So to change my teaching style I've started to incorporate the use of ICT to enhance the teaching of my maths classes especially my year 9 Consolidation maths class during my second placement. The class itself consisted of 12 students ranging in ability from A Grade students to those that were obtaining and E grad or lower in the subject. Despite being a consolidation class the distribution of abilities can be described as bi-modal i.e. highly polarized to both ends of the academic spectrum, as the mathematically inclined students wanted to further their academic progress, while the less capable students would aim to pass the subject.
The task involved was to get students in the class to piece together a mathematical puzzle which was a result of a computer program called Formulator Tarsia, the program itself generates a puzzle in which the students can complete in class. The puzzle itself is interesting in that it is in a sense like the game Bingo, students were to connect the answer to the corresponding question printed on each side of a mini shape with the goal of producing an overall (large) geometric shape by joining the correct answer to the correct question. The aim of the task was teach students on the topic of more expansion and applications (contextual mathematical questions) with the intention of improving the skills of those who struggle with the topic while at the same time extending the brighter students.
In creating the puzzle I have included both skills based questions as well as more complicated word type problems which fall under the analysing level on the Blooms Taxonomy rather than just applying and remembering [1]. In structuring the classroom, I endeavoured to encourage students to work in groups of two to promote social constructive learning with the general aim to pair a more capable with a less capable student. At the beginning of each lesson appropriate worked sample questions were given to each student at the start of each lesson to revise the students understanding of the content. Scaffolding was often given to students to help aid them with the problem but answers were not directly stated allowing the students to form the bridge between their current understanding, to the understanding required to reach the solution.
Most of the student exhibited behaviours in which indicated they were engaged with the task throughout the lesson, this was evident as any noise made tended to be working noise. Student of both ends of the spectrum enjoyed the task as it appeals to both their levels of understanding however, there were some students towards the lower end which still struggled with the problems set in the task. The task itself provided an invaluable tool as it clearly showed which concepts students struggled judging on which questions they have attempted and which have not, as well as correctness of their matchings. This exercise proved to be a useful as form of formative assessment as it makes diagnosing the students ZPD an easy and clear task showing which concepts need to be revised for proceeding class or scaffolded during the class.
The social element of the class provided a good way for students to work collaboratively to achieve a common goal fosting a social constructive learning environment. Overall students indicated they really enjoyed the activity through questions such as ‘are we going to do a puzzle today?’ in the proceeding classes.
Upon reflection of this activity I found this ICT tool to be a highly invaluable tool not for only teaching students’ basic skill but more complicated concepts being suitable for all levels, catering for intellectual diversity . The novelty aspect of this activity has certainly changed my view as it teaching and the use of activity based teaching methods which fits into my philosophy of student engagement being one of the key measurements of success of a teacher. This activity not only engaged students via a novelty factor, provided a problem solving element which appeals to their right brain as a visualisation of what the overall shape looks like is required. From an assessment view it has made knowing which level each student is at easy to diagnose hence it is easier to work with each students ZPD . The major lesson I’ve learnt from this class is that no matter how good an activity is, much thought and preparation needs to be placed before running it. It requires knowing exactly what each student’s strengths and the way they interact within a group and the openness they have to the activity . I thought my choice if questions need to be selected appropriately to closely match the ZPD of the student at the lower end of the spectrum as well as to better know which pairings would be more appropriate to maximise learning [2] . For example, letting a weaker student work alone would not be as effective as grouping them with a more capable group member but at the same time that group member must be effective in peer tutoring the weaker member [2] .
For my year 10 class I employed the use of a quiz program called Ten Quick Questions. This software is basically a quiz in which you show on the projector and you choose a maths topic in which you want to test and 10 questions will be randomly generated for that topic. The beauty of the program is that for the question you could set the duration of how long the questions are shown for hence providing an expectation for the students as to how fast they are expected to come up with an answer to the question. I found the year 10 class found this extremely engaging to both the stronger and weaker students of the class as the questions themselves on the quiz were skills based however all students could answer them making it more inclusive towards those that were struggling. The competitive nature of it makes it engaging for the smarter students as they'd loved the thrill of getting the questions right which is confirmed by research on the addictive nature of ICT which induces the sense of gaming [3].
Below is an example of what the program looks like.
Overall I found that by including ICT in the classroom and moving away from the pure chalk and blackboard teaching style has really improved me as a teacher and helped engaged the students and ultimately enhanced their learning of the various maths topics. I have since seen the value of social constructive learning that is allowing more capable students to be the expert during some of the activities rather than just me doing the teaching, While the ICT tools i've shown here can be done by hand i.e. the puzzles can be drawn by hand and the quiz can be done using power point the main advantage of not having to reinvent the wheel and use these software is the time you save not having to prepare them ( and simply use them)! Ultimately this experience has transformed me to being a purely behaviorist teacher where the student learning is purely dependent on me to giving students some responsibility to take charge in their own learning through engagements with these technologies.
References
1. Bloom, B.S. (Ed.), Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., & Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of
educational objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.
2. Wells, G. (1999) Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of
Education. New York: Cambridge University Press
3. Aceto, S., Dondi, C. & Kugemann, W.F. (eds.) (2004) “Technologies for the Knowledge
Society & Lifelong Learning. Key Findings & Suggestions for Action”, POLE project report,
MENON Network EEIG, Brussels. http://www.education-observatories.net/eduobs
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