1 / 20

Inquiry-Based Learning in General Education Mathematics

Inquiry-Based Learning in General Education Mathematics. Christine von Renesse Julian Fleron Westfield State University. You are a student in our class. Here are your first tasks: Solve the first four puzzles on your handout. Compare your solution with your neighbors.

glenys
Download Presentation

Inquiry-Based Learning in General Education Mathematics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Inquiry-Based Learning in General Education Mathematics Christine von Renesse Julian Fleron Westfield State University

  2. You are a student in our class. Here are your first tasks: Solve the first four puzzles on your handout. Compare your solution with your neighbors. Compare your strategies. Rules for RK Puzzles: Fill in all squares with whole numbers between 1 and 9. The rows, columns and diagonals have to add up to the indicated aggregates.

  3. Puzzle 1:

  4. Puzzle 2:

  5. Puzzle 3:

  6. Puzzle 4:

  7. Whole Group Mathematical Discussion • Strategies • Uniqueness • Solvability Pedagogy Tasks - Talk in your group about the following prompts: • How did it feel to be a student? • Do you think a lecture would have been better? Why or why not?

  8. Now you are observing us as teachers while you: Solve the next three puzzles on your handout. Compare your solution with your neighbors. Compare your strategies. Rules for RK Puzzles: Fill in all squares with whole numbers between 1 and 9. The rows, columns and diagonals have to add up to the indicated aggregates.

  9. Puzzle 7:

  10. Puzzle 9:

  11. Puzzle 11:

  12. Algebra Connection: • 1) a + x = 15 so a = 15 - x • 2) b + x + 2 = 14 so b = 12 - x • 3) 7 + c + a + 2 + 5 + 4 = 27 so c + a = 9 so c + (15 - x) = 9 or c = x - 6 • 4) 7 = c + d + b = (x - 6) + d + (12 - x) so 7 = 6 + d and d = 1.

  13. Pedagogy Tasks - Talk in your group about the following prompts: • What did we do to facilitate the learning? (or not do?) • Why do you think we did that?

  14. Elements of Our Inquiry-Based Classroom: • 3-4 students at a table, in assigned groups (name tags, may change day to day) • Students work through a series of investigations (some small - some large) from our project Discovering the Art of Mathematics • Whole class discussions are used to spread ideas, clear up misconceptions and contradicting ideas. • Groups present their ideas during discussions (informal, maybe at board). • Different Assessment Strategies, all honoring the process of inquiry, with written solutions and participation making up as much as 75% of the final grade.

  15. CAT Scans and Sliceforms • What is a CAT scan? • How does it work?

  16. CAT Scans and Sliceforms • Here are examples of sliceforms our students made: TASKS: • How are CAT scans and sliceforms related? • How are CAT scans and the RK Puzzles related?

  17. …

  18. Discovering the Art of Mathematics Project Julian Fleron, Phil Hotchkiss, Volker Ecke, Christine von Renesse, Westfield State University, Massachusetts This project is based upon work currently supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF1225915 (TUES) and previously supported by NSF0836943 (CCLI) and a gift from Mr. Harry Lucas.

  19. Vision: Mathematics for Liberal Arts students will be actively involved in authentic mathematical experiences that • are both challenging and intellectually stimulating, • provide meaningful cognitive and metacognitive gains, and, • nurture healthy and informed perceptions of mathematics, mathematical ways of thinking, and the ongoing impact of mathematics not only on STEM fields but also on the liberal arts and humanities.

  20. www.artofmathematics.org Resources/Opportunities • 11 free books for MLA: Art & Sculpture, Calculus, Dance, Games & Puzzles, Geometry, Knot Theory, Music, Number Theory, Patterns, The Infinite, Reasoning & Proof • Topic Index (other math classes) • Individual mentoring or collaboration (stipend) • Beta-test/review (stipend) • Traveling workshops

More Related