Project Directed Mathematics

The authors examine the learning preferences work of Ricki Linksman, founder of the National Reading Diagnostic Institute in the United States and author of How to Learn Anything Quickly. In an earlier study, they theorized that female MATH 131 students at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar (VCUQ) were probably visual and tactile right-brained learners based on their artistic interests in three design majors and the characteristics of these types of learning preferences. In this study, they test the learning and hemispheric preferences of MATH 131 students and, because visual and tactile learners learn best by seeing and touching, hypothesize that centering mathematics instruction on projects completed either individually or collaboratively (project-directed mathematics) will facilitate students’ learning better than will traditional lectures and problem-solving assignments. The projects are focused on the design and implementation of both individual and group activities that engage students in high-level thinking and mathematical problem solving. As a team the professor and students discuss deeper mathematical properties illustrated within the students’ projects. As design majors, the students are very motivated to create unique projects that draw upon their artistic talent and creativity. Combined with a “mathematical spin” required by the professor, these projects offer a pilot for mathematical understanding. Preliminary results indicated that the project-directed approach is more successful than the traditional lecture and problem-solving techniques because students are eager both to collaborate with their peers and professor and to compete against each other in developing the most creative projects.