Introduction
I chose to focus on how the use of questioning strategies in a whole class setting improves student understanding of conic sections because I struggle with using open-ended questioning. I see how “yes” and “no” questions do not usually cause students to think, since the answer to the question is often in the question. However, from my own experience as a teacher, simply asking an open-ended question about a new topic can cause frustration. If the students do not have any idea of how to answer the question, they simply stare and look confused. Even so, I do believe that open-ended questions can be very beneficial as an aid to learning if they are asked properly.
Research Question
How does the use of questioning strategies in a whole class setting improve student understanding of conic sections?
Literature Review
There are many different types of questions. The questioning strategy the teacher adopts will depend on the subject, topic, student comprehension and foreknowledge, and the goal of the lesson. The teacher’s questioning strategy can help students obtain understanding and see connections as they work toward solutions to problems. (Inspire, 2011)
“One of the most striking aspects of teaching is that the teacher’s speech consists of questions” (Manouchehri & Lapp, 2003, p.563). Each question the teacher asks should be strategic toward the goal of student learning. The teacher must determine beforehand what student response is desired and structure the questioning accordingly. Questioning can also aid the educator by assessing the students’ comprehension and understanding, thereby allowing the modification of instruction if necessary (Chappell & Thompson, 1999).
The form, content, and purpose of the que...
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...earned through this research that the questioning strategy I employ must be tailored to fit the goal of the lesson. My strategy must assess prior knowledge and constantly monitor student learning throughout the lesson. My use of proper questioning will facilitate deeper understanding of concepts and will enable the students to grow and expand their knowledge.
References
Chappell, M.F. & Thompson, D.R. (1999). Modifying our questions to assess students’ thinking. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 4(7), 470-474.
Inspire (2011). Capacity Building Series: Asking Effective Questions in Mathematics. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumberacy/inspire/research/capacityBuilding.html
Manouchehri, A. & Lapp, D. (2003). Unveiling student understanding: The role of questioning in instruction. The Mathematics Teacher, 96(8), 562-566.
Van de Walle, J., , F., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2010). Elementary and middle school mathematics, teaching developmentally. (Seventh ed.). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.
First, Jacobson states that children need to receive better feedback from their teachers to show them that what they are doing is correct. Jacobson further describes the need for external rewards, such as a good job or keep it up. Another way to reveal feedback is to visually show them how they have improved, such as showing students the charts that reveal their reading level has increased (Jacobson). Positive feedback and encouragement from whom the students look up to, their teachers, not only pushes children to do better, but also shows that the teachers are aware and proud of the improvements that are being made. Jacobson then states that asking open-ended questions allows students to get on the mindsets of learning from their personal thoughts and less of answering just to get the right answer. By asking open-ended questions in the classroom with everyone silent, it allows the students to gather their individual response to the question and gives them time to think about their answer, which in the end builds confidence (Jacobson). Jacobson’s last idea to influence students is to engage the disengaged. He refers to this as calling on the students who seem to be avoiding your open class discussions (Jacobson). By doing this, the teacher allows for every student to build his
In conclusion the problem-posing style to education is not only the most effective way in helping a student retain the information, but it also sets everyone, whether it be the teacher or the students, at equilibrium. I am not just speaking from my point of view, but also from Freire. We both came to the same conclusion and based our opinions off our own experiences. This style of education is very effective in expanding the minds of the receiver by making them more interactive in their learning rather than the typical lecture and take notes. In this style of education people teach each other and the teacher is not the only one enlightening the class with their knowledge.
Brooks, J.G. &Brooks, M.G. (1995). Constructing Knowledge in the Classroom. Retrieved September 13, 2002 for Internet. http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v01n03/1.html.
Researchers have suggested that students should create questions to enhance their learning (Foos, Mora, & Tkacz, 1994; King, A., 1991). Foos et al. (1994) conducted their study with 210 introductory psychology students. The students were divided into seven groups. The groups included “control, given an outline, given study questions, given study questions with answers, told to generate an outline, told to generate study questions, and given study questions with answers” (Foos et al., 1994, 569). In one experiment, half the students in each group were given one form of a test while the remaining students were given a different form. Then the groups were allowed to study under different conditions, and they were encouraged to do well. A second test was administered two days later. Foos et al. (1994) found that the students who created their own questions with answers were the most successful test-takers of all the groups. King (1991) tested 56 ninth grade students enrolled in honors world history classes. After the pretest and lectures, the groups had different tasks. The self-questioning and reciprocal peer-questioning group of students generated their own questions and peer-quizzed each other. The students in the self-questioning only group independently created their own questions and answers. The review group divided into smaller groups and discussed the lecture material while the members of the control group studied individually. King (1991) found that the two groups who utilized the self-questioni...
Assessment plays an integral part of the teaching and learning process by providing teachers with information on students’ developing mathematical capabilities (Booker, Bond, Sparrow, & Swan, 2010; Reys et al., 2012). Assessment is a daily requirement within the primary school context and when properly developed and interpreted can be used to encourage students, provide information to direct and modify teaching and learning activities, provide feedback to students about progress and contribute to reporting (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development [DEECD], 2009; Junpeng, 2012; New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, 2011). This essay will examine formative and summative assessment strategies teachers draw on to assess students’ mathematical understanding. Teachers use a range of formative assessment tools and teaching approaches to gather evidence for the purposes of: monitoring and measuring student learning; providing students with feedback; and providing feedback to inform teaching and modifying instructional strategies to enhance students’ knowledge and performance in mathematics (ACARA, 2015; DEECD, 2009; McMillan, 2011; Taylor-Cox, & Oberdorf, 2013).
Mathematical dialogue within the classroom has been argued to be effective and a ‘necessary’ tool for children’s development in terms of errors and misconceptions. It has been mentioned how dialogue can broaden the children’s perception of the topic, provides useful opportunities to develop meaningful understandings and proves a good assessment tool. The NNS (1999) states that better numeracy standards occur when children are expected to use correct mathematical vocabulary and explain mathematical ideas. In addition to this, teachers are expected
...nd make similar problem situations, and then, they provided the students with a little bit of practice because practice makes perfect! After that, teachers may put the students on the situation given just now.
Sherley, B., Clark, M. & Higgins, J. (2008) School readiness: what do teachers expect of children in mathematics on school entry?, in Goos, M., Brown, R. & Makar, K. (eds.) Mathematics education research: navigating: proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australia, Brisbane, Qld: MERGA INC., pp.461-465.
Silver, E. A. (1998). Improving Mathematics in Middle School: Lessons from TIMSS and Related Research, US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328.
Using literacy strategies in the mathematics classroom leads to successful students. “The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) define mathematical literacy as an “individual's ability to explore, to conjecture, and to reason logically, as well as to use a variety of mathematical methods effectively to solve problems." Exploring, making conjectures, and being able to reason logically, all stem from the early roots of literacy. Authors Matthews and Rainer (2001) discusses how teachers have questioned the system of incorporating literacy with mathematics in the last couple of years. It started from the need to develop a specific framework, which combines both literacy and mathematics together. Research was conducted through
Mathematics teachers teach their students a wide range of content strands – geometry, algebra, statistics, and trigonometry – while also teaching their students mathematical skills – logical thinking, formal process, numerical reasoning, and problem solving. In teaching my students, I need to aspire to Skemp’s (1976) description of a “relational understanding” of mathematics (p. 4). Skemp describes two types of understanding: relational understanding and instrumental understanding. In an instrumental understanding, students know how to follow steps and sequential procedures without a true understanding of the mathematical reasons for the processe...
A somewhat underused strategy for teaching mathematics is that of guided discovery. With this strategy, the student arrives at an understanding of a new mathematical concept on his or her own. An activity is given in which "students sequentially uncover layers of mathematical information one step at a time and learn new mathematics" (Gerver & Sgroi, 2003). This way, instead of simply being told the procedure for solving a problem, the student can develop the steps mainly on his own with only a little guidance from the teacher.
During my own classroom observation it was noted that the level of questioning with the students needed to be improved upon. Reynolds and Muijs (1999) mention one of the main requirements to be an effective teacher is knowledge of the content being taught. Spending more time reviewing the content and preparing a list of questions prior to each lesson would greatly help develop the level of questioning with the
The second step in developing an engaging lesson is to focus on the instructional strategies used to help the students understand the material. It is at this point, the teacher decides what activities they will use to help address the “big ideas” or the “essential questions”.