In my quest to promote student-centered learning in math, I started to use journaling as a tool for my students to demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts and pinpoint areas where increased scaffolding is needed on an individual basis. From the students’ perspective, doing so was a challenge – far more difficult than working through questions from a worksheet or text. It required that they comprehend their own thinking and be able to identify what they understand and what they do not. I was fascinated by their journals, and marking (while more time-consuming), I was provided with meaningful feedback to support my own teaching.
In many cases, students were able to demonstrate capability to compute an answer and in most cases how they reached it, but not why they chose that particular method for solving. A common response when asked orally was “I dunno… I just did it.” Had they been required to simply provide an answer with or without showing work (like on a traditional homework assignment or quiz), they may very well have gotten the answer correct and I may very well have assumed that they understood the concept. Journaling forced them to think about the process of coming to an answer versus just arriving at an answer. Ahh, that must be where that old cliché “it’s about the journey, not the destination” came from… a math teacher ;)
This idea of metacognition in math has definitely sparked something in me – something I think I want to explore in greater depth in my next inquiry.
No comments:
Post a Comment