Recently we have been discussing the readability and effectiveness of text. I must say that I never took it much into consideration before. In this weeks chapters. D and Z brought up some great points. I personally related to Chapter 3 when D and Z discuss the poor design of textbooks. Textbooks are meant to be an aid in education and unfortunately sometimes something as simple as the design and layout of the text can hinder the users education. Math texts are very unique when it comes to content and design. I have seen and used many different types/publishers of texts and the differences are usually quite obvious. It seems to me that most texts are written to use for 100% of the concept introduction and teaching of that content. I have come across books that I do believe can be used just about every day and can be very beneficial to students but this is not the case with the majority of texts.
I am teaching a Bridge math course, which is a fairly new type of course. Therefore, the books are relatively recently written. Because of this, I believe that the text was rushed to publication and there was not enough time or planning spent in creating the text. I do not actually use the book in my class. I use it mostly as a guide for me to determine which concepts should be taught in what sequence. The students don't seem to mind not having a text. I believe the Tennessee Bridge Math book is one of the most poorly written texts I have read. It covers a wide variety of topics but does not provide many well detailed examples. It is definitely a representation of the ever popular education phrase "a mile wide and an inch deep."
I dont think that all texts are bad and that teachers should disregard their help, but I am gaining much more confidence in my ability to find the usefulness of a text.
Travis,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your observations that textbooks are oftentimes indeed very poorly designed. I have found this to be true with the Spanish textbooks that I have encountered on the "teacher side" of things. I wonder if you have ever found this to be true with Math books, but I have noticed that concepts in Spanish texts are strangely out of order. It really doesn't make sense to go straight through the book. I remember in my high school math classes feeling frustrated with the layout of the text, and the sense of instantly feeling overwhelmed when encountering huge blocks of text on a page. I'm sure there are some that are really great and well-designed, but I agree that most I have encountered are not. It's really neat that you have taken the bold and beneficial risk of straying a bit from the text. I have done this as well, and find that it means more planning work for me, but that it's worth it! I bet that the fact that you are taking more ownership of the materials you teach will make you a stronger and more effective teacher in the end. Textbooks are certainly a valuable tool for teachers to use, but we need to have the wisdom and just enough of a critical eye to learn to use them well and for the students' benefit.
Well written!