Civil rights activist and SIUC math professor propose new approach to mathematics
Matt Wang
Daily Egyptian
A civil rights activist and a SIUC math professor are working together to implement a new approach to learning mathematics in Carbondale High School. Robert Moses, a civil rights activist and math educator, and Greg Budzban, associate professor of mathematics at SIUC, met with community members Saturday in the Student Center to showcase the Algebra Project, Moses' approach to teaching mathematics.
The program stresses reforming mathematics education to help minority students acquire the mathematical skills necessary to achieve in today's technological society. Carbondale High School is considered an appropriate target for the program because of the considerable gaps between white and black students' scores in mathematics. According to the 2003 Prairie State Examination, in math, 88 percent of black students ranked in the "warning or below standards" category, compared to 27 percent of whites.
The two men met in 2001 when Budzban invited Moses to Carbondale to speak about the Algebra Project. Budzban introduced him to the "Road Coloring Problem," which is an open mathematical problem dating to the late 1960s that Budzban has been trying to solve. Moses realized that the problem would be accessible to his ninth grade students because of the problem's use of hands-on experience as a mode of evaluation and began introducing the problem to his students at Lanier High School in Jackson, Miss.
This symbiotic relationship between the "Road Coloring Problem" and the Algebra Project formed the basis for the National Science Foundation grant they received in December of 2002 for $575,337, which is titled, "Raising the Floor," according to the foundation's website. Since the grant, Budzban and Moses have written a year's worth of 9th grade curriculum, and the program is being piloted in four different states, Budzban said.
Moses said there are deep and central mathematical concepts at the heart of the "Road Coloring Problem." "What makes these concepts accessible is that there is an actual experience students can construct for themselves - it's a physical experience," Moses said.
"We've used hula hoops and wooden sticks in the classroom, so they could actually move around and build these models." Instead of being thrown mathematical concepts prior to any relative experience, Moses said this allows students to think, talk and write about what they've done and pull the math out from that basis. "When you come here to SIU, if you can't do certain mathematics, then in some sense half of the campus is closed to you," Budzban said.
"What we want to do is stop that from happening, so when you come to the university, you have a chance, and it's your choice," Budzban said. "It's not that those roads are closed to you by default." Maisha Moses, Robert Moses' daughter and a SIUC graduate student in mathematics, has worked with various schools in overhauling their math programs to implement the Algebra Project.
"Right now, for a certain segment of students in inner-city public schools, the schools are not meeting their needs, and so, how can the students begin to develop a consciousness around organizing themselves to make a demand on the system," Maisha said. "The creative process is figuring out exactly what needs to be done in each local area to make it work, and who needs to be at the table."
Last update: Monday, March 7, 2005 at 4:30:20 AM
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