How might teaching using authentic mathematical activities with an emphasis on inductive reasoning impact my 7th grade mathematics students’ motivation, engagement, confidence and success?

Seminar Title

How might teaching using authentic mathematical activities with an emphasis on inductive reasoning impact my 7th grade mathematics students’ motivation, engagement, confidence and success?

Inductive Reasoning and Authentic Mathematical Activities

7th Grade

Middle School

Mathematics

All Disciplines

Invitation Are you tired of dragging 7th graders through their math education? I was. It seemed like every day I had to nag kids to pay attention and to “care” really. I found myself exhausted at the end of each day instead of excited. During my research I came upon two, I thought, really cool concepts that fit together. The first and overarching concept is that mathematics, when authentically done, was in and of itself fun. So what about authentic makes it so? When you are both thinking and being social, that is what makes it authentic (and fun). The other concept is learning inductively instead of deductively. That is, turning the traditional reasoning (deductive) around and having students reason inductively. Instead of presenting the rules (doing the thinking for them) and having students practice with these rules, I have been showing the students “truths” and having them come up with the rules (them doing the thinking). The social part is that most everything we do is in teams. So, if you are interested in discussing the concept of teaching with “authentic mathematical tasks” to positively change the attitudes of your students towards their math and raise their engagement, then this is the session for you!

Abstract My sensed need for my 7th grade mathematics classes is to better motivate and engage my students. Many also need to feel more confidence in themselves and see more success. My AR question is: How might teaching using authentic mathematical activities with an emphasis on inductive reasoning impact my 7th grade mathematics students’ motivation, engagement, confidence and success? The best source I found was by Ricks (2010) who claims that mathematics is motivating in and of itself. His idea is that authentic mathematical activities contain both intellectual and social characteristics, which are very motivating for mathematicians. And, if we teach this way our students will naturally be motivated. Guzdial (2007) hinted at inductive vs. deductive reasoning and that inductive was the way we should be presenting to students, in order for them to build their understanding. Deductive reasoning is being presented knowledge then practicing with that knowledge. Inductive reasoning is the reverse of that, practicing first in order to develop an understanding of the knowledge. What I plan to do in my classroom for my action research is to instruct through "authentic mathematical activities" with an emphasis on inductive reasoning for instruction. As a point of reference, an authentic mathematical activity contains a central task for students to do, a group working together to complete the central task, and whole group discussion/reflection about what went on. My data analysis will consist of student surveys, Star Test data and anecdotal evidence. While the first two forms of data are important, I suspect that the most important will be the third type. The reason I believe this is that my sense of what is really happening in class will be the most perceptive of what is really going on. I mean, the reason that I am doing this in the first place is because of my perceptions from the past few years. The goal here is to get kids to be stimulated and engaged mathematically. The plan is to appeal to the human nature of my students, where intellectual and social aspects combine to be rewarding and hopefully even enjoyable. My big hope is that instead of feeling like I am dragging them through their education, I instead feel like I am guiding them through their mathematical experience.