3 keys to making mathematics attractive

Key points:

One of the challenges in getting students engaged in math is the perception that it is a subject where you sit at a desk and solve 30 math problems by yourself.

There are several ways to make math more collaborative and fun, including shifting emphasis from procedures to discourse, embracing game-based learning, and using data to continually adapt tools to students' needs.

Here's how to make those ideas a reality in the classroom.

From procedure to problem resolution

One way to facilitate more engaging mathematics teaching is to move from the teaching procedure to encouraging active problem solving. One way to know that you have a great problem-solving task is that it generates rich discussion. An example of this is ST Math Puzzle Talks, which include five puzzles with teacher notes to help guide the conversation. They offer possible strategies that students could use and that the teacher should know about, as well as questions such as “What do you notice?” or “What are you wondering?” to stimulate a deeper discussion about the puzzle before them.

Engaging students in discourse through an inquiry-based approach is a process. Teachers can start by doing one or two mathematical discourse tasks per week. Over a semester, as you continue to do this, you will begin to see more and more students participating and wanting to share. This research-based approach is effective because it is based on how the brain works. When students talk and explain something, the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain are activated, connecting them to a deeper level of meaning and understanding. When they listen to others explain their thoughts, it informs them and may even change the way they approach similar problems in the future.

This speech serves to highlight students' strategies, giving them a voice in the class and also allowing them to link their own language to mathematics. Teachers can apply academic vocabulary later in the process, but to me an engaging math class is like a book club: to have a rich discussion in your book club, you need a fascinating book to discuss. What that means in math class is that you need a task that is intriguing enough for students to develop their discussions. Puzzle-type tasks certainly fit that description.

Game-based learning and play

Game-based learning is different from gamification. It's not a “chocolate covered broccoli” experience, it's an authentic experience with an authentic task that follows a well-designed learning progression. In a well-designed game, the scenario is often presented visually, allowing students to apply their creative problem-solving skills. In these activities, students can see all the information they need (which eliminates the language barrier) and get immediate visual feedback based on their actions. Games can increase engagement by showing students not only the puzzle or challenge at hand, but also a map of where they have been and where they are going within the game world. Through mastery-driven progression, students continue to progress from one learning experience to the next. If implemented effectively, this can lead to the development of an asset-based perspective around mathematics, rather than a deficit-based perspective, by constantly reinforcing the gap between where students currently are and where they should be. be.

This type of well-designed game-based learning naturally leads to game-based learning, where students work together to solve problems. As they collaboratively solve a puzzle, they collect data about how they might solve the next one, and teachers also collect valuable data.

Data-driven education

Data-driven education increases engagement by using large data sets to analyze the effectiveness of learning content. This data can be used to make program modifications that make the educational experience even more effective and engaging year after year.

Math games are particularly well suited for data-driven education. Evaluating the impact of games on various demographic groups allows teachers to minimize students' unproductive struggles and maximize their engagement by focusing on games with higher “learning density.”

To further help teachers make math as engaging as possible, we are exploring through a grant with the Gates Foundation adding an engagement metric to the ST Math student and teacher dashboards. Our goal is for teachers to use this data to provide feedback to students as they play, creating real-time mathematical discourse that is both collaborative and fun.