The purpose of this study was to investigate, with or without prompts, students’
small group discussions of their solutions to mathematical problems and to determine
the extent to which the students demonstrate mathematical power. Mathematical
power was defined in terms of student assessment standards (SAS) and their
integration. SAS, each of which has associated with it categories of mathematical
activities, comprise communication, problem solving, mathematical concepts,
mathematical procedures, and mathematical disposition. Other insights perceived to
be important from the discussions were also documented.
Grade 9 students of the regular school program were used for the study. There
were 18 students in the class but only one group of students comprising 2 females and
2 males was the focus of the study. They responded to mathematical problems
individually for 20 minutes and then used 40 minutes to discuss, in groups, their
solutions to the problems. Also, they responded to questionnaire items. The group
discussions were video recorded and analyzed. Data were collected on 7 different
occasions using 7 different problems over a period of 3 months. -
Results of the study indicate that students demonstrated mathematical power to
the extent that at least one category of the mathematical activities associated with each
SAS was reflected by the small group discussions of students’ solutions to
mathematical problems. Other results indicate that combining students written scripts
with students’ talk provides a better insight into the things about which students are
talking. Also, monitoring students and providing them with prompts while they work in
groups is useful in helping them accomplish tasks in which they are engaged. Finally,
when students work in groups, they can shift their viewpoints consensually or
conceptually to align their viewpoints with majority viewpoints.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/6974 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Anku, Sitsofe Enyonam |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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