A Differentiated Approach to Mathematics

2021 ◽  
pp. 396-405
Author(s):  
Dora Andrikopoulos ◽  
Matina Katsiyianni
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Meaningful Learning ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Instructional Models ◽  
Learning Potential ◽  
Flexible Learning ◽  
Instructional Techniques ◽  
Learning Framework

How can classroom teachers maximize the learning potential of their students? How can teachers, at the same time, attend to their students' differences? Students' readiness, interests, and learning profiles are the main targets for successful and meaningful learning. This chapter discusses all the above-mentioned characteristics of learners and focuses on the different approaches and instructional models in a Mathematics classroom. Having in mind a flexible learning framework that accommodates the needs of today's learners, the authors discuss and present applicable classroom instructional techniques, techniques that offer unique opportunities to fully amalgamate pedagogy by modifying learning experiences in the three areas of content, process, and product. The reader of this chapter will also get the chance to be exposed to the i2Flex methodology, which is a type of blended learning and has been born and developed at ACS Athens, Greece.

Hooked on Mathematics

2016 ◽  
pp. 243-262
Author(s):  
Dora Andrikopoulos ◽  
Matina Katsiyianni
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Flexible Learning ◽  
Middle School Math ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Technology In Teaching ◽  
Specific Unit

Within a flexible-learning framework, blended learning offers a unique opportunity to fully amalgamate pedagogy and technology in teaching and learning. It may also lead to significant enhancements and integrations of curriculum design. This chapter discusses the implementation of the i2Flex methodology, which is a type of blended learning, in a math classroom at ACS Athens, Greece. The definitions of the methodology are stated and the classroom applications are described. A middle school math teacher and the Math Studio coordinator designed a specific unit of work in mathematics in order to convert it to i2Flex delivery. The classroom atmosphere is described in detail, and a range of considerations about the methodology is discussed. Finally, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is discussed as an evaluation tool of the methodology for the success of the methodology.

scholarly journals Understanding students' use of mathematical processes during a digital escape game

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 123-129
Author(s):  
Megan Clune
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Meaningful Learning ◽  
Student Needs ◽  
School Students ◽  
Essential Component

Mathematical processes have long been considered an essential component of meaningful learning in mathematics, yet these processes can sometimes be invisible in the mathematics classroom or in learning experiences. This discussion uses the context of a purpose-designed, innovative ‘digital escape’ game to illustrate how digital experiences might bring mathematical processes to the fore of student learning while offering other affordances only seen in the online space. This article reports on a pilot study conducted with 12-15-year-old school students with the aim of determining if a digital escape game could promote the use of mathematical processes. During the digital escape game, it was found that students engaged with problem-solving, reasoning, communication and made connections within, across and beyond mathematics. The preliminary findings demonstrate how digital experiences may enrich the use and development of core mathematical processes, and it is argued that teachers could use their own expertise and knowledge of their learners to design such experiences, catering to student needs and interests.

USE OF BLENDED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION – SOME EXPERIENCES

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Singh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Face To Face Learning ◽  
Made In

This article reports on the use of blended learning in higher education. Blended learning has become popular in higher education in recent years. It is a move beyond traditional lecturing to incorporate face-to-face learning with e-learning, thereby creating a blend of learning experiences. The problem is that learning in higher education is complex and learning situations differ across contexts. Whilst there is face-to-face contact at some institutions, others offer distance learning or correspondence learning. In each context, the mode of learning may differ. The challenge is to cater for various learning opportunities through a series of learning interactions and to incorporate a blended approach. The aim of this study was to examine various ways of defining blended learning in different contexts. This was done through an examination of experiences of the use of blended learning in different higher education contexts. The study presents a case of blended learning in a postgraduate course. The experiences from all these cases are summarised and conclusions and recommendations are made in the context of blended learning in higher education in South Africa.

INDIVIDUALISATION IN FLEXIBLE LEARNING, FROM A POST-POST-FOUNDATIONALIST PERSPECTIVE

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
J L Van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Flexible Learning ◽  
Per Se

Most practitioners in the field of flexible learning seem to be sufficiently aware of the importance of catering to the needs of their students. However, it appears that many are rather more conscious of the needs of the students as a group than as individuals per se. Others seem to be rather more concerned about the technology involved. After touching on the foundationalist and non-, post- or anti-foundationalist approaches to the problem of individualisation in flexible learning, the article discusses a number of guidelines for individualisation from a post-post-foundationalist perspective. This is followed by a section in which these guidelines are presented in practical terms. This outline of guidelines reveals that attempting to individualise from this perspective is no simple and straightforward matter, but that there might be practitioners in the field of flexible learning (open distance learning and blended learning) who already are following this approach as a best practice. A post-post-foundationalist approach to individualisation in flexible learning offers practitioners in the field a whole new vocabulary.

Students’ meaningful learning experiences from participating in organic chemistry writing-to-learn activities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trisha Gupte ◽  
Field M. Watts ◽  
Jennifer A. Schmidt-McCormack ◽  
Ina Zaimi ◽  
Anne Ruggles Gere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Chemistry ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Meaningful Learning ◽  
Writing To Learn ◽  
Chemistry Laboratory ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Problem Solving Skills

Teaching organic chemistry requires supporting learning strategies that meaningfully engage students with the challenging concepts and advanced problem-solving skills needed to be successful. Such meaningful learning experiences should encourage students to actively choose to incorporate new concepts into their existing knowledge frameworks by appealing to the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning. This study provides a qualitative analysis of students’ meaningful learning experiences after completing three Writing-to-Learn (WTL) assignments in an organic chemistry laboratory course. The assignments were designed to appeal to the three domains necessary for a meaningful learning experience, and this research seeks to understand if and how the WTL assignments promoted students’ meaningful learning. The primary data collected were the students’ responses to open-ended feedback surveys conducted after each assignment. These responses were qualitatively analyzed to identify themes across students’ experiences about their meaningful learning. The feedback survey analysis was triangulated with interviews conducted after each assignment. The results identify how the assignments connected to students’ existing knowledge from other courses and indicate that assignment components such as authentic contexts, clear expectations, and peer review supported students’ meaningful learning experiences. These results inform how assignment design can influence students’ learning experiences and suggest implications for how to support students’ meaningful learning of organic chemistry through writing.

Exploring the learning potential of online gaming communities: An application of the Game Communities of Inquiry Scale

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110271
Author(s):  
Enrico Gandolfi ◽  
Richard E Ferdig ◽  
Ilker Soyturk
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Meaningful Learning ◽  
Online Gaming ◽  
Learning Potential ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Online Participation ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Community Of Inquiry Framework ◽  
Gaming Communities ◽  
Validated Instrument

Online gaming is becoming increasingly social and interconnected. Millions of players learn from each other in game-related communities on platforms like Reddit and Twitch.tv. However, few studies have been conducted to examine socially constructed learning in such environments. The purpose of this study was to explore learning in game-related communities using the Game Community of Inquiry Scale (GCoIS). GCoIS is a validated instrument inspired by the community of inquiry framework and developed for measuring constructed learning in these outlets. Over 1000 participants completed an online questionnaire that included the GCoIS and additional variables (e.g. demographics, gaming habits, and gaming metacognition) for measuring possible associations. Results pointed to gender, age, online participation, and metacognition about gaming as significant predictors of GCoIS. Findings suggest that gaming communities can serve as opportunities for meaningful learning when novice members are welcomed and assisted by experts and support is given to older and female gamers.

BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: AN APPROACH TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’S LEARNING EXPERIENCES OUTSIDE SCHOOL (LEOS)

2021 ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Sandhya Devi Coll ◽  
David Treagust
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Collaboration And Communication

This paper reports on blended learning environment approach to help enhance students’ learning out comes in science during Learning Experiences Outside School (LEOS). This inquiry took the nature of an ethnographic case study (Lincoln & Guba 1985; Merriam, 1988), and sought to establish ways of enhancing students’ LEOS. The context of the inquiry was a private rural religious secondary school in New Zealand. The New Zealand Science Curriculum is based on a constructivist-based view of learning which provides opportunities for a number of possible learning experiences for science, including LEOS, to enrich student experiences, motivate them to learn science, encourage life-long learning, and provide exposure to future careers (Hofstein & Rosenfeld,1996; Tal, 2012). However, to make the most of these learning experiences outside the school, it is important that adequate preparation is done, before, during and after these visits. Sadly, the last two decades of research suggest that activities outside school such as field trips have not necessarily been used as a means to improveschool-basedlearning (Rennie & McClafferty, 1996). This inquiry utilised an integrated online learning model, using Moodle, as a means to increase student collaboration and communication where students become self-directed, negotiate their own goals, express meaningful ideas and display a strong sense of collective ownership (Scanlon, Jones & Waycott, 2005; Willett, 2007). The digital space provided by Moodle allows students significant autonomy which encourages social interactions and this promotes learning and social construction of knowledge (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Lewin, 2004).

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