Harnessing Students' Misconceptions and Fragile Understandings

Autor/inn/en	Suzuka, Kara; Venenciano, Linda
Titel	Harnessing Students' Misconceptions and Fragile Understandings
Quelle	In: Mathematics Teacher, 112 (2019) 6, S.447-449 (3 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0025-5769
Schlagwörter	Mathematics Instruction; Mathematical Concepts; Concept Formation; Misconceptions; Generalization; Teaching Methods; Geometry + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Missverständnis; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Geometrie
Abstract	Fragile understanding is where new learning begins. Students' understanding of new concepts is often shaky at first, when they have only had limited experiences with or single viewpoints on an idea. This is not inherently bad. Despite teachers' best efforts, students' tenuous grasp of mathematics concepts often falters with time or when presented within a slightly different context. How can teachers help students develop a robust, multifaceted, interconnected, and lasting understanding of mathematical concepts? Rather than avoiding students' fragile understanding and misconceptions, Kara Suzuka and Linda Venenciano have come to embrace them as a natural part of learning, seeking ways to harness them to build stronger understanding. Toward this end, they use the framework described in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM's) "Putting Essential Understandings into Practice: Geometry, 9-12" to engage students in three processes: (1) reversibility; (2) flexibility; and (3) generalization (RFG). In this article, Suzuka and Venenciano define these processes and the types of questions associated with each one. They go on to show how the RFG questioning framework serves as a powerful tool for teachers, allowing them to create mathematical problems that reveal fragilities in students' current understanding as well as offer rich contexts for students to make connections, see new applications, and add to their conceptual understanding. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-9840; Fax: 703-476-2570; e-mail: NCTM@nctm.org; Web site: http://www.nctm.org/publications/mathematics-teacher/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01