Geometry and Reasoning, referred to as MATH 313, fulfilled both my liberal studies and the Cormier Honors College requirements. This course uses hands-on activities and encourages student investigation to explore geometric concepts, such as two-and-three-dimensional shapes, measurement, and geometric reasoning. This course tailors to individuals pursuing liberal studies major. It focuses on teaching future classroom teachers geometric concepts while also teaching them how to teach these concepts to their students.
Based on my experience with this course, it was both eye-opening and challenging. While teachers need to understand the concepts they will teach their students, teachers need to know the reasoning behind the concepts they teach to students. While taking this course, I learned about the purpose of using a particular formula to solve a geometric problem, which I did not understand when I initially took geometry in eight-grade. I struggled with grasping some of the concepts learned in this course, but it helps me know what my students will face when tackling geometric problems. The biggest takeaway from this course was learning how to teach students geometry. During my time in Geometry and Reasoning, I learned to incorporate the reasoning as I work through a problem, and this approach helps both the students and me understand how I, as the teacher, reach the answer. In conclusion, this course provided me with different lesson activities and approaches for my future classroom to spark conversations with my students.
The artifact I chose to exhibit the work I have done in this course is my first article review paper. I read the article titled, “Why are Things Shaped the Way They are.” After reading the article, I addressed the questions posed by my professor, which tailors to summarizing the article read, what I found interesting, and describing two lesson activities I can do with my students using the geometric concepts with a real-world application. This assignment helped me think deeply about activities that encourage my students to investigate the concepts learned within the classroom and engage in discourse with their peers to strengthen the understanding of what we are learning and how it applies outside the classroom. It also taught me how to use research and resources to think critically about the lesson activities I want my students to do and their significance to their learning experience. I have included my article review assignment below: