Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach
Open-ended tasks are designed such that they may have more than one correct solution or may be solved in more than one way. Although such tasks constitute an irreplaceable tool for prompting young learners to be actively and creatively involved in mathematical discourse, their implementation poses...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Gdańsk
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji |
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| Online Access: | https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/6229 |
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| author | Kalina Jastrzębowska |
| author_facet | Kalina Jastrzębowska |
| author_sort | Kalina Jastrzębowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Open-ended tasks are designed such that they may have more than one correct solution or may be solved in more than one way. Although such tasks constitute an irreplaceable tool for prompting young learners to be actively and creatively involved in mathematical discourse, their implementation poses a challenge. Primary school students in Poland are usually offered algorithmic and rote teaching methods and are thus very often deprived of important elements of successful mathematics learning. The ubiquitous teacher-centred approach dedicates little time to any contribution from learners. The aim of this design research was to implement a change in early childhood mathematics education. The change comprised students creating and/or solving open-ended tasks in groups, thus promoting dialogic teaching. The results confirmed that students who are challenged with openended tasks through dialogic teaching not only genuinely engage in their activities, develop a better number sense and flexibility of thinking, but also help each other gain a deeper understanding of new concepts. Captured in this research were the synergistic images of the beauty of children’s reasoning and the beauty of mathematics as an open subject – an incentive for others to begin their journey with freedom of speech for young mathematicians.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea8635304a4b4154b7512f76a976b0d7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1734-1582 2451-2230 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Gdańsk |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea8635304a4b4154b7512f76a976b0d72025-02-11T11:09:42ZengUniversity of GdańskProblemy Wczesnej Edukacji1734-15822451-22302021-06-0152110.26881/pwe.2021.52.13Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approachKalina Jastrzębowska0University of Warsaw Open-ended tasks are designed such that they may have more than one correct solution or may be solved in more than one way. Although such tasks constitute an irreplaceable tool for prompting young learners to be actively and creatively involved in mathematical discourse, their implementation poses a challenge. Primary school students in Poland are usually offered algorithmic and rote teaching methods and are thus very often deprived of important elements of successful mathematics learning. The ubiquitous teacher-centred approach dedicates little time to any contribution from learners. The aim of this design research was to implement a change in early childhood mathematics education. The change comprised students creating and/or solving open-ended tasks in groups, thus promoting dialogic teaching. The results confirmed that students who are challenged with openended tasks through dialogic teaching not only genuinely engage in their activities, develop a better number sense and flexibility of thinking, but also help each other gain a deeper understanding of new concepts. Captured in this research were the synergistic images of the beauty of children’s reasoning and the beauty of mathematics as an open subject – an incentive for others to begin their journey with freedom of speech for young mathematicians. https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/6229dialogic teachingearly childhood mathematics educationmathematical problem solvingopen-ended approachsettings in dialogic classroom |
| spellingShingle | Kalina Jastrzębowska Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji dialogic teaching early childhood mathematics education mathematical problem solving open-ended approach settings in dialogic classroom |
| title | Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach |
| title_full | Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach |
| title_fullStr | Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach |
| title_short | Opening tasks, opening minds – a rediscovery of the open-ended approach |
| title_sort | opening tasks opening minds a rediscovery of the open ended approach |
| topic | dialogic teaching early childhood mathematics education mathematical problem solving open-ended approach settings in dialogic classroom |
| url | https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/6229 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kalinajastrzebowska openingtasksopeningmindsarediscoveryoftheopenendedapproach |