Key characteristics of
inquiry-based math classes
- Students actively engage in the construction of mathematical
knowledge by trying to make personal sense of the mathematical rules, concepts
and problems they encounter.
- Students develop ownership of their learning by participating
in the generation/choice of the questions and/or problems to be studied.
- Students engage in inquiry not in isolation, but as a
community of inquirers that build on each other's ideas and results, and
continuously negotiate meanings.
- Mathematics is portrayed as the product of human activity
-- i.e., students come to realize that mathematical knowledge (both the
one achieved by mathematicians in the past and their own) is tentative
and dependent on context and purposes.
- Anomalies, ambiguity and controversy are valued as potential
stimuli for inquiry.
- Priority is given to instructional goals such as becoming
mathematical problem solvers/inquirers, understanding the nature of mathematics
and "big ideas" in mathematics, and developing mathematical confidence.
- The above priorities are reflected in appropriate assessment
of student learning.
- The teacher orchestrates opportunities for students'
inquiry and learning by setting up "rich" mathematical situations,
and developing activities around them which are meaningful, complex, and
open-ended.
- The teacher facilitates students' inquiries and learning
in the classroom through the use of appropriate teaching practices and
techniques.
- The teacher listens to students and takes their input
into consideration in all pedagogical decisions.