GROWING MEANS KNOWING WHY!!!!

GROWING MEANS KNOWING WHY!!!!

There are many issues facing mathematics classrooms.  One major issue is to move away from how and help students move toward why.  Why does a certain mathematical formula work?  It is becoming necessary for students to justify their work and not just reach the correct answer.

In their article, Moving Students to “the Why”, written for Mathematics Teaching in the Middle Grades, April, 2015, Volume 20, No. 8, pages 484-491,  Michael Cioe, Sherryl King, Deborah Ostien, Nancy Pansa, and Megan Staples conducted the two year JAGUAR (Justification and Argumentation: Growing Understanding of Algebraic Reasoning) project

As students prepare for more higher mathematics, they need to be able to explain the “why.”  Standard for Mathematical Practice No. 3 require the creation and construction of viable arguments and critique of others.  This standard leads to the idea that each student is to have the ability to support their methodology and critique their peers.  These two practices have a great impact on later mathematics. 

The impact that justifying an answer has on a student’s higher mathematical success is shown as they advance to high school geometry.  Geometry is an entire class dedicated to the justification of why two triangles are congruent.  The logic behind these proofs is in actuality proving “the why of shapes”. 

Secondly, critiquing another student’s thinking allows the students to take charge of their own learning and make connections through their peers’ work, as well as their own.  It allows them to work within their comfort zone, rather than outside of it.  It also allows them to see where they may have erred in their calculation and could also lead to a much more streamlined process later.

These reasoning skills are skills we use everyday.  There is belief that algebraic thinking and “math” will never be needed after we finish school.  However, we use math and algebraic processes everyday.  We need to reason through our daily decisions and determine our budgets, when shopping.  These are skill learned in math class and will be carried through our remaining learning and life.