Introduction
Research indicates that there is a continuous evolution in methods of instructions. In fact, initial review of literature indicates that these processes will continue to mutate.
These factors of change push mathematics’ educators to seek ways of gaining insights on how to change their patterns of instruction in terms of content and delivery. Increasing levels of technology, increasing levels of students’ diversity and culture, and the ever-changing styles in students’ learning have brought to the forefront the need to help students make connections between mathematical concepts and other disciplines.
The relevance of visualization in teaching and learning mathematics cannot be underestimated and remains an interesting topic to explore. This is because “meaningful mathematical learning can be accomplished with tactile applications of mathematical concepts, hence creating visualization because students need make a connection between theorem, its discovery, and past and current applications” (Arcavi, 2003, p. 217).
Description of the Topic
As has been stated, learning and teaching practices will continue to mutate. These factors of change push mathematics’ educators to seek ways on gaining insights on how to change their patterns of instruction in terms of content and delivery. Poor methods of curriculum delivery and inability to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning have been pointed out as major bottlenecks in the achievement of these objectives (Dorward, 2002).
The premise behind this topic revolves around the need to understand that visualization has been an area of interest for a number of researchers concerned with mathematics education. Furthermore, visual thinking can be an alternative and powerful resource for students doing mathematics (Zimmermann & Cunningham, 1991 and De Guzm´An, 2009).
Poor methods of curriculum delivery and inability to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning are the major bottlenecks in the enhancement of teaching and learning mathematics. The need to explore an alternative and powerful resource for students doing mathematics remains a top priority. This research will seeks to analyze and examine the impact of visualization in teaching and learning mathematics. The main research question dominating this segment of study will therefore be:
What are the roles of visuals and visualization in teaching and learning mathematics?
Other questions this research will seek to adequately respond to include:
- How do visual forms and visual reasoning about mathematical ideas affect diverse mathematical fields, historically and now?
- What are some of the classic and most effective examples that can illustrate these roles to students?
- How can educators teach and learn to use visualization more effectively?
Plan
This research will adopt a simple organizational model that has been used in a number of research articles. The first chapter will highlight the introduction of the research topic and provide explicit information on the overriding factor behind interest in this topic. The background of the study will follow the introduction and provide background information on the research topic.
The justification for focusing on the topic of visualization and visuals in mathematics education will then be presented. In the second chapter, a detailed examination and dissection of theoretical and empirical literatures based on main theories behind the study will be highlighted. The methods adopted in data generation and reasons behind the adoption of these methods will form the third chapter of this research paper.
This will explore sampling techniques, study population, the research strategy, and approaches employed in data collection and techniques in data analysis. The results and discussion of the study will constitute the fourth chapter while the fifth and last chapter will provide summary of the findings, implication of the research, conclusions, and recommendations.
Sources
The research paper seeks to use both empirical and theoretical sources drawn from a number of databases to support the assertions made and link research questions to literature review. A number of sources that will be used in the research will be drawn from APUS library in include journals and articles on educational studies in mathematics, journals of computers in mathematics and science teaching, learning and instruction and education and life-long learning.
Schedule
It is expected that the research will follow the schedule as indicated below. Adapted from Saunders et al, (2007)
Request for Proposal
The underlying reason behind the need to gain further insights into this topic relates to the fact that practices in mathematics instructional designs continue to mutate and the need to explore an alternative and powerful resource for students doing mathematics remains a top priority.
These change factors push mathematics educators to seek ways of gaining insight on how to change their patterns of instruction in content and methods of delivery. There is need to gain insight on how educators of mathematics may seamlessly adopt the changes in technology and reap the bundles of benefits presented by these changes. The theoretical knowledge retrieved from the analysis of this topic will form the foundation in fostering the process of visualization of mathematics and fill in the gaps in literature.
References
Arcavi, A. (2003). The role of visual representations in the learning of mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 52(3): 215-24
De Guzm´An, M. (2009). The Role of Visualization in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematical Analysis. Educational Studies in Mathematics. 18 (2): 55-67.
Dorward, J. (2002). Intuition and Research: Are They Compatible? Teaching Children Mathematics. 8(6): 329-332.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., Thornhill, A. 2007. Research Methods for Business Students. London: Pitman.
Zimmermann, W. & Cunningham, S. (1991). Visualization in Teaching and Learning Mathematics. Washington: Mathematical Association of America.