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Technology That Enhances Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
by Dee Dickinson



Logical-Mathematical intelligence can be exercised and developed through many challenging and innovative kinds of multimedia technology- Students of every ability level can learn effectively through interesting software programs that offer immediate feedback and go far beyond drill and practice and "workbooks on computers." Many of them offer challenging opportunities to exercise and develop higher order thinking skills that are essential in problem-solving. Following are a few examples of the many outstanding programs that are now available.

Edmark's "Millie's Mathhouse" is a delightful and successful computer program that introduces number and math concepts to preschool and early elementary children. It is alive with color, sounds, and graphics and works with a touch screen. Children are introduced to essential math concepts as they build animated bugs, operate a cookie machine, count wiggling critters, and make patterns with talking animals and shapes. As they explore and discover, children learn about numbers, shapes, sizes, patterns, and problem-solving.

For primary students, IBM's "Math and More" programs introduce students to patterns and relationships, geometry, probability, and statistics through highly motivating video, manipulative, and printed materials.

Wings for Learning/Sunburst's "King's Rule" and "Safari Search" for older children develop sequencing abilities and logical-mathematical thinking through visual-spatial, manipulative tasks that are in the form of thought-provoking and challenging games.

Broderbund's "Geometry, Physics and Calculus" software make abstract and sometimes difficult subjects more concrete and easily understandable as students manipulate colorful graphics. Videodiscovery's multimedia videodiscs, "The Physics of Auto Collisions" and "The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse," use real events to relate physics to practical applications. As students analyze real world events in scientific and mathematical terms, the principles of physics become more meaningful and relevant.

"The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury," developed by Vanderbilt University's Cognition and Technology Group, provides additional rich contexts for developing mathematical thinking and problem solving about real-world situations through what is being called "anchored instruction." At the present time, there are six dramatic episodes on videodisk (with six more to come), that present complex mathematical problems for students to solve.

One of the first adventures, 'Rescue at Boone's Meadow," presents the task of transporting a critically wounded eagle to a veterinary 65 miles away as quickly as possible. Because of the difficult terrain, students must figure out optimal combinations of using a truck, ultralight aircraft, and hiking, taking into consideration fuel, payload, weight, and different starting points. The students use a combination of the random-access videodisk, maps, and computers to generate alternative solutions. Fifth-grade students of average ability have been fascinated with the task, and have been motivated to solve it with solutions that require over 15 steps.

In many of these new "authentic learning" projects, learners become contributors to the collaborative knowledge base of the community. In the Global Lab project organized by the Technical Education Research Centers (TERC), an international group of teachers, high school students, and global-change researchers are collaborating in studying local and world ecological change using instruments such as ozonometers, ion-selective probes for soil and water monitoring, and field data loggers. Students learn to collect, analyze, and report data that is used by the scientists. And in the MicroObservatory project at Harvard University, secondary school students are using remote computer-controlled optical telescopes to do their own research projects in astronomy.

Increasing numbers of multimedia software programs are focused on developing the critical and creative thinking skills of students. IBM's "Modern Solutions" and "Wrinkers" (combination of thinking and writing) offer challenging projects that utilize logic, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in creating and problem-solving. Seymore Papert's "Lego Logo" program also offers an opportunity for students to develop the skills of analysis and logic as they learn to use a new computer programming language and apply it to controlling the movement of Lego "machines" that they create.

"Learn Smart" is a new software program developed by Key Technologies that is based on Guilford/Meeker's Structure of Intellect methods of developing intellectual skills. The program assesses individual strengths and weaknesses in cognition and offers strategies to strengthen intellectual powers. It is appropriate for students at all ability levels.

Stanley Pogrow's "HOTS" (Higher Order Thinking Skills) program combines Socratic thinking in small groups with activities utilizing computer technology- This program- focused on learning how to understand and problem-solve, demonstrates clearly that most students, including the "at risk" and "learning disabled," are capable not only of learning the basic skills, but of developing and applying higher order thinking skills in the process.

A number of recreational games also have much to offer in the way of new intellectual challenges. For example, Sierra's "Lost Mind of Dr. Brain" exercises all of the intelligences in challenging puzzles and problem-solving activities. Logical and mathematical skills, anticipatory thinking and quick decision-making, symbolic thinking, effective reasoning, and other higher order thinking processes are exercised as players meet a variety of unexpected challenges. As they unscramble Inverted melodies, break codes, navigate through mazes, use different retrieval systems to find scrambled files, and manipulate and rotate mental images, players get a "total brain workout." They have options of playing on several levels of difficulty, and can access helpful "scaffolding" hints from Dr. Brain's lab assistant. When used in classrooms, teachers may wish to follow with related activities to assure that transfer of skills will occur and persist.

Many of the programs described above are consistent with the current recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and with current research on "situated cognition." The focus of this research is on demonstrating that learning and thinking are always situated in a context, that knowing and doing are strongly linked, and, as a result, that authentic learning activities and direct experience provide rich opportunities for successful learning.



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© 1998 New Horizons for Learning and America Tomorrow, Inc. Permission for excerpt granted to America Tomorrow, Inc.

Page created April 2, 1998