Inquiry, innovation, resources and dilemmas in mathematics education

Speaker:

Britta Jessen, IND

Abstract:

Throughout the last decade or more an increasing emphasis has been put on inquiry, applications, innovation and broader uses of mathematics to be taught within mathematics education throughout the educational system. At the same time students have gained access to a growing amount of resources, varying in quality and nature. In this paper we analyse a case study of grade 10 students carrying out an ‘innovation project’ in mathematics, where students have an inquiry approach to the problem they are posed and draw they on numbers of resources using internet, smart phones and computer algebra systems. In our analysis we identify the questions and answers formulated by students and how these raise new dilemmas regarding inquiry, innovation and resources in the light of identifying what can students learn from solving the innovation problem and what does it require from the teacher to manage these processes?