Faculty Mentor
Dr. Hyung Sook Lee
Document Type
Poster
Department
Mathematics
Abstract
To make schools accountable for the education and learning they provided for their students, updating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act with the No Child Left Behind Act created a ripple effect of damage to student learning. This kind of pressure on schools and students puts more focus on students getting good grades than focusing on effort. Lack of effort created bad habits and poor study skills, especially in mathematics. Recent studies state that math proficiency in the U.S. is 38% and 50% in Washington state (Public School Review, 2023). This type of learning outcome cries for help on how teacher-directed classrooms at all levels of math are losing their effectiveness and need for change. This paper will review three journals and four books on inquiry-based mathematical learning, how it works in a classroom, how it relates to the 5 practices, and how to balance the love for mathematics with the love for students. When teachers change their teacher-centered classrooms to inquiry-based classrooms they may provide a more effective learning environment for all levels of mathematics.
Recommended Citation
Killian, Suzanne Marie, "What is Inquiry-based Mathematical Learning?" (2023). 2023 Symposium. 16.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2023/works_2023/works_2023/16
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Paper associated with poster
Included in
What is Inquiry-based Mathematical Learning?
To make schools accountable for the education and learning they provided for their students, updating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act with the No Child Left Behind Act created a ripple effect of damage to student learning. This kind of pressure on schools and students puts more focus on students getting good grades than focusing on effort. Lack of effort created bad habits and poor study skills, especially in mathematics. Recent studies state that math proficiency in the U.S. is 38% and 50% in Washington state (Public School Review, 2023). This type of learning outcome cries for help on how teacher-directed classrooms at all levels of math are losing their effectiveness and need for change. This paper will review three journals and four books on inquiry-based mathematical learning, how it works in a classroom, how it relates to the 5 practices, and how to balance the love for mathematics with the love for students. When teachers change their teacher-centered classrooms to inquiry-based classrooms they may provide a more effective learning environment for all levels of mathematics.
Comments
The paper that served as the basis for the poster is available as an additional file.
Balancing their love for mathematics with their love for their students will create a classroom that promotes mindful mathematical learning. When teachers take the time to learn about what inquiry-based learning is, how it works in the classroom, how it relates to the 5 Practices, and how to balance their love for mathematics with their love for their students they will provide an effective learning environment at all levels of mathematics. I would really like to do more research on using the 5 Practices and what I learned in my Senior Capstone class. The reason why I would like to do more research is that I found classroom management to be way easier to manage, students were more engaged, and the lesson took the whole class time. By the time I taught my final lesson, which was observed by my supervisor, more students were willing to get up and share their strategies and I was able to get the timing down where all of the phases were completed. Doing more research on this type of student-centered math lesson will help me receive a greater grasp on how well the students are learning this way and I hope to practice this while I complete my final student teaching in the classroom.