Mobilizing Teachers as Researchers to Promote an Innovative Classroom Practice of Implementing Mathematical Modeling in the Elementary Grades

• In Event: 34.078 - Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 34.078-2 - Educational Change in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities

Abstract

Our paper details a project where we mobilized Teachers as Researchers (TR) and used Design-based Implementation Research to implement Mathematical Modeling (MM) to yield innovative teaching practices. Six teachers engaged in a teacher-research study group (TRSG) and collectively, we explored the instructional changes teachers made as they explored the optimal conditions for implementing mathematical modeling in the elementary grades. Through our collective research, we found that conditions that supported successful implementation of MM in the elementary grades included tasks that were: 1) Real-world and personally meaningful; 2) Rich with mathematical opportunities; 3) Group worthy tasks that involve making decision-making; 4) Solution-orientated that emphasized usefulness to clients or to the community; and 5) Accessible to all learners through openness and choice.

Authors

• Jennifer M. Suh, George Mason University

• Kathleen Ann Matson, George Mason University

• Monique Apollon Williams, George Mason University

• Spencer Jamieson, Fairfax County Public Schools

• Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, George Mason University