STUDENTS PROFICIENT IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TESTS (%)
55 51 45
RANKING OF STATES WITH SCHOOLS IN THE EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT LIST
SCHOOLS THAT ARE PROVIDING ADEQUATE EDUCATION
CALIFORNIA
58 52 44
44
38 35
35
41 38
FLORIDA 1,257 OF 1,473 SCHOOLS = 85%
PUERTO RICO 4
2
2007
2008
2009
ILLINOIS
8
NEW YORK
2010
OHIO SCHOOLS THAT ARE IN THE EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT LIST (%)
QUANTITY OF TEACHERS IN THE DE
MASS MISSOURI
42,444
43,054
NEW JERSEY
42,036 40,826
WA
40,163 39,356
39,102
SAN JUAN
36,506
121
BAYAMON 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
63 STUDENTS THAT DID NOT SUCCEED IN THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TEST
STUDENTS PROFICIENT IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TESTS (%)
GUAYNABO
21
66 54 53
52 44 36
50 44 40 40
48
45 37 32
10
3rd
4th
5th
6th
475,000
7
7th
37 9
8th
STUDENTS
41 38
CAGUAS
8
11th
39
9% OF THE STUDENTS ARE
1,473 SCHOOLS
PROFICIENT IN MATH
29
MUSEUM / LEARNING CENTER OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO Architecture provides the designer with an opportunity to make a difference. By designing the architect can select what problems to resolve and what problems to ignore. This thesis focuses on improving the education of mathematics and physics through architecture. The design of a structure that can encourage the development of young minds is more complex and simpler at the same time. Its complexity is defined by the need for major precautions and the need for attention to details. After all the building will serve to protect, develop and educate future generations; therefore it must be successful in all its components. Its simplicity is defined by the unlimited imagination of children. Their unbiased minds transform spaces better than any professional designer. This thesis focuses on improving the educational system by providing a new educational environment that serves as a tool for teaching mathematics and physics. The educational system in Puerto Rico is failing to fulfil the requirements in teaching mathematics to children in middle school and high school. The repercussions of failing in the topic of mathematics at an early age will greatly impact the person’s educational career. Whether this year’s kindergarten student will merely survive or positively thrive in the decades to come depends in large measure on the experience she has in school. Puerto Rico is an archipelago in the Caribbean that populates 3.6 million residents. There are 640 thousand children attending to school in Puerto Rico, according to 2010 statistics. Education in Puerto Rico follows the traditional way of teaching of the United States of America. However the effectiveness of teaching of mathematics suffered a dramatic drop in the year 2009. The drop was a result of a change of politics in the educational system that resulted in the migration of many teachers. However the traditional way of teaching has been declining since of the beginning of the 21st century. Mathematics is taught with books and a pencil, when in reality mathematics goes beyond 2 dimensions. Children understand additions better counting their fingers than by writing down the numbers. They understand multiples by moving the components of an abacus better than by writing an equation. Finally they discover physics by playing in the playground and intuitively comprehend gravity by sitting on a swing much better that they will ever understand by reading a chapter on Newton’s laws of physics. Architecture can accommodate the education of mathematics and physics in more than two dimensions. The majority of educational buildings in the U.S. as well as in Puerto Rico are outdated, have limited design and restrict the evolution of educational structure. “ In 1998 the average school building was 42 years old” In 57 years there have been revolutionary changes in the world, to name a few, the end of the Cold War, U.S.A. landing in the moon and the internet revolution. Children that were born in 1950’s are not the same as the children that were born in the 21st century. Why should they be taught in the same way? How can they be expected to succeed in an outdated building with an outdated curriculum? The students of today are professionals of tomorrow.
/ ZORAIDA INES RIVERA RIVERA THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN A STRUCTURE THAT WILL ALLEVIATE THE CURRENT DOWNFALL OF THE GRADES IN MATHEMATICS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SYSTEM OF PUERTO RICO. THE STRUCTURE EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITY OF TEACHING MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS THROUGH INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE, EXHIBITIONS AND FREE LESSONS TOURS. SOME TOPICS THAT RELATE TO THE ARCHITECTURE ARE THE USE OF GEOMETRY, LIGHT, FLUIDS, VELOCITY AND PROPORTIONS.
Statistics History Teenagers
Student
Design
Education
Inhabitor
Mathematics
Modern Approach
Applied
Schools Theories Puerto Rico
AVERAGE OF STUDENTS PER SCHOOL WHO UNDERSTAND MATH