Artifact+4+Problem+Solving+Lesson+Paper

= Artifact 4: Problem Solving Lesson Paper (TE 857) =



Program Standards: 2, 4 Program Goals: 1, 2

I created this artifact as part of a TE 857 assignment. We were to design and teach a lesson using a task that required mathematics problem solving. The lesson I taught had students organizing the different types of quadrilaterals into a hierarchical relationship. While teaching the lesson we were to videotape it and then look at the tape to evaluate and reflect on the lesson. This is the paper that was the result of that reflection and evaluation. It first describes what happened during the lesson, then looks at a focal incident, and finally reflects on what changes can be made to improve the lesson.

This assignment was at first difficult for me because it challenged me to create a good problem solving task. While I recognized the benefit or teaching in this way, up to this point I had a difficult time putting it into practice, so this assignment pushed me to expand my skill in this area (standard 2, goal 2). Having a task that requires and allows students to investigate and interact with the mathematics is incredibly important to me. To often students view mathematics as a set of rules and algorithms to be learned rather than a series of interconnected ideas that support and explain each other. This is especially true of the different properties the special types of quadrilaterals have. It was my hope that by designing a task centered on this idea that it would help students see how the different properties are related to the characteristics of each quadrilateral.

As this was one of my first formal attempts to put task based learning into my classroom, it did not go as well as I would have hoped. However, because I was able to reflect on what went well and what can be improved on (standard 4, goal 1), this example of an ineffective learning experience for students will help me create better experiences for students in the future. This artifact reinforced that, regardless of the method for delivery, every lesson needs to be centered on the subject matter. I designed this lesson in a way that ensured it had all the aspects of task based learning, but then had to force the mathematics into the lesson. By reflecting on the shortcomings of the lesson I taught and the concept I had wanted to cover, I was able to come up with a way where I could still do this sort of activity but have the task centered on the mathematics rather than the mathematics forced into a task. The understanding I gained from reflecting on this lesson will help me as I continue to plan and execute task based lessons in the future.

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