The purpose of this study is to examine how question-oriented habruta lessons are implemented in elementary mathematics classrooms through the application of habruta lessons in elementary mathematics departments and how elements of mathematical commun...
The purpose of this study is to examine how question-oriented habruta lessons are implemented in elementary mathematics classrooms through the application of habruta lessons in elementary mathematics departments and how elements of mathematical communication skills are implemented in students' communication processes. In order to achieve the research purpose, I addressed the following research questions.
First, what are the aspects of teaching and learning in elementary mathematics classrooms when implementing the question-oriented habruta?
Second, how are the elements of students' mathematical communication skills appeared in an elementary mathematics classroom using the question-oriented habruta?
This study used a qualitative research method to analyze elementary school mathematics classes using the question-oriented habruta teaching model, and a case study method to study a specific case. Twenty-four students from one class of 6th grade at J Elementary School in D Metropolitan City participated, and the students were divided into six heterogeneous groups (one high-level, two middle-level, and one low-level student) that were selected based on the results of the math diagnostic assessment.
In order to design the question-oriented habruta math lesson, I first reviewed the previous studies and selected a math lesson model that can be effectively applied to the math lessons. The habruta lesson model presented by the previous studies was partially modified to fit the mathematical principle exploration lesson model, and the habruta activities to be carried out in each stage of the lesson model were presented.
I selected content areas topic that can effectively apply question-oriented habruta, developed instructional materials for the topics, and selected and reorganized two units: one in number and operations and the other in geometry. During the first semester of 6th grade, I recorded four lessons of Unit 3, "Division of Decimals," and four lessons of Unit 6, "Volume and Perimeter of Rectangles," for a total of eight lessons, and collected videos of the lessons, audio-recordings of pair-discussion and group-discussion, student notebooks during the lessons, and surveys and interviews with students to analyze the lessons. The videos and audio-recordings were transcribed to analyze the specific scenes of each lesson, and the features of the selected data were analyzed to understand the actual implementation of inquiry-based habruta in elementary mathematics classes. Students' question types, characteristics, and mathematical communication elements in the process were illustrated in detail, and a questionnaire of student reflection on lessons about the question-oriented habruta was administered to analyze students' thoughts on the lesson.
The following findings were obtained from this study.
The elementary mathematics lesson using question-oriented Habruta proceeded through the following stages: identifying the problem, anticipating, validating, generalizing and applying, and summarizing. Here is a summary of the teaching and learning implemented in each phase.
In the stage of "identifying the problem", students were presented with a problem situation and began to formulate their own questions to identify the problem situation. The questions were presented to the students, and they answered them to fully understand the problem situation and have questions about the learning problem. Among them, the key questions closely related to the learning objectives were selected and set as learning objectives.
In the stage of "anticipating", students worked in pairs to discuss the problem. At first, they each decided on a solution to find out the principle, solved it, and explained the solution to their partner. Then, they repeatedly asked and answered each other's questions. If they were unable to answer each other's questions, they were allowed to ask questions in a small group discussion or a whole group discussion.
In the stage of "validating", students conducted a group discussion in teams of four. Each person had opportunities to explain how they solved the problem and asked and answered questions along the way. In the process of answering each other's questions, they selected important questions and discovered principles through the question and answer activities.
In the stage of "generalizing and applying", the whole group discussion(shiur) was held, including all students and the teacher. The solution agreed upon by the group was presented to the whole class, and the discon questions about the presentation, pair discussions, and questions that could not be resolved in the group discussions. Through the process of continuous questioning and answering in the plenary discussion, the key questions were answered, and students were encouraged to discover principles and commit to them.
In the 'summarize' step, students were asked to explain the promised principles and the answers to the key questions to their partners so that they could reorganize their learning.
Next, we examined the four types of mathematical communication skills (discourse, representation, operation, and complex) that emerged in the lessons:
First, discourse-centered mathematical communication was manifested in the types of explaining or justifying one's own ideas, listening to others' opinions and explaining them further, listening to others' opinions and refuting them, proposing a solution different from others' solutions, listening to explanations and summarizing them, listening to others' opinions and proposing alternatives, and comparing and analyzing two or more different solutions.
Second, representation-centered mathematical communication took the types of choosing an efficient way to express one's ideas in writing, drawing, expressions (symbols), tables, and graphs; reading and critiquing given texts, drawings, expressions, tables, and graphs; reading and synthesizing various mathematical expressions and expressing them in writing or speaking; and presenting content in writing, drawing, expressions, tables, and graphs to explain or justify one's ideas.
Third, operation-centered mathematical communication took the types of selecting and using appropriate mathematical tools for a given problem situation, describing the solution process in detail, and comparing and analyzing various manipulative activities.
Fourth, complex-centered mathematical communication, which is a combination of two or more types of communication such as discourse, representation, and operation, occurred throughout the lessons. However, communication such as expressing mathematical ideas learned through videos, presenting appropriate situations, creating various problems, and sharing mathematical ideas through video chat or Internet homepage bulletin boards were not found in the classes in this study.
The following conclusions were drawn from the findings of this study.
First, we found that the elementary math class using question-oriented habruta was more interactive than the math class using the general principle exploration model, and the class was more student-driven through the process of asking and answering each other's questions by finding their own questions.
Secondly, as questioning and answering is a key activity in a question-oriented habruta lessons, it is necessary for the teacher to make appropriate prompts and interventions at each stage to ensure that students' communication is active.
Third, we found that the communication in the question-oriented habruta classroom was evenly distributed between the pair discussion, group discussion, and whole-group discussion phases.
Fourth, after analyzing the elements of students' mathematical communication skills in the lessons that implemented question-oriented habruta model, it was found that discourse-centered and representation-centered communications were predominant.
Fifth, the findings of analyzing the elements of students' mathematical communication skills in the question-oriented habruta lessons showed that operation-centered mathematical communication was relatively low, and complex-centered mathematical communication was not well represented in the current study.
Key words : question-oriented habruta, mathematical communication, mathematical principle
exploration model, discourse-centered, representation-centered, operation- centered,
complex-centered