Presentation Slides and Reflection

Slides:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19NSQ-7Ydyjy5Nc81KkO-22_X5BTr6O-9/view?usp=sharing

Reflection:

Having the opportunity to research an area of personal interest was highly motivating and exciting. The hardest part of the inquiry project for me might have actually been deciding on my research topic and questions because there were so many facets of mathematics and physics education that intrigued me. 
    
Initially, I began reading about promoting conceptual thinking in mathematics through creative question design, but then I stumbled across the vast body of educational research discussing proofs. In fact, after doing some initial reading, I was pretty curious about whether or not incorporating proofs and proving in a secondary mathematics setting could be an effective way to promote conceptual thinking. My literature review affirmed this hypothesis and also described many other benefits that come from the teaching and learning of mathematical proof. At the same time, many articles outlined the numerous challenges involved in practice. This agreed with my experience as a student and working in a high school for the last two years.

Similarly, in the conversations that I had with active teachers, almost all of them agreed that there is a tremendous educational benefit to teaching proof, but there are many logistical hurdles to overcome such as variable student preparedness (prior knowledge and skills), teacher capability/confidence in this area, and a shortage of time in a rushed curriculum.

Another thing that I learned through this project was that it is very difficult to get a hold of teachers during a busy pandemic year, and especially while they are marking and writing report cards. Many of the teachers that I contacted were not available. I will need to be more proactive in my planning of speaking with people in the field for Inquiry 2. 

I’m not 100% sure of what the Inquiry 2 course will look like, so I’m not entirely sure which way I want to take things. I’m leaning towards contacting more people in the field and researching creative solutions to the practical challenges of teaching proof. I’m also interested in trying to discover what resources already exist out there to help teachers in this mission.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

End of Term Reflection

Much like my experience in EDCP 342A, this course helped broaden my perspectives of what it means to be an educator in math and science. I feel like the readings, discussions, and events (such as attending the Reconciling Ways of Knowing talk) provided a rich content base for reflection.  I am now more aware of how math and science teachers can (and arguably, should) incorporate issues of social justice and activism into their teaching. This is something that I have usually avoided in the past because I am not that comfortable with my knowledge level on certain issues or how to integrate it smoothly into the curriculum. I've come to realize though that learning to facilitate appropriate discussion and finding creative ways of making the curriculum relevant are what is necessary. A teacher can't possibly be an expert in everything, but a teacher can always lead meaningful inquiry and discussion in respectful and intelligent ways. Also, I really enjoyed the inquiry project. I fee...
Read more

Exit Slip - Nov 26

Today, I worked on gathering few more resources for my literature review (including some from Susan's recommendations) and also discussing my research topic and questions with my peers. At this point, I have established my topic as proofs and mathematical argumentation in secondary mathematics education. Some guiding questions of my research are: 1. What are the benefits to including proofs and mathematical argumentation in the secondary math curriculum? 2. What are some challenges that students and teachers face that inhibit the use of proofs in the math classroom. 3. How can teachers effectively engage and guide students in the process of learning to prove and argue mathematically? The next steps of my research will be to read approximately 4-8 more research papers on the topic, and also contact people from the teaching and learning community for conversations. I plan to devise a list of questions for my interviewees in the coming days. I intend to reach out to some or all of the...
Read more