany, students are taught procedures for solving math problems, experts said. In Japan, the goal is conceptual understanding.
"The issue is not simply class time, or the amount of homework, or too much television, as important as these things are," said Richard Riley, U.S. education secretary.
America must re-examine the way it teaches math and raise academic standards, Riley said.
Roanoke students have ranked lower in math than in science and most other subjects on national standardized tests in recent years.
Eighth-graders in the city ranked at the 45th percentile in math and 55th percentile in science in the 1995-96 school year on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
This means that Roanoke students fell below the national average in math but above it in science. A 50th percentile ranking represents the national average.
Eighth-graders in most other school divisions in Western Virginia also scored lower in math than in most other subjects on the Iowa standardized test. But Radford ranked at the 72nd percentile in math, and Salem reached the 70th percentile.
Jean Pollock, who teaches geometry and other math courses at James Madison Middle School, questions whether the ranking of countries in the international math and science study are valid.
"I'd like to know who they are testing in other countries. We have public schools in this country and everyone is tested," Pollock said. But some countries reportedly test only a portion of their students.
The new instructional techniques in Roanoke - including the use computers and other hands-on materials to teach math concepts in earlier grades - are largely "student-driven," Weiner said.
The students take a more active role in learning and the teacher becomes more of a facilitator, she said. "The students do more work on their own. They're not just sitting there and listening to the teacher."
Philip Jepson, Madison's principal, said the integration of technology and geometry helps students acquire skills they will need when they get out of school. Students learn more about computers as they learn geometry, he said.
Ryan and the other 15 students in Pollock's geometry course go to a traditional classroom three or four days a week when they are not in a lab. The number of labs a week can vary depending on the availability of the computers, which also are used by other classes.
Pollock, a middle-school math teacher for 19 years, said the software program helps students better understand what they study in the regular class.
During a 47-minute lab one day last week, she moved around among the students, answered questions and helped them if they got stumped. About half worked at regular terminals and the rest used laptops.
"Seeing angles change on a computer screen is a whole different ball game than just talking about them," Pollock said. "They can go beyond just the concepts."
The students said the computer software program keeps them interested in the subject.
"The computer drawings are more accurate. They help me to understand things better," said student Susanna Hsing.
Students can move at their own pace in the lab. The lab handout covered several lessons.
"The computer makes [geometry] quicker and easier. We don't have to take time to draw the lines," said Lauren Early. "It keeps you more interested than when you work on a piece of paper."
Another student, Betty Cabell Brogan, likes the geometry lab because she said "I'm really bad with rulers when we have to work with pencil and paper."
Beginning next year, all ninth-graders in Roanoke will have to take algebra or a higher level math course as part of the program to upgrade math education. About two-thirds of ninth-graders now take algebra or a higher course.
"The superintendent and staff see algebra as the gateway to college," Jepson said. "Students who take algebra generally go to college and do well."
The eighth-graders in Pollock's geometry class have already taken algebra in the seventh grade. It is a prerequisite for geometry.
In the state's new academic standards, high school students will be tested on algebra and geometry. Roanoke's emphasis on math is designed to help students prepare for the state tests as well as get them ready for college and careers, Weiner said.
"We want to start them early so they will ready for what comes later," she said. "Students can understand concepts if they are taught in a way that is appropriate for their age."
LENGTH: Long : 148 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART\Staff. Kimberly Palmer (left), anby CNBeighth-grader at James Madison Middle School, works on a geometry
problem. color.