Teaching Math Through Design

Hi my name is Katie and I am currently a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. The purpose of this blog is to highlight and reflect on my experience teaching the Culturally Situated Design Tools at the Ark Community Charter School in Troy, NY. I was first introduced to the tools last year during Product Design & Innovation Studio 5 with professor Ron Eglash. Prior to the class, he developed them with the help of previous students and we were told to test them and give some feedback. I enjoyed those tools greatly and I saw the potential with them upon the first interaction. During that year I was involved in Design Your Future Camp at the Arts Center in downtown Troy, NY. It was a week long camp tailored around the idea that math and design are related and that we could get students interested in math through design. Each day of the camp was split into two parts. Before lunch the students would go on the computers and use one of the software on the Culturally Situated Design Tools and make a design of their choosing. Right before lunch we would work with the student to choose their favorite design and print it. After a hour lunch the students would go back and use the printed to design to create a piece of artwork. This camp was very successful and the students began to realize that math is not just about numbers and solving equations but instead that math is all around them and they use it everyday without realizing it. This simple notion gave them confidence to go back to school with a new appreciation of why math is important to learn.

Right after classes ended last year I had another experience with the Culturally Situated Design Tools at the Albany Boys and Girls Club. I spent a few weeks using the Anishinaabe Arcs to teach the students how to plot points and learn about parabolas. After the students created their own designs on the computer the points of all design were recorded and plotted on graph paper. Once all of the points were plotted students used pipe cleaners cut to the appropriate length to connect the points across from each other to create arcs. All of the arcs combine together to create a round house or a long house. After all of the students designers were created the students voted on which design they wanted to use to make a life size wigwam out of sticks. The hardest part of the project that was the balance between teaching the students directly and having them explore. This is the battle in any educational toy or education in general is how much do you tell the students versus how much do you let them learn on their own. I feel that this will be the hardest part of the lesson at the Ark Community Charter School this fall with our after school program.

The plan so far for the first session is to get to know the students and have them interview each other to see what they have in common. Then the students are going to compare and contrast each other and draw a picture about what makes them unique and the similarities they have. I am really excited for this program to start because I love teaching and I can not wait to get more experience but I will admit that I am nervous that I will not be good enough.