Do Manitoba Kids Suck at Math?

A few weeks ago, the results of the Pan Canadian Assessment Program were released. Manitoba finished second from the bottom, just before PEI, in math. What does it mean? Well, to some people, it is cause for lots of worry and consternation. How can this happen? What is the cause?

Of course, everyone trotted out their pet peeves and opinions:

• A mathematics prof at U of Winnipeg says it is because of the dismal math requirements for K-8 teachers.  There could be some truth to this, very little math/science is needed to get into teacher education programs in Manitoba, including my faculty. Yet, if there is a group of math profs calling for Pre-Calculus as a pre-requisite for teaching (I would think Applied would be sufficient as well), then why don't they change the pre-requisites to their own courses - after all, these students must take 3-6 credit hours of math courses. Additionally, perhaps they should 'beef' up the courses education students generally take, perhaps add a lab component as well? Then again, perhaps some (not all, to be sure) should take some education courses and add some teaching strategies (other than lecture) to their repertoire.
• Another person blamed the Math Curriculum (actually the MB curriculum is based on the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol - used across Western Canada & the North). Perhaps some blame needs to go to MB Education. With budget constraints, courses are no longer piloted. Most do not have support materials. In a similar vein, perhaps MB Education and school divisions need to offer quality, long term, mandatory professional development for new curricula/approaches.
• Another person says it is the lack of time spent on Math in schools (might be true - but what goes?)
• Another enlightened soul says it is Manitoba's "no fail policy" (which does not exist - although divisions and schools can set such policies)
• Yet others say it is not the curriculum per se, but the approach - we don't drill and kill enough! It was good enough for me, it is good enough for my kids! 

- and on it goes...

Amazingly, I was surprised and somewhat pleased with the response from (I shudder to say) the Education critic for the Conservative Party - who did not jump to blame the ruling NDP government, but said we need to look in the mirror and see what we can do to improve.

Of course, very few question the tests themselves - what are they testing? What do they really tell us, if anything? How do the questions relate to our curriculum? Who wrote the test, compared to other Provinces? How accurate & reliable can the results of a one shot test be?  I found it interesting that although MB slipped in overall rank, students actually improved from the last test (see article linked in last paragraph). This quote from the web site speaks volumes as well:

Over 90 per cent of Canadian students in Grade 8 are achieving at or above their expected level of performance in mathematics, that is to say, at level 2 or above. Almost half are achieving above their expected level.

Another issue is the general view of Math in society. What other subject area do people seem to take pride in not being good at? "Oh - I was never any good at math" is used as an excuse. Parents (and others) who profess a hatred - or strong dislike - of math, who speak of it not being useful. Perhaps trying to change that image should be a priority.

One other thing the critics are missing is the complexity of the educational process. There may be something to all - or none - of the postulated reasons for the results. Picking out a single 'cause' to the results is ridiculous, many factors go into successful learning, and reactions that result in quick band aid fixes are not the answer. If we are really concerned about the apparent lack of achievement, a number of issues need to be examined. I only hope that public consternation and a vocal group does not lead to a knee-jerk, politically expedient response that appeases a few people, but does not do much to address improving education.

In this article, the President of the Manitoba Teachers Society offers up a dose of sanity. Yes, we do need to look at these results, we need to look at what they mean. We do not have to create needless anxiety and resort to knee-jerk reactions. We should always examine what we do in schools, and always strive to improve. However, we must recognize the complexity of teaching and learning, and address the root causes.

End of an era?

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, R.I.P.
There have been many tributes to Steve Jobs over the past few days, I thought I would add my own brief one. My first brush with Apple was way back in the mid eighties. At that time the school division I worked at decided to go to Apple computers - we previously used Commodore. I remember thinking it was the wrong choice, we should be going to IBM - and MS-DOS. How wrong I was. After using the Mac Plus and Classics, I was hooked on the Mac OS. While we added some Windows machines, our main platform at the school was always Apple - and still is, even though I don't work there any more. I always enjoyed the platform, they worked well and were fun to use & work on. The predominant platform at the University is Windows, and I use it most days (I teach many of my courses in the lab). However, I have brought in a few Macs and some iPads. I also continue to use Apple products at home (an iMac, a mac mini, a Macbook, iPhones, iPods and iPads. I guess it is blind loyalty, but I have tried others and just like Apple products, a personal choice. Steve Jobs just had a knack for developing easy to use, pleasing products. I admit it, I just like their products, despite some of their policies and foibles. Steve Jobs was just a year older than me, he was taken too soon - like so many others. I hope that Apple will continue to 'Think Different', as their founder, Steve Jobs did.

Ph.D. Journey: Phase II Complete ... Now the work/fun begins!

work area in my basement

I am pleased, and relieved, to have successfully completed the second major phase of my Ph.D. journey, the comprehensive (or candidacy) exam. I completed my course work in April (see this post), the next task was the comprehensive exam, which I began in May. There are several options for this exam process, I chose the method most choose - four questions, three months and 100 pages (excluding references - good thing since I ended up with about 28 pages of them). The exam experience was ... character building? It actually was one of the most intense and difficult things I have done. The amount of literature research and subsequent reading necessary was tremendous, then there was the writing. At times I found it hard to focus, I found myself finding other things to do - check twitter feed, check some blogs, and so on. It was to easy to find something to distract me from the task at hand. I tried a few techniques to help. I tried taking notes as I read and re-read - by hand, then I tried typing them out so I could copy and paste into my paper, and a combination of both. I also tried the pomodoro technique, which I heard about through twitter (@thesiswhisperer). Essentially this technique has you work for 25 minutes, take five, another 25, etc., with a longer break after 4 sessions. I did not use this all the time, but when focus was a bit of an issue, I used it and it seemed to help. I also set goals, trying to concentrate on one task at a time. I set three weeks per question, leaving just over a week for final edits, reference checks and so on. I managed to stick, more or less, to my timetable and submitted the exam followed by a celebration dinner out with many of my cohort friends. My committee was very prompt, thankfully, after just three days they met and I even heard the same day they met - I PASSED! A major hurdle was over. I know people who had to wait much longer, I found even this short wait excruciating - what if I did not pass? Could I bring myself to do this a second time (it is two tries and you are out)? I could not imagine a long wait. I was also fortunate because I had coffee with my advisor, and he provided feedback from the committee on areas to improve on for my proposal/dissertation. One of the toughest, if not the toughest, parts of the process was not being able to discuss the questions. We learn by social means, and in my cohort it was a key activity, we often bounced ideas off one another, shared our work, discussed. Often, even talking about an approach, idea, thinking aloud would help make sense of things, not being able to do this was difficult. This simply solidified my belief in the social aspect of learning.

exam packages ready to submit

Well, the exam is over (and has been for a while, as I am slow to get this post written) and now it is on to the next phase - the dissertation! First task - complete the proposal and defend it ... should be a challenge, and fun. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, Marshall McLuhan!

poster by D. Kuropatwa (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkuropatwa/4285762190)

Marshall McLuhan was born 100 years ago on July 21st. McLuhan, of course, is the famous Canadian media guru from the sixties. McLuhan pioneered the study of media and its effects on society and was famous for his aphorisms and use of metaphor. Who has not heard the phrase 'the global village', 'the medium is the message', 'we shape our tools, then they shape us' and others? McLuhan was called 'the oracle of the information age' for his commentary about media and its effects on society. He was sought after by media and celebrities, and looked down on by many in academia (after all, he dared to be popular, to use dialogue and not lecture, to examine areas outside of his own).  In the latter part of his life, his star faded. In the past decade or so, however, he has come alive again, his words seem prophetic now in our digital age. McLuhan was born in Edmonton, did undergraduate at the University of Manitoba (where I am attending now), finished his education at Cambridge, worked at Assumption University in Windsor (where I was born & grew up) and finished his career at the University of Toronto. He was one  of the first to write about advertising (The Mechanical Bride) and teach courses that foreshadowed the current emphasis on media literacy. His third book, Understanding Media was perhaps the biggest one, in it he stated the famous "the medium is the message" and discussed media as an extension of man. People misunderstood what he was saying at the time, thinking he was implying that content was unimportant, but he was trying to point out that, regardless of the actual message, the medium itself has effects on individuals and society. His book, "The Medium is the Massage" with Fiore, was remarkable in its design, with short blurbs and accompanying images. His last book, written with his son, Eric, published posthumously, was "The Laws of Media" (I recently bought a copy). In it the McLuhans lay out four 'laws', really four questions, to guide our examination of technology and its effects;

• What does the medium enhance?
• What does the medium make obsolete?
• What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?
• What does the medium flip into (reverse) when pushed to extremes?

It is remarkable that when you listen to people talk and write about technology, how much is what McLuhan said over 30 years ago. Although he claimed he was not predicting the future, he certainly seemed to do just that. McLuhan was really trying to provoke and prod people to think about technology and media, to not let the tools shape them.



Some websites about Marshall McLuhan;
Spark (CBC) podcast series in May 2011 on McLuhan's laws (also a 'tour' of locations he frequented in Toronto).
Marshall McLuhan (official site)
McLuhan Galaxy
Marshall McLuhan Speaks (lots of video clips)
McLuhan Archives on CBC
Video McLuhan
McLuhan 100 (University of Toronto)
The McLuhan Project (ABC Radio)

A few good books about McLuhan;
Digital McLuhan by P. Levinson
Marshall McLuhan (Biography) by Douglas Coupland
and many more ... and be sure to watch the NFB documentary McLuhan's Wake

Thanks to Dr. D. Hlynka, a McLuhan scholar at U of M who made me more aware of McLuhan and his importance.

ICEL 2011: Reflections

On June 27-28 I attended the 6th Annual International Conference on E-Learning (ICEL), along with a friend/colleague with whom I collaborate on various projects. The conference was held at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Okanogan campus in Kelwona. First off, the campus is beautiful - as you can see from the photos below. You can see our poster & handout by visiting this other blog. (this post is cross-posted there as well)

flying over mountains.

Conference opens

UBC, Kelowna Campus

on campus

Some reflections:

                                                   

Walking up/down hills

View from my room in res.

Walking up and down hills certainly uses muscle not used on the flat prairie, my calf muscles were sore, but it was good exercise!


 Posters
At first, my colleague and I were not sure to attend to present a poster, kind of like 'second place', however, we decided to do it. Making and presenting a poster was new for both of us (I did do one for a course in my Ph.D. program, so it wasn't completely new for me). Well, I am glad we did this. The posters were up through the first day, then in the morning of the second we stood at the posters and  we conversed with many people - one on one. In this way we could answer the questions the person had, discuss areas they found of interest. I would certainly do another poster. We made great contacts, including a possible future collaboration with some people from the UK. We also found that the keynote speaker, Susan Crichton, was very interested in our work. All in all, great conversations. As a bonus, our presentation was chosen as the 'best poster presentation' - not sure what that really means, but it is nice to have your peers think highly of your work.

International! 
This conference is called 'international', and it certainly is. I would guess that at least half of the delegates were from outside Canada and the U.S.. In all 37 countries were represented.It is fascinating to meet and hear about what is going on in so many areas of the world.


 Connections!

from the Eldorado Restaurant

I met so many great, smart and nice people. Several are now twitter &/or LinkedIn friends. I have already exchanged emails with a few. This connecting was probably the highlight for me. On the second day, a person we met who taught at Kelowna took Glenn and I on a quick winery tour, we visited 2 wineries, tasted some fine wine, and we each bought a few bottles to take home! The school bus trip into Kelowna to the restaurant on the lake, the conversation and fun during the meal, and the wine/beer with conversation out in the beautiful night air in Kelowna when we returned to the residence was fantastic. I met people from all over, but especially enjoyed new friends and acquaintances from elsewhere in Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Scotland, U.K.

Powerpoint
What can I say, people try, there were some very well done presentations, but powerpoint is still not always used very well! That aside, there were many good presentations and posters. As I said earlier, it is neat to hear what is going on elsewhere. It is also interesting to know that issues and innovations here are also often innovations or issues elsewhere, the infrastructure, language and customs may differ, but we are all part of this Earth and have more in common than we have differences.

Leaving Kelowna

Final words
This conference was not at the best time for me, I am currently writing my Ph.D. candidacy exam, however, the few days off (I did take and do some reading!) was worth it, for the connections made and the knowledge and ideas gained.

International Conference on E-Learning (ICEL)

( originally posted on ICTology, imported in September/15)

Glenn & Mike presented a poster at ICEL 2011, in Kelowna, B.C. on June 27-28.

Our poster and the accompanying handouts are here (also on SCRIBD). We are excited to add that our poster was chosen as the 'best poster presentation' at the conference.

ICEL poster: Are we overgeneralizing the competencies of the Millenial Generation

ICEL 2011 Handout Pg1-2

ICEL 2011 Handout Pg2-2



An article based on our results is in the future (nearer we hope, however, a few pressing items need to be dealt with first). After our pilot study, we did have an article published in Volume 3 (starting on page 50) of the MERN Journal, found on the MERN web site as a pdf download.

MADLaT ~ May 6. 2011

( originally posted on ICTology, imported in September/15)

On May 6, 2011, five members of the ICT Committee of the Faculty of Education gave a presentation at MADLaT (Manitoba Association for Distributed Learning & Training) at College universitaire de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg. The Prezi used is below. A great discussion took place during the session.

Teaching with Technology: Engaging Faculty in a Process of Change (Madlat 2011) on Prezi