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Teaching children how to use language to solve maths problems

Teaching children how to use language to solve maths problems. Key issue addressed by the study. This British study looked at effective ways of using discussion among Year 5 pupils to improve teaching of mathematics and science

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Teaching children how to use language to solve maths problems

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  1. Teaching children how to use language to solve maths problems

  2. Key issue addressed by the study This British study looked at effective ways of using discussion among Year 5 pupils to improve teaching of mathematics and science The study builds on earlier research which showed that exploratory talk led to individual improvements in pupils test results

  3. What did the researchers discover about teaching mathematics? When teachers used ‘thinking together’ lessons it led to an increase of 44% in standardised tests results By comparison, children whose teachers carried on normal teaching increased their test results, on average, by 26%

  4. What did the researchers discover about the teachers’ role in mathematics discussions? When teachers were explicit with children about how to use language for reasoning as a group, the children: learnt better ways of thinking collectively improved their individual thinking skills

  5. What did the ‘thinking together’ programme consist of? The ‘thinking together’ programme was made up of 12 lessons The first five raised the children’s awareness of how talk can be used for group work The next seven helped children apply these skills in learning mathematics

  6. How were the ‘thinking together’ lessons arranged? • Each lesson was split into three sections: • a teacher led, whole class introduction • a group discussion activity • a whole class session to share ideas and reflect in the lesson

  7. What techniques did teachers use to encourage discussion? • Whole class discussion sometimes involved simple techniques, such as: • allowing children to lead discussion • using reasoning words, e.g. ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘if’ and ‘why’ • ensuring all children took part

  8. Example of a teacher helping pupils reflect on discussion for learning • Teacher: So if I walk around the classroom while everybody is talking together in their groups I wonder what kind of things might I hear people saying? • Asif: What do you think? • Teacher: That’s a good one. Why is that an important question, Carl? • Carl: Because you ask someone else their opinion.

  9. What training helped teachers to implement group discussion? • Whole class discussion only worked well when teachers received effective training. This consisted of: • discussing underlying principles • engaging in, and reflecting on, problem solving activities • analysing video recordings of children’s group discussions

  10. Ensuring all children participate • A key factor for success in group discussion was impressing on children the importance of ground rules, otherwise: • some children dominated while others were quiet • discussion led to ignoring the task at hand

  11. How was the study designed? • 230 Year 5 pupils (109 involved in programme, 121 in control group) • Improvements measured over two years using: • Key Stage 2 national results • analysis of teachers’ interactions with pupils • analysis of children’s talk in class

  12. How can teachers use the evidence in this study? • There is significant evidence that class discussion and group work improved pupils’ maths skills, but if these classes are not well organised then discussion may turn into unfocused talk on unrelated subjects • Can you think of occasions when group discussion was going well and others when pupils have gone off topic or worked in an unfocused way? • What do you think makes the difference?

  13. How can school leaders use the evidence in this study? • In order to develop and maintain these skills, the teachers required additional training. Evidence from the control groups made it clear that those without the right professional development were less successful and their pupils made less progress • What opportunities can you see for developing teachers’ skills in the use of group activity? • Are there staff in your school or who implement effective group work who could model this practice?

  14. Follow-up reading • Study reference: Mercer N & Sams C (2006) Teaching Children How to Use Language to Solve Maths Problems. In Language & Education 20 (6) pp. 507-528 • Summary available at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/science/language_science/

  15. Feedback • Did you find this useful? • What did you like? • What didn’t you like? Any feedback on this Research Bite would be much appreciated. Please email your feedback to: research.summaries@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

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