Oral Presentations and Performances: Session III
Project Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Professor Frederick Peck
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Mathematics
Additional Mentor
Ian Renga; ian.renga@maine.edu
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Current practices for teaching math in school are student-centered, but highly orchestrated by teachers. While these models of education are widely accepted, math classrooms do not often afford students the space for rich conceptual play and low-stake interaction with the material. To support these goals, researchers have proposed “salon-like” mathematical spaces, where there are no roles like “teacher” and “student”, and nobody knows the answer to the question being posed. In this study, we are examining how to foster salon-like spaces within traditional schools.
My study took place in a cafeteria of a local high school, during lunch. I was given a table. My goal was for students to actively seek out the table, choose to engage in math, and contribute to the group by bringing math problems of their own.
I began the study with a set of conjectures about how particular embodiments would lead to my desired outcomes and used design-based research to test my conjectures, which is a cyclic methodology involving multiple cycles of planning, implementation, and reflection. I planned an activity based on my conjectures, then implemented that plan in the lunchroom, and recorded my observations in fieldnotes. I then reflected on whether my conjectures were supported by the implementation, and I modified the conjectures as appropriate.
In this session, I will share the initial findings from this study, offering insights into alternative formats for math learning, what kinds of math people are naturally drawn to, and how groups of people organically form around mathematical activity.
Category
Social Sciences
Exploring the Design of a “Salon-like” Mathematical Experience in a High School Setting
UC 330
Current practices for teaching math in school are student-centered, but highly orchestrated by teachers. While these models of education are widely accepted, math classrooms do not often afford students the space for rich conceptual play and low-stake interaction with the material. To support these goals, researchers have proposed “salon-like” mathematical spaces, where there are no roles like “teacher” and “student”, and nobody knows the answer to the question being posed. In this study, we are examining how to foster salon-like spaces within traditional schools.
My study took place in a cafeteria of a local high school, during lunch. I was given a table. My goal was for students to actively seek out the table, choose to engage in math, and contribute to the group by bringing math problems of their own.
I began the study with a set of conjectures about how particular embodiments would lead to my desired outcomes and used design-based research to test my conjectures, which is a cyclic methodology involving multiple cycles of planning, implementation, and reflection. I planned an activity based on my conjectures, then implemented that plan in the lunchroom, and recorded my observations in fieldnotes. I then reflected on whether my conjectures were supported by the implementation, and I modified the conjectures as appropriate.
In this session, I will share the initial findings from this study, offering insights into alternative formats for math learning, what kinds of math people are naturally drawn to, and how groups of people organically form around mathematical activity.