Finally, in Chapter 8, there are activities, requiring little or no preparation, which instructors can use for various content areas of basic math. These activities are examples of how strategies discussed in the first seven chapters can be implemented, and, in addition, respond to the second barrier instructors mentioned, that is, lack of time to prepare material.
This manual is part of a project funded by the National Office of Literacy and Learning (NOLL). My research question was “How can ABE math instructors in BC apply research findings to their practice?” While the question was big, and each of its many parts was big, it came from a personal question: How can I apply research findings to my own teaching practice? I have been teaching for more than 15 years at Malaspina University-College, at the Cowichan Campus in Duncan. Mainly I have taught at the fundamental level, with occasional forays into introductory algebra. During that time, and based on previous teaching experience, I tried many different methods and texts in my attempt to teach so that students would understand math and, I hoped, learn to like it. During that period, being too busy teaching, I didn’t have time to search systematically for relevant research material, and it wasn’t until the recent explosion of material online that searching from a remote location became at all feasible. Hence, when I received funding for this project, I welcomed the luxury of spending time away from the classroom, to read, think, talk, and write about teaching math.
I started by looking for research findings on improving instruction of basic math to adult students; as I read the research I found, and thought about it in relation to my own teaching experience and philosophy, I began to shape the consultation I would have with other instructors. I wondered if others would have the same reaction as I did to some of the research findings. I wondered if they would be as interested as I was in improving the way basic math is taught to adults in BC.
My reading was followed by face-to-face group consultations with 90 people (mainly instructors) interested in teaching basic math to adults in BC, and by two on-line conferences with more than 100 literacy practitioners from BC, other parts of Canada, the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom. However, the face-to-face consultations were more focused, and resulted in a clearer sense of direction as to what instructors were interested in. The on-line discussions were wide-ranging, but, perhaps due to the nature of the on-line setting, or to my lack of expertise, or to the widely differing situations and assumptions that participants had, I did not get the kind of specific direction for the manual that came from the face-to-face consultations. Although many of the issues raised were the same in both places, and the data did not contradict each other, I got clearer answers at the face-to-face consultations about what changes in practice instructors were interested in making. Moreover, the face-to-face consultations were with instructors teaching in BC, under current conditions. Consequently, I have based the contents of this manual mainly on the data I collected at the face-to-face consultations, which I will explain in detail a bit further on.