John Mason's article on questioning in Mathematics reminds me of what I have recently read in an award winning book "The Mathematical Mindset" that Mathematics is taught in a way that it seems we throw at students the answers to the questions they never asked. This perspective leads into asking why we don't let students ask questions before we begin answering their never-asked questions.
Questioning can be very effective in promoting inquiry-based learning, as it relies on students' explorations, their statements, and their ‘truth’. In inquiry-based learning, questions are genuine not rhetorical which is common in Math classroom, but not so useful in advancing students' learning as suggested by Mason.
Questioning can be very effective in promoting inquiry-based learning, as it relies on students' explorations, their statements, and their ‘truth’. In inquiry-based learning, questions are genuine not rhetorical which is common in Math classroom, but not so useful in advancing students' learning as suggested by Mason.
I would like to extend the idea of questioning to dialogue, i.e. teaching Math via dialogue. I would love to have my students “talk” Math. Healthy back and forth discussions where the “talk” is based on understanding and exposure rather than facts and figures is a skill worth achieving.
In other words, creating a class atmosphere where learning is not about getting the right answer, but the procedure and the thought process, i.e. encouraging students to share their ideas, thoughts, and understanding without the fear of being wrong. The focus should be on justifying responses and backing them up with understanding rather than certainty, as Mason describes in the article.
In other words, creating a class atmosphere where learning is not about getting the right answer, but the procedure and the thought process, i.e. encouraging students to share their ideas, thoughts, and understanding without the fear of being wrong. The focus should be on justifying responses and backing them up with understanding rather than certainty, as Mason describes in the article.
The quickest response to incorporating Mason’s ideas into unit planning for the long practicum is asking the self, i.e. asking questions like what might go wrong in implementing a certain idea, how would the students react if presented a certain problem, and how can I make smooth transitions from one topic/activity to the other.
Iqra, I don't think you read th article I intended you to read ! John Mason did not write the item on quasi-empirical methods, but the following one on questioning on math class (as noted on the blog post and in class). Please read the Mason piece and add a response to that one. Sorry for the misunderstanding! -Susan
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