THE
LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES OF MATHEMATICS TEACHING AND LEARNING
SUMMARY
Mary.
Schleppegrell (2004), brings attention to the language difficulties that
students may face when attempting to understand mathematical concepts and the educational
strategies of overcoming these difficulties.
M.A.K
Halliday ,1978, views on Mathematics register highlights the unique language
and notation used in mathematics and this has helped in reducing the problems
in assisting students move from everyday informal ways of perceiving knowledge into
technical and academic patterns.
Halliday
& Mattiessen,2004 and Schleppgrell (2024), highlighted the features of a
Mathematics register as having the multiple sematic system (which deals with
the use of various modes of communications in mathematics like symbols, graphs,
charts etc.) and the language of grammar (entails the specific language structures
used in Mathematics) as vital for Mathematics learning.
She also
said that understanding the specific structures used in mathematics is vital
for effective learning. It is essential to note that a way of occupying and assisting
students in their learning is by emphasizing on the features of the language on
the basis of which mathematics is constructed.
She also said
it is important to say that the notion of Mathematics register and recognition
of the role of language in mathematics teaching and learning are vital.
Stop 1:
Quotation: “A key challenge in Mathematics teaching is to help students move from everyday informal ways of construing knowledge into the technical and academic ways that are necessary for disciplinary learning in all subjects”. M.J schleppegrell,2004,page 140.
Explanation: This quote excites me because it reminded me of Asiya’s illustration in class on the 15th of January,2025, about the challenges she had back home. She had to relate the physics term ‘omega’ to the student’s using ‘W’ for a clearer understanding. Another memory was when I was teaching my students about fractions and had to figure out how to make the topic more explicit by cutting a cake in pieces to illustrate ideas on fraction as being part of a whole.
Question:
How do you use formative assessments to inform your instruction and adjust
teaching strategies.
Quotation:” Languages, mathematical expression and visual diagrams, as well as the gestures and actions of participants in the classroom together constructs meaning, and “…It is only by cross – referencing and integrating these thematically by operating with them as if they were all component resources of a single semiotic system, that meanings actually get effectively made and shared in real life “(Lemke 2003 page 227) as stated in (M.J Schleppegrell 2004 page 142).
Explanation:
this explains that when teaching in our classroom it should not be stereotype, there
should be an interplay of many resources to help the students understand better.
In our previous EDCP 553 class, Susan used various techniques and materials
ranging from our contributions on the register of M.A.K Halliday, the writings
on the board from our contributions, our discussions about our daily teaching
experiences and even the video clip.
Question:
can you provide more examples of how teachers can use technology to support
multiply modes of learning in the classroom.
Stop 3:
Quotation:
“one way of to encourage students’ development of extended ways of talking
about math is by having students talk with each other” (M.J Schleppeggrell,2004,
page 148)
Explanation:
This is so true, when a teacher allows the students to have peer- to -peer
discussions about math concept it develops more elaborate ways of communicating
mathematical ideas. I have discovered that students learn faster and better in
mathematics when they discuss among themselves. I remember in my last online
class on areas of circle, squares and rectangles, the students had fantastic
ideas on how to solve this topic and these made it easy to complete our lesson
objectives for the day.
Question: Is
it possible for the peer-to-peer discussion in the classroom to disrupt teaching and learning activities? If yes, what measures can the teacher take to
advert it.
Hi Clementina, thank you for your response and summarization for this week's reading. You bring to light some essential and thought-provoking questions on mathematics assessment, the integration of technology with mathematics pedagogy, and the role of participation and collaboration in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteTo address your first question on formative assessment, teachers constantly engage in formative assessment, through observations, daily discussions, and ongoing interactions with students. These interactions help formulate a general understanding of each student's progress in understanding course content. As we've discussed, "knowing your students" is an essential step towards individualizing instruction to meet their specific learning needs. Formative assessment provides a way for teachers to "check-in" frequently without the pressure of a high-stakes summative assessment which can lead to anxiety and impact students' performance (ex; performance anxiety., test-taking anxiety on high-stakes assessments).
What are some ways that formative assessments have informed your own practices? Have you integrated them into your lesson planning, or addressed within your curriculum standards?
Next, there are an endless amount of resources available for teachers to integrate into their mathematics classrooms. Personally, I typically use the SMARTboard or Notability as interactive whiteboards and a method to archive notes, keep records of student thinking, and to colour-code information for my students with learning and attention difficulties. In science, I have used Gizmos to simulate STEM labs, providing hands-on virtual lab experiences. Additionally, I enjoy using Padlet and Google Surveys to gather student feedback. And, of course, I can’t mention technology in my math classroom without highlighting my quintessential resources for teaching and exploring mathematics: GeoGebra, Desmos, and Wolfram Alpha.
Lastly, as somebody who approaches mathematics pedagogy from a sociocultural perspective, this question is somewhat challenging to answer. While it is true that classroom discussions can sometimes go off-topic and go on for just a bit longer than intended, I don't believe that peer-to-peer discussions disrupt teaching and learning activities as long as they remain centered on the subject of mathematics. Evidently, it is difficult for teachers to identify whether a peer-to-peer discussion is on task or not. However, optimistically, I would like to believe that most of the discussions are on-task and if not, requires the teacher to recenter the students on the task. Perhaps an off-topic peer-to-peer discussion is a signal for the teacher to transition into a classroom discussion, or take a brief brain break.
In fact, my students often ask fascinating questions about the history, philosophy and even the ontology of math- questions like "What is zero?" or "Why is infinity infinite?". While these inquiries may not align directly with the lesson's intended learning goals, they can enrich students' learning experiences. I recognize that there is tension between meeting curriculum standards and fostering deeper student engagement with mathematical concepts. However, as Professor Gerofsky suggested, we may benefit from avoiding this binary "either/or" mindset, and instead look to integrate these meaningful learning experiences and collaborative discussions within the framework of curriculum standards.
Hi Clementina, thank you so much for summarizing the reading and contributing the interesting questions.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Anna about the formative assessment for students. As she said, one of the main ways to do the formative assessment is through observation, where the teachers will understand about their students learning and their interaction with the whole class.
In my class, I used formative assessment by asking thought-provoking questions during class. For example, when teaching rational numbers, I asked the student: Are all whole numbers rational numbers?. I believe that, questions like these can help teachers to do formative assessment. Moreover, in my opinion brainstorming, flipped classroom, peer tutoring and think-pair-share are also the effective methods of formative assessment.
There are plenty of technological tools which we can use in our classroom. In my classroom , I have used GeoGebra, smartboard, quizzes , math online games and even Google Forms to give practice questions. I believe the use of technology can definitely enhance students learning and create an inclusive learning environment where students are active participants. Quizzes really helped me to prove targeted practice for students based on each concepts taught in the class.
I don’t think that peer-to-peer discussion will disrupt the teaching and learning activities if conducted appropriately as Anna mentioned. In my class, I always encourage peer-to-peer discussion which I think have a positive effect on learning. Sometime students feel more comfortable with their classmates to solve the problems and it might reduce their math anxiety. As a teacher, we can easily monitor whether the discussions are on track. If not, we can guide them to focus and continue the learning process without any distractions.