An innovative educator from Singapore who helps math teachers in the U.S. and abroad teach more effectively comes to Pellissippi State Community College in November.
Alice Ho will present the free workshop, “Singapore World-Class Mathematics System for the future generation,” 1-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, in the college’s Goins Building Auditorium. The Goins Building is on the Pellissippi Campus on Hardin Valley Road.
Ho’s unique pedagogy draws on a body of knowledge, skills and methods she has accumulated over more than 30 years of teaching based on the Southeast Asian nation’s internationally renowned math curriculum.
“The workshop is for K-12 teachers, math faculty from colleges and universities, and pre-service teachers,” said Meg Moss, a math professor and director of Teacher Education.
Singapore gained global recognition for its math curriculum a decade ago, when its students posted the highest scores in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. In 2003, Singapore fourth- and eighth-graders had the top scores for mathematics as well. By comparison, U.S. fourth-graders finished 12th and eighth-graders placed 14th in the 2003 study.
Since she began tutoring elementary and high school mathematics in 1974, Alice Ho has been developing better ways for math educators to teach more effectively. One example is her use of the visual. Ho communicates “worked solutions by pictorial visualization without the use of abstract manipulation of algebraic equations,” according to the Web site describing her workshop and her methodology, which she calls Math Teach.
Her audience includes not only teachers but also math coaches, curriculum developers and researchers involved in math education for grades 1-10. To learn more about Ho, visit www.mathteach.com.
For more information, contact Meg Moss at mmoss@pstcc.edu or (865) 694-6673. To attend, participants need only show up for the workshop.