Effective Maths Instruction

MAT 228 –Effective Mathematics Instruction – M.
C Banda (Course Lecturer)
The Effective Mathematics Classroom Instruction

Teaching and learning mathematics
 Structure teaching of mathematical concepts and skills around problems to be solved
 Encourage students to work cooperatively with others
 Use group problem-solving to stimulate students to apply their mathematical thinking skills
 Students interaction in ways that both support and challenge one another’s strategic thinking
 Activities structured in ways allowing students to explore, explain, extend, and evaluate their
Progress
Critical components to effective mathematics instruction
 Teaching for conceptual understanding
 Developing children’s procedural literacy
 Promoting strategic competence through meaningful problem-solving investigations
Classroom Observations
What should the teacher be doing?
 Demonstrating acceptance of students’ divergent ideas.
The teacher challenges students to think deeply about the problems they are solving,
reaching beyond the solutions and algorithms required to solve the problem.
This ensures that students are explaining both how they found their solution and why they
chose a particular method of solution.
 Influencing learning by posing challenging and interesting questions.
The teacher poses questions that not only stimulate students’ innate curiosity, but also
encourages them to investigate further.
 Projecting a positive attitude about mathematics and about students’ ability to “do”
mathematics.
The teacher constantly builds students’ sense of efficacy and instills in her students a belief
that not only is the goal of “doing mathematics” attainable, but also they are personally
capable of reaching that goal. Mathematics is not presented as something magical or
mysterious.
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MAT 228 –Effective Mathematics Instruction – M.C Banda (Course Lecturer)
What should the students be doing?
 Actively engaged in doing mathematics.
Students should be metaphorically rolling up their sleeves and “doing mathematics” themselves,
not watching others do the mathematics for them or in front of them.
 Solving challenging problems. Students should be investigating meaningful real-world
problems whenever possible. Mathematics is not a stagnant field of textbook problems;
rather, it is a dynamic way of constructing meaning about the world around us, generating
new knowledge and understanding about the real world every day.
 Making interdisciplinary connections.
Mathematics is not a field that exists in isolation.
Students learn best when they connect mathematics to other disciplines, including art,
architecture, science, health, and literature. Using literature as a springboard for
mathematical investigation is a useful tool that teachers can use to introduce problem solving
situations that could have “messy” results. Such connections help students develop an
understanding of the academic vocabulary required to “do mathematics” and connect the
language of mathematical ideas with numerical representations.
 Sharing mathematical ideas.
It is essential that students have the opportunity to discuss mathematics with one another,
refining and critiquing each other’s ideas and understandings.
Communication can occur through paired work, small group work, or class presentations.
 Using multiple representations to communicate mathematical ideas.
Students should have multiple opportunities to use a variety of representations to
communicate their mathematical ideas, including drawing a picture, writing in a journal, or
engaging in meaningful whole-class discussions.
 Using manipulatives and other tools.
Students, at the middle grades in particular, are just beginning to develop their sense of
abstract reasoning.
Concrete models, such as manipulatives, can provide students with a way to bridge from the
concrete understandings of mathematics that they bring from elementary school to the
abstract understandings that will be required of them as they study algebra in high school.
Teachers teach their students how to use manipulatives, and support the use of
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MAT 228 –Effective Mathematics Instruction – M.C Banda (Course Lecturer)
manipulatives to solve meaningful problems that are aligned with the lesson’s success
criteria.
Best practices for mathematics instruction
The following instructional strategies could be considered to be best practices in mathematics
education
 Focus lessons on specific concept/skills that are standards-based
 Differentiate instruction through flexible grouping, individualizing lessons, compacting,
using tiered assignments, and varying question levels
 Ensure that instructional activities are learner-centered and emphasize inquiry/problem-
solving
 Use experience and prior knowledge as a basis for building new knowledge
 Use cooperative learning strategies and make real-life connections
 Use scaffolding to make connections to concepts, procedures, and understanding
 Ask probing questions which require students to justify their responses
 Emphasize the development of basic computational skills
Effective mathematics instruction is that one that has activities which:

 Have a high level of student engagement
 Demand higher-order thinking
 Follow an inquiry-based model of instruction – including a combination of cooperative
learning, direct instruction, labs or hands-on investigations, and manipulatives
 Connect to students’ prior knowledge to make meaningful real-world applications
 Integrate literacy activities into the courses – including content-based reading strategies and
Academic vocabulary development
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Effective Maths Instruction

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MAT 228 –Effective Mathematics Instruction – M.

C Banda (Course Lecturer)

The Effective Mathematics Classroom Instruction

Effective mathematics instruction is that one that has activities which:

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