Learning Opportunities

Research in cognitive science shows that students are more likely to become engaged and successful problem solvers when they are given a sequence of challenges in which (initially) only one or two dimensions of the problem are varied at a time. By raising the bar incrementally, and giving students continuous feedback, teachers can help students learn to persevere so they can tackle more complex problems independently. In this session, participants will explore effective problem-solving strategies (with questions from contests and provincial exams) that they can immediately use in their classrooms. These strategies have been shown to help students engage more deeply in the process of discovery and enable teachers to move the whole class forward together while still tailoring lessons to individual student needs. In a randomized controlled trial, students who were taught by this method of “structured inquiry” made significantly more progress in problem solving than students in the control group.

Target Audience

Math Teachers, Administrators, Instructional coaches