Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics
Despite the construct of challenge being recognized as an essential element of mathematics instruction, concerns have been raised about whether such approaches benefit students with diverse academic needs. In this article, we focus on the beliefs and instructional practices of teachers teaching stud...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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Series: | Mathematics |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/6/582 |
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author | Janette Bobis James Russo Ann Downton Maggie Feng Sharyn Livy Melody McCormick Peter Sullivan |
author_facet | Janette Bobis James Russo Ann Downton Maggie Feng Sharyn Livy Melody McCormick Peter Sullivan |
author_sort | Janette Bobis |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Despite the construct of challenge being recognized as an essential element of mathematics instruction, concerns have been raised about whether such approaches benefit students with diverse academic needs. In this article, we focus on the beliefs and instructional practices of teachers teaching students in the first three years of school (5 to 8 years of age). These teachers participated in professional learning focused on challenging mathematical tasks differentiated through their open-ended design and the use of enabling and extending prompts. The instructional practices are explained using the Theory of Didactical Situations. Questionnaire data from pre-intervention (<i>n</i> = 148) and post-intervention (<i>n</i> = 100) groups of teachers indicated that teachers in the post-intervention group held more negative beliefs than those in the pre-intervention group about the capability of instructional approaches involving a priori grouping of students by performance levels. Interviews with ten teachers from the post-intervention group revealed and characterized the ways teachers employed open-ended tasks with enabling and extending prompts to engage all learners. Findings reveal that teachers knowing their students as individual learners accompanied by knowledge of a range of teaching practices to differentiate instruction are central to engaging all learners. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:23:33Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-c1be2ec638f54357b200d6f2ad1bbaf9 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2227-7390 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:23:33Z |
publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Mathematics |
spelling | doaj.art-c1be2ec638f54357b200d6f2ad1bbaf92023-11-21T09:49:40ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902021-03-019658210.3390/math9060582Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning MathematicsJanette Bobis0James Russo1Ann Downton2Maggie Feng3Sharyn Livy4Melody McCormick5Peter Sullivan6Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaSydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDespite the construct of challenge being recognized as an essential element of mathematics instruction, concerns have been raised about whether such approaches benefit students with diverse academic needs. In this article, we focus on the beliefs and instructional practices of teachers teaching students in the first three years of school (5 to 8 years of age). These teachers participated in professional learning focused on challenging mathematical tasks differentiated through their open-ended design and the use of enabling and extending prompts. The instructional practices are explained using the Theory of Didactical Situations. Questionnaire data from pre-intervention (<i>n</i> = 148) and post-intervention (<i>n</i> = 100) groups of teachers indicated that teachers in the post-intervention group held more negative beliefs than those in the pre-intervention group about the capability of instructional approaches involving a priori grouping of students by performance levels. Interviews with ten teachers from the post-intervention group revealed and characterized the ways teachers employed open-ended tasks with enabling and extending prompts to engage all learners. Findings reveal that teachers knowing their students as individual learners accompanied by knowledge of a range of teaching practices to differentiate instruction are central to engaging all learners.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/6/582differentiationchallengestruggledidacticala-didacticalresponsive teaching |
spellingShingle | Janette Bobis James Russo Ann Downton Maggie Feng Sharyn Livy Melody McCormick Peter Sullivan Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics Mathematics differentiation challenge struggle didactical a-didactical responsive teaching |
title | Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics |
title_full | Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics |
title_fullStr | Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics |
title_full_unstemmed | Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics |
title_short | Instructional Moves that Increase Chances of Engaging All Students in Learning Mathematics |
title_sort | instructional moves that increase chances of engaging all students in learning mathematics |
topic | differentiation challenge struggle didactical a-didactical responsive teaching |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/6/582 |
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