This inquiry course was unique compared to all the courses we've taken so far. The flexibility, depth, and diversity in the content made it stand out. I really appreciated it for the inquiry projects and having the opportunity to learn a lot from my peers.
Here's the link to the slides for my inquiry project:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JLH1yD1toaUHzbxzPYVUbMUDgsUzM4yk7jVGuLaPUyE/edit?usp=sharing
Here's the reflection:
(To be updated)
Here's the link to my annotated bibliography:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jx3HArOXLB7QkcvbEmUcu3DgMo_qV6bYmoGTV38buRI/edit?usp=sharing
For this class, I was absent, but continued to research the connections between COVID-19, refugee students, and work habits.
After a recent meeting with someone experienced in refugee education, I made the last-minute to drop the connection on COVID-19, and focus on Culturally Reponsive Teaching instead.
For today's class, we spent a significant portion of the time having the opportunity to develop our inquiry projects. Initially, I began with wanting to understand the effects the COVID-19 lockdown had on students work habits. However, the topic ended up a lot more broad than I'd like, so my focus has been narrowed into understanding how new-to-Canada (refugee status) students were affected by the lockdown, and what type of work habits could help them succeed.
One thing I took away from today's class is the importance of the context of grading. This is because I had a hard time reconciling the idea of teaching students the curriculum and also teaching students mathematics in a broader sense.
I personally find designing assessments stressful, because there's no way to measure everything a student absorbs from the classroom and pair that with their personal circumstances to create a concise grade. If the grades have implications for educational progression, there's more at stake and it can be difficult to ignore a student's plea for passion and potential.
As a math major, I love numbers. I love to make sense of numbers wherever they show up, and bring them into the equation when they are absent. As a student however, I honestly hate (receiving) numbers. I will never forget my awful, gut-wrenching, despairing 12% midterm result from first year (for context, the class average was a whopping 10%- like, 123456789...10). People left that exam crying! And for what? That grade was eventually scaled.
Define your question:
In understanding the long term effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education System, is the shift in how students value work habits and acquisition of knowledge reparable after the lockdown?
The classroom discussion today brought forth many important queries in mathematics education. Among those many great ideas, two concepts really stood out to me. They were "the story of mathematics" and "teaching students how to do good." I personally believe that those ideas are deeply interconnected.
On surface level, the story of mathematics may appear to sound like: "Once upon a time there was a problem. A really smart student knew what to do and bravely suggested to the teacher what the solution could be. It just so happened that because our young hero(ine) was so brilliant, they got the correct answer and the problem was solved forever. Today, our young hero(ine) journeys across the land, solving problems for their friends, living a super-smart life one day at a time. The end."
