The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics created this site to enable families to work together on solving problems in the real world. It emphasizes critical thinking. The site would be useful to families or to educators teaching mathematics. The site was created in cooperation with the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Widmeyers Communications, and the Learning First Alliance. It demonstrates challenging middle school mathematics and emphasizes the importance of high-quality math education for all students. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Education.
Type of Material:
Collection
Recommended Uses:
To help families support their children's math studies, Figure This! has family support materials including: sample questions to ask teachers and administrators about the school setting information on how to prepare students for continuing education suggestions to help with math homework information on the changes in mathematics education examples of math in literature.
However, the materials would be very useful for educators seeking to find good quality problems to use in class, as homework, in teams, or as individual work.
Technical Requirements:
The site recommends Internet Explorer but worked well with Chrome and Safari. There are some elements which use Flash, now unavailable.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Its goal is to help learners master the higher-level concepts and approaches to problem solving in mathematics that are key to success in work and everyday life.
The site is designed to feature high quality, real-life problems that middle school students can solve with families. It helps families and students to recognize that higher level thinking is required to solve real problems rather than simply relying on formulaic problem solving.
Target Student Population:
More advanced Elementary students, Middle School, Professional
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Content quality is excellent. The site is developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. There are myriad resources available on the site as well as powerpoints to acquaint families with the site and its use.
This material emphasizes problem solving and critical thinking.
Concerns:
None
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The site is designed to intrigue students and families and does so. The problems are those that are rooted in real life -- how long will I have to wait in line if I am 300th? How do you combine stamps to get a particular total?
In addition to good problems, the site includes answers and supplementary materials. There is a section for teachers, one for families, and the problems are indexed both by curriculum area and by title.
Concerns:
None.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Use of the site is easy. There are indexes so that problems in a particular math area can be accesssed. As well, there are supporting materials for educators and families. Answers are provided as well as explanations.
The website is easy to navigate and has an index of all of the challenges
Concerns:
The technical requirements are outdated, but the material itself is usable.
Creative Commons:
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