[Numeracy 211] Re: manipulatives

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Maggie Dyer mdyer at webster.edu
Tue Feb 23 12:37:32 EST 2010


> Hi Everyone,

>

> I¹ve been following this conversation on manipulatives with a great deal of

> interest. I don¹t teach math and in fact, I am quite bad at it. But I do find

> math interesting and wish I were better at it. My cousin is a math teacher at

> a community college and has done a sabbatical on working with transitions

> between ABE/AEL and community colleges. She and I had a discussion awhile ago

> that referenced a study done a couple of years ago that called into question

> the usefulness of manipulatives. While both of our gut instincts tell us that

> anything that bridges the theoretical to the concrete is helpful in the

> classroom, this article gave us both pause.

>

> Here¹s the article:

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/science/25math.html?_r=1&ex=1209787200&en=bf

> ef1f78c9a23461&ei=5070&emc=eta1

>

>

> Is anyone else familiar with the study or know of any further research on

> this? The discussion so far has focused on the benefits to manipulatives in

> math instruction, does anyone have any experience where that has not been the

> case? It is really hard for me to go against the experience of teachers and

> my own gut, but on the other hand, I also feel like research has merit and

> should be considered. Any one have any thoughts?

>

> Maggie

>

--
Maggie Dyer
LIFT-MO
Missouri's Literacy Resource Center
815 Olive Street
Suite 22
St. Louis, MO 63101
800-729-4443
(314) 678-4443 x 207
(314) 678-2938 fax
http://www.lift-missouri.org

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