As part of Math for America‘s inaugural Master Teachers on Teaching symposium, I gave a talk titled “g = 4, and Other Lies the Test Told Me”. Video of the talk can be seen here.
The theme of the symposium was modeling, and my talk focused on the ways that standardized testing can undermine the teaching and learning of modeling.
By looking at a series of poorly-conceived state exam questions, I discussed the ramifications that these questions have on student’s conceptions of mathematics and modeling, and on the teaching that goes on in the classroom.
Thanks for posting this! I was unable to stay for all the talks, and I’d missed yours. So much fun re-purposing bad test questions for rich learning experiences.
Thanks, Gretel! Glad you liked it. I think all teachers have a lot of experience re-purposing things that didn’t go quite as planned!
Loved your talk, and wanted to share it with others – now I can!
In the week following your talk someone sent me and article from Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School entitled “What Are You Assuming?” (MTMS Vol. 18, No. 2, Sept 2012) – It goes very well with your presentation.
Thanks!
Thanks, Nic! I’ll keep an eye out for the article. And I look forward to your talk at next year’s MT^2!