Note Launchers: Promoting Active Reading of Mathematics Textbooks

I In the past several decades, the teaching of mathematics has been influenced by the constructivist philosophy in which students are challenged to "learn to think mathematically" (Schoenfeld, 2006, p. 334). Part of the process of learning to think mathematically is being able to read mathematically, "to take the global meaning from the page, not just to be able to read a few sentences" and to recognize that "the reading of a mathematics text is far more complex than simply being able to read the words on the page. It is about comprehending the mathematical idea being put forward" (Noonan, 1990, p. 79). For college students studying mathematics, a source of difficulty is often mathematical language and notation, manifested in students' inability to restate definitions and concepts in their own words (Moore, 1994). Indeed, the densely-packed technical material within mathematics textbooks may be prohibitive for students who are not quantitatively literate. Incoming college students' customary passive reading strategies such as memorizing, reading, and "looking over" (Simpson & Nist, 1990) undercut their abilities to understand the discussions that are to follow in the classroom. Failure to grasp even the first few lessons has serious implications for success throughout the course.