Article Review: Calculus in the Middle School?

I read the article entitled Calculus in the Middle School? found in the Mathematics Teaching In the Middle School journal. The authors of this article were presenting the idea of incorporating calculus earlier in a learner's education. Just as Algebra is being taught at earlier academic levels, so should calculus. It has been proven successful to teach algebra as a way of thinking to elementary students as a way of preparing them for Middle School. Just as Algebra is viewed as an introductory course to ready young learner's minds for higher level math, Calculus is viewed in the same way. Calculus is used in High School to prepare individuals for College level math. It is also used to weed out those who would not be successful for particular fields of study based on their performance in these types of math courses.

The article presents two main ideas in Calculus that should be taught in Middle School math called differentiation and derivative. They suggest that calculus needs one strong basis of competency in order to be strong in these classes. That baseline content area is the study of mathematical change. If students understood mathematical change, they would be set up for success upon entering these calculus classes.

In the article, the authors pose a hypothetical situation in a classroom where the teacher introduces calculus to the students without their knowing. The students work the problem step by step together while activating mathematical discourse and reasoning. Through their discourse, they come to a working knowledge of each step until they complete the last step of the calculus problem that is found in a calculus textbook. The teacher then tells the class what they have done.

REFLECTION:

I think that this is a good idea; however, since the article uses a pretend scenario, it's hard for me to imagine how the classroom discussion would actually occur. I could see this being very strategic and effective, but I would be interested to see how the students respond in a real life setting. I think that the article poses an excellent point and idea which should be entertained.


Barger, R., McCoy, A. (2010). Calculus in the Middle School? Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 15(6), 348-353