Comprehensive School Mathematics Program: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:09, 7 January 2012

Revision as of 23:12, 31 May 2013

Line 9:

The most influential figure on this project was Frederque’ Papy. This project employs four non-verbal languages for the purpose of posing problems and representing mathematical concepts. They are: the Papy Minicomputer(mental computation), Arrows(relations), Strings(classification) and Calculators(patterns). It was designed to teach mathematics as a problem solving activity rather than just teaching arithmetic skills. The program was highly structured using the spiral scheme of program development. It introduced many basic concepts such as fractions earlier than normal but was criticized for lack of emphasis given to calculation. New content in probability and geometry was introduced. There was a range of supporting material including story books with mathematical problems. Lessons were often posed in a story. One character in these books was Eli the Elephant, a [[Elephant|pachyderm]] with a bag of magic peanuts — some representing positive integers, some negative.

== The Mini-Computercomputer ==

[[Image:CSMP mini computer.svg|thumb|right|300px|The number 9067 represented on a mini-computer.]]

Line 24:

Arithmetic can be performed on the mini-computer by combining two numbers' representations into a single board and performing simplification techniques. One such technique is to replace checkers from the 8 and 2 squares of one board with a checker on the 1 square of the adjacent board to the left. Another technique is to replace a pair of checkers in the same square with one checker in the next higher square, such as two 4's with an 8.

==Study Resultsresults==

The program received extensive evaluation, with over 50 studies. These studies showed broadly similar results for non CSMP students in computation, concepts and applications. However there was a marked improvement when assessed according to the The Mathematics Applied to Novel Situations (MANS) tests which were introduced to measure students ability for problem solving in novel situations.

==Current Curriculumcurriculum Useuse==

Burt Kaufman, a mathematics curriculum specialist, headed the team at SIU writing CSMP. He eventually started the [http://www.imacs.org Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science (IMACS)]. IMACS appears to use elements of the program in their "Mathematics Enrichment" program. For instance, mini-computers and "Eli the Elephant" are present in the IMACS material. IMACS is a private education business focusing on the instruction of students from first grade through high school.