9.16.2013

Process vs. Concept Teaching

In the post CCSS Call for Rigor, we contemplated the necessity of implementing concept teaching that reveals the process in order to meet the standards.

Is it really necessary? Or can we build mathematicians who think mathematically by focusing only on process? Will the following attributes occur as a result of process teaching?

  • Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  • Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  • Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
  • Model with mathematics.
  • Use appropriate tools strategically.
  • Attend to precision.
  • Look for and make use of structure.
  • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Hop over to the MATH-7 content page or MATH-8 content page for an example that compares process teaching and concept teaching.

6 comments:

  1. We have chosen number operations open response to focus on for our PGP. We are wanting to focus on improving OR scores with an emphasis on academic vocabulary and mathematically practices. Suggestions?

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    1. Two immediate thoughts...keep number sense alive in every unit and require written communication with an emphasis on vocabulary understanding and proper use.

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  2. We are working on open response as a group PLC we know that we need to work on open response for several areas with emphasis on measurement and number operations. Any good templates for how to structure a open response.

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    1. Everything I know about structuring an open response was learned from Mrs. Kobylinski. Teaching students to organize their thoughts and responses about a prompt is critical. Model, model, and model some more!

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  3. Unit 3 covers proportional relationships. Last year I had trouble with ways for students to describe proportional equations and graphs in a way that proves understanding and not just memorize "the graph is a straight line that passes through the origin" or "the equation is in y = ax form". Any ideas?

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    1. I believe the characteristics/generalizations you listed are rooted in numerical proof. Let me work on a post regarding examples and non-examples with numerical support.

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