Playful Math: Supporting Students’ Reasoning and Engagement

• In Event: Ambitious Mathematics Teaching Enacting Play and Rough Drafts

Abstract

We address how playifying school mathematics tasks can affect students’ reasoning and engagement. Mathematical play has been shown to support students’ meaning-making, agency, and motivation, as well as foster productive mathematical dispositions. However, the bulk of this work is situated in early childhood and in informal spaces; less is known about how to make secondary and college mathematics topics more playful. We present findings from three teaching experiments with middle-school and undergraduate students to show the potential for playful math to support students’ agency, investment, and immersion, as well as encouraging the development of novel mathematical ideas.

Authors

• Amy Ellis, University of Georgia

• Dru Horne, University of Georgia

• Anna Bloodworth, University of Georgia