The Bigger Picture

In chapter 5 of Multiple Pathways to the Student Brain, Dr. Zadina discusses various ways that teachers can help students move information from working memory into long-term memory. She states that sometimes the brain doesn't need to move information into long-term memory, but school is a case where we do need to move the information. I love the idea of providing opportunities for students to look at the bigger picture. So often, my students only want to look at one topic at a time and they don't want to think about how it relates to what they have learned before or what they might learn next. I think that they find it overwhelming to look at so many details at one time. Week 2 of Dr. Zadina's workbook also offers suggestions on ways that we can help students see the bigger picture. One method could be helping the students relate the material to real life as much as possible. We are currently reviewing for a unit test on finding the solutions of quadratic functions. This was the perfect opportunity for me to use these methods to help the students see the bigger picture.

First, I helped my students make a list of the different major topics that led into solving quadratic functions. They discussed adding, subtracting, and multiplying polynomials, learning how to factor, learning how to graph quadratic functions, and interpreting the key parts of the graph of a quadratic function. We talked about how each one of these skills was absolutely necessary in order to find the solutions of a quadratic function. We also discussed how the solutions of a quadratic function could be found using one of four methods, each method would result in the same solutions. We talked about what the solutions looked like on a graph, and what it meant to have zero or only one solution. The students were amazed at how connected all of the material was and how much they were using the concepts they had previously learned. I think that this definitely helped the students to see the bigger picture.

In addition to discussing how the concepts fit together, we solved quadratic equations involving real world situations. For example, we solved problems about throwing an object or dropping an object from a building. The questions asked students how long it would take for the object to hit the ground. The students had to interpret the question and understand that hitting the ground meant the height would be zero. They were free to choose a method to find the solutions. Finally, they had to interpret each solution. I urged them to go back and read the problem each time so that they could make sure they were fully answering the question. If you were asked how long it takes to reach the ground, the positive solution would be the correct answer and it needs units. I think that this really helped the students see the real world application of finding the solutions of quadratic functions. It gave them the opportunity to see that there was a real application of this concept other than in the math classroom!