Whole-class scaffolding for learning to solve mathematics problems together in a computer-supported environment

Rotem Abdu*, Baruch Schwarz, Manolis Mavrikis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigate teachers’ practices in a whole-class context when they scaffold students’ learning in situations where students use technologies that facilitate group learning to solve mathematical problems in small groups. We describe teachers’ practices in order to evaluate their contribution to Whole-Class Scaffolding in the context of a course that was meant to facilitate learning to solve mathematical problems in small groups. Sixteen and twenty four junior high students took part in two iterations of a design research correspondingly. We identify six teacher practices. These practices include: (1) Presenting strategy-oriented problems in order to familiarize students with mathematical problem solving strategies and heuristics; (2) Decomposing a problem into stages; (3) Modelling the use of the dedicated technologies; (4) Preliminary Learning to Learn Together (L2L2) talk; (5) Routine L2L2 talk; and (6) Summative L2L2 talk. We conclude that scaffolding learning to solve mathematical problem together in a whole-class context is feasible with suitable technologies. This study also provides insights on the Whole-Class Scaffolding theory and on the ways group learning could enhance students’ ability to solve mathematical problems individually.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1163-1178
Number of pages16
JournalZDM - International Journal on Mathematics Education
Volume47
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, FIZ Karlsruhe.

Keywords

  • Computer-supported collaborative learning
  • Learning to learn together
  • Mathematical problem solving
  • Whole-class scaffolding

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