Learning Opportunities

How does interleaving the mathematics curriculum, while promoting productive struggle, improve student understanding in and between mathematical concepts?  ‘Understanding’ is about knowing ‘why’ and knowing ‘when’ to apply specific concepts and strategies - not just knowing ‘what’ the mathematical concepts are. Interleaving is a multilayered approach, varying the curriculum to allow students to discriminate between strategies they already know and apply them to new information. It is a way of deepening their understanding, allowing them to productively struggle (Warshauer, 2015), think critically and problem solve to come to their own conclusions. This session will provide background information (the theory behind interleaving), current application (my teaching experience in secondary math), hands-on interaction with the grade 7 curriculum and will result in the creation of a curriculum resource using the interleaving model.