Student Comments

• Many course activites (e.g. CD problems, describing relationships, expressing your thinking, etc.) provide opportunities for you to write about your ideas or insights about a geometric situation. My thoughts and feelings about this are:

1. "I feel that this does help me understand better if I truly understand the concept. Otherwise, I am still confused."
2. "I like that I have the opportunity to write my thoughts and ideas because sometimes it helps me understand it better. And since I know I have to write down what I'm doing or what I'm thinking it makes me think things out a little more."
3. "This is good because you are able to understand your thought process and make corrections where need be."
4. "I think it is important to be able to explain what and why you did something. As teachers we must do this everyday."
5. "Sometimes it is hard for me to express my thinking during these activities."
6. "I think it helps you learn to pay more attention to detail. Also, sometimes if you write it down it helps you to learn the subject better."
7. "Having to write out my thoughts helps me remember things better."
8. "It is good practice for future classroom experiences. Like when a student askes you a question and you have to express your thoughts in a way they will understand."

These comments are from the Math 3403--Geometric Structures for Elementary Teachers class taught by John Wolfe at Oklahoma State University, Summer 2003.