Learning Experience

Teaching through problem solving allows students to create meaning of the mathematical concept and use that meaning to make connections for harder concepts (Van De Walle, Karp, Bay- Williams, 2013). When students have control over the learning process, they can own their learning. Using a problem solving approach for mathematics will help students synthesize the concepts and demonstrate their thinking process. If, students can verbalize their thinking, they will have a better understanding of the process involved to solve mathematics. For this lesson, I presented my students with a problem about elapsed time. I wanted them to make connections to their prior knowledge, participate in a meaningful discussion, and learn from each other.

This learning experience served as platform for a deeper understanding of the concept. The goal for this lesson was for students to explain elapsed time using intervals of minutes. As they started solving, some of them were able to notice some discrepancy between their solutions. For example, I heard some conversations about their addition process. One student asked his partner, “How did you get 1:15?” “If, you add 9:25 and 3:50 you get 12:75.” The other student then proceeded to explain that when you are doing time you cannot have seventy-five minutes, and he explained how he turned the seventy into fifteen by subtracting. They were able to learn through their partners. They used their discussion to clarify the content. Overall, I think the students were able to meet the goal.

This task proved to be demanding for my students. High level tasks require complex and nonalgorithmic thinking, require students to explore the nature of the concept, demands self-monitoring, and required them to think abou...

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...type of learning. I realized that others need a little more practice and modeling in order to build their confidence. As for myself, I need to make sure that I involve them more in the questioning process. This learning method requires a lot of planning, but I am convinced that it can improve the student mathematical skills. Using these practices will create a group of life-long learners that use problem solving for everyday situations. They will not be afraid to explore and take risks.

Works Cited

Smith, M. S., & Stein, M. K. (2011). 5 Practices for orchestrating productive mathematics

discussions. Reston, VA: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013). Elementary and middle school

mathematics: Teaching developmentally (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Publications.