The document discusses two methods for teaching students to find the pattern for the sum of interior angles of a polygon. Method 1 has students discover the pattern through measuring and identifying patterns in their own data, while Method 2 directly teaches students the rule. The document advocates for Method 1, as it promotes higher-order thinking skills like analysis and synthesis that are better for learning but require more practice. It also discusses cognitive frameworks like Bloom's Taxonomy and how task complexity impacts learning and engagement.
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematical Task
Framework in Action
Recognizing Why We Rarely Get the
Level of Student Understanding We Want
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Why do students struggle with
challenging concepts and problems?
• Studies suggest low engagement in mathematics instruction
and practice
• What if we use quality instructional materials?
• Still poor higher order thinking skills suggests other issues in
students’ instruction
• Let’s check out an example
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
An Example in Practice
Find a pattern for the sum of the interior
angles of a polygon.
xº
xº
xº
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Method 1:
Find a pattern for the sum of the
interior angles of a polygon.
• Teachers pose the problem and ask students to
measure angles in various triangles, quadrilaterals, and
polygons.
• Students are asked to identify possible patterns in their
data for different polygons.
• Students predict the sum of interior angles for polygons
that they did not measure or diagram.
• Students try to generate a rule for the sum of all angles
based on the number of sides.
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
An Example in Practice
Find a pattern for the sum of the interior
angles of a polygon.
xº
xº
yº
zº
xº zº
wº yº yº zº
wº
vº
x + y + z ≈ 180˚
w + x + y + z ≈ 360˚
v + w + x + y + z ≈ 540˚
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Method 2:
Find a pattern for the sum of the
interior angles of a polygon.
• Teachers pose the problem and ask students to
measure angles in various triangles, quadrilaterals, and
polygons.
• Students are shown that any polygon can be “broken
down” into triangles by drawing diagonals from one
“corner” of the object, making two less triangles than
sides.
• Students are told that there are 180º in a triangle, and
so the sum is 180 x (the number of sides - 2)
7. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
An Example in Practice
Find a pattern for the sum of the interior
angles of a polygon.
xº
8. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
An Example in Practice
Find a pattern for the sum of the interior
angles of a polygon.
xº
10. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized.
13. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized.
14. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
15. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
16. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
17. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
18. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
19. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
20. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
21. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
22. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
23. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
24. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Tasks vary in their
cognitive demand
• More complicated
tasks need to be
practiced and
internalized. Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
from Stein and Smith, 1998
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
from Stein and Smith, 1998
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
from Stein and Smith, 1998
28. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
Tasks as
set up by
teachers
from Stein and Smith, 1998
29. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
Tasks as
set up by
teachers
from Stein and Smith, 1998
30. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
Tasks as
set up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers
and
students
from Stein and Smith, 1998
31. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
Tasks as
set up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers
and
students
from Stein and Smith, 1998
32. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
The Mathematics Task Framework
Tasks as
they
appear in
curriculum
materials
Tasks as
set up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers
and
students
Student
learning
from Stein and Smith, 1998
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
MTF in Action
Tasks as
they appear
in curriculum
materials
Tasks as set
up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers and
students Student
learning
Method 2
Method 1
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
MTF in Action
Tasks as
they appear
in curriculum
materials
Tasks as set
up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers and
students Student
learning
Curriculum Teachers Enactment Understanding
Method 2
Method 1
35. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
MTF in Action
Tasks as
they appear
in curriculum
materials
Tasks as set
up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers and
students Student
learning
Curriculum Teachers Enactment Understanding
Method 2
Method 1
36. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
MTF in Action
Tasks as
they appear
in curriculum
materials
Tasks as set
up by
teachers
Tasks as
enacted by
teachers and
students Student
learning
Curriculum Teachers Enactment Understanding
Method 2
Method 1
37. middlestart
The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Insights from cognitive biology...
• Brain activity and the ability to effectively apply prior knowledge
is related to the complexity of a task.
• Tasks that are too difficult and beyond the scope of
conceptualizing cause the cognitive centers to “shut down”
• Similarly, simple tasks, such as memorization, simple
application, and the use of algorithms to “solve” a problem,
generally cause the brain to disengage (i.e. boredom)
• Endorphins are released when the brain is engaged over time
in relatively complex tasks (“the pleasure of finding things out”)
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The National Forum for
Middle Grades Reform
Mathematics
Improvement Toolkit
Insights from educational research
• Significant research addresses the need to support “high-level”
thinking and problem solving in schools, showing clear benefits
to learning mathematics
• TIMSS Video Study explored international variation
- In high achieving countries, when problems addressing both
skill and conceptual knowledge were posed, students
studied the relationships and connections often (about 50%)
- In the U.S., students never got the chance - over 99% of
teachers stepped in to do the conceptual work, leaving only
skill development.
- U.S. students spend all of their time focusing on skills.