Levi Puga & Dr. Ivona Grzegorczyk
Abstract
Set Theory is a branch of mathematics typically taught at the college level. As this area of mathematics requires very little prerequisites, we may ask: Why is Set Theory not taught sooner, maybe at the high school level? Is this branch of math out of reach for younger ages? Maybe it can be taught to even younger students in elementary grades with some of the terminology adjusted to better suit the abilities of the learners. For this research experiment we did a two-day trial with students in grades 6th-8th and taught them basic concepts of set theory using less rigorous terminology that was slightly adapted to their level. We administered both a pre-test and post-test with problems on operations on various (finite) sets that were similar to typical college level questions asked after introducing the concepts of sets and operations on them. We collected the data and analyzed the results using statistical methods to show that they mastered the ideas of this branch of mathematics at a younger age.
Details
Session 1
9:30am – 11:00am
Grand Salon
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