interdisciplinary contextualization for mathematics education

Interdisciplinary Contextualization for

Mathematics Education Presented by:

Joey F. Valdriz

Division Training of Teachers on

QUESTION:

What comes into your mind if you hear the word

INTERDISCIPLINARY

INTERDISCIPLINARITY

CONTEXTUALIZATION

INTERDISCIPLINARY Relating to or combining more than one branch of knowledge or

field of study

Some synonyms

◦ Integrative

◦ Multidisciplinary

◦ Multifaceted

◦ Collaborative

Integrative

◦ describes a movement toward integrated lessons

◦ help students make connections across subject areas

Interdisciplinarity (n): the quality or state of involving more than one discipline

CONTEXTUALIZATION

placing ideas, situation, events, or items in its larger setting which is based on its true meaning

embedding the facts and theories in the cultural, historical, ideological fabric and/or personal experience

relating subject matter content to meaningful situations that are relevant to students’ lives

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Contextualization refers to the educational process of relating the curriculum to a particular setting, situation or area of application to make the competencies relevant, meaningful, and useful to all learners.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Some Synonyms

Indigenization

Localization

Making connections

Finding relationships

Making the message relate

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Localization

◦ adapting the curriculum to local conditions and relating the context of the curriculum and the process of teaching and learning to the local environment... (Taylor, 2004)

◦ refers to the process of relating learning content specified in the curriculum to local information and materials in the learners’ community

(DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2015)

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Indigenization

◦ a process of enhancing curriculum competencies, education resources, and teaching–learning processes in relation to the context of the learners’ community

(DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2015)

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTEXTUALIZATION

Incorporating/assimilating contextualized situations across the curriculum

Connecting/linking concepts/skills within learning areas (e.g. Math or Science) and across learning areas (e.g. Math & Science & others)

Connecting and reinforcing the subject matter rather than as separate and unrelated (Chernus & Fowler 2009) Putting the

two ideas together

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTEXTUALIZATION

QUESTION:

Why do Interdisciplinary

Contextualization (in teaching and

learning)?

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING THEORY

Learning occurs only when students (learners) process new information or knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them in their own frames of reference (their own inner worlds of memory, experience, and response)


Focuses on the multiple aspects of any learning environment, whether a classroom, a laboratory, a computer lab, a worksite, or a wheat field.


It encourages educators to choose and/or design learning environments that incorporate as many different forms of experience as possible—social, cultural, physical, and psychological—in working toward the desired learning outcomes.

RESEARCH SAYS…

Many students have difficulty understanding concepts as they are commonly taught.

They need to understand the concepts as they relate to the larger society in which they live or work.

Traditionally, students have been expected to make these connections on their own, outside the classroom.

RESEARCH SAYS…

Most students’ interest and achievement in math, science and language improve dramatically when they are helped to make connections between new knowledge and experiences they have had, or with other knowledge they have already mastered.

Students’ engagement in their school work increases significantly when they are taught why they are learning the concepts and how those concepts can be used in real-world contexts.

Implications to Teaching and

Learning in the K to 12 Curriculum

Interdisciplinary Contextualization requires that…

our teaching – learning strategies and instructional materials should focus on “practice by doing” and by “teaching others”

Interdisciplinary Contextualization requires that…

Practice by doing is associated with Inquiry & Problem Solving

◦ Observe

◦ Estimate, predict or conjecture

◦ Organize & interpret data

◦ Identify relationships

◦ Analyze patterns

◦ Draw conclusions

◦ Ask questions

◦ Design proofs

To contextualize, teachers…

Use authentic materials, activities, interests, issues and needs from learners’ lives.

Should create rooms for students to pose problems and issues and develop strategies together for addressing them.

To contextualize, teachers…

Look at this situation. Is it a context for mathematics or science?

Is/Are the person/s studying this situation and looking for a solution doing inquiry or problem solving?

How can we design relevant and meaningful tasks and activities that

would address the principle of

interdisciplinary contextualization?

In designing activities in the classroom using authentic materials, it is important to set the purpose first.

Helpful Questions:

What will students learn?

How will students interact with the material?

Why will they learn it?

Which disciplines are involved?

Sample Prompts

What?

To develop ability to organize data using tables or graphs and interpret data

How?

Ask students to conduct survey on favorite snacks of students/pupils during break time in a local school and present results to stakeholders

Why?

So they can identify eating habits of children in their locality and be able to recommend/show ways by which good health habits could be cultivated among children in the community

Discipline Involved: Statistics, Science, Social Studies

Sample Prompts

What?

To identify basic geometric shapes and concepts and their properties

How?

Visit a local museum then ask students to:

list/name geometric figures that they can see in various works of arts found in the museum;

discuss how these figures were used in the art work; and

create a PowerPoint presentation to show their work.

Why?

So they can develop not only appreciation for local art but also role of math in various art media

Discipline: Mathematics, Art, Technology, Social Studies

Sample Prompts What?

Solve problems involving percentage, ratio and proportion

Identify parts of a business plan

How?

Interview local folks with home grown industries e.g. weaving, tupig making, etc.

learn from them the following: how they make and advertise their products, how they run the business to make it profitable, and other related information;

design a business plan including recommendations to make business profitable;

prepare a presentation for the output and invite audience to listen to your presentation

Why?

Help students develop entrepreneurial skills and become familiar with local industries and recommend ways by which this could prosper to alleviate living conditions of local people

Disciplines: Mathematics, Entrepreneurship, Social Studies

To summarize…

Among the many different innovations underway that attempt to promote learning of low-skilled students, interdisciplinary (integrative) contextualization seems to have the strongest theoretical base and perhaps the strongest empirical support (Perin & Charron, 2006).

However, studies also indicate that considerable effort is needed to implement Interdisciplinary Contextualization because we need to learn from each other and collaborate across disciplines, a practice that is not common in our educational settings.

Our Challenge…

IF . . . students gain a deeper understanding of subject matter by relating materials and activities to meaningful situations that they encounter in real life

THEN . . . Students have to be exposed to varied teaching – learning and assessment activities that help learners achieve the desired learning outcomes and eventually acquire 21st century skills

Other Concerns

In your class, you may have individuals or groups of learners who

◦ are members of indigenous people’s communities;

◦ have disabilities ;

◦ come from different parts of the Philippines and speak different mother tongue languages;

◦ come from low-socio-economic backgrounds;

◦ learned through alternative delivery modes;

◦ have different religious affiliations; or

◦ come from very remote areas

We have to recognize that each learner is unique and has the capacity to learn and demonstrate what they know and can do

R E F E R E N C E S

Adopting the Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework (DO 32, s. 2015)

The Corner Stone of Tech Prep (1999). Teaching Mathematics Contextually. CORD Communications, Inc.

DepEd (2016) Inputs on Contextualization. National Training of Trainers for Grade 11 Teachers

Nikitina, S. & Mansilla, V. (2003). Three Strategies for Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science Teaching: A Case of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Nikitina, S. (2002). Three Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teaching: Contextualizing, Conceptualizing and Problem Solving

Tan, M. S. (2016). Interdisciplinary Contextualization for STEM. STAR Workshop