Day: October 11, 2013

YOU ARE INVITED

To attend a mock PhD defence and discussion next Wednesday afternoon 16th October in room 2108 from 3:00 pm-4:15pm with:

Pamela Hagen

PhD Candidate

EDCP

RSVP (pamelahagen@elus.net)

(The actual defence is on Tuesday 22nd October at 9:00 am in FoGs 203).

Listening to Students’  – An Examination of Elementary Students’ Engagement in Mathematics Through the Lens of Imaginative Education

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the problem of student engagement in elementary mathematics with a particular theoretical framework of imaginative education (IE) (Egan, 1997, 2005).  The question at the centre of this study is what the use of imaginative education and imaginative lesson planning frameworks means to children and for their engagement in elementary mathematics.

For this study, five intermediate aged elementary students were tracked through a unit of shape and space (geometry).  The unit framed with the binary opposites of vision and blindness asked students how they might come to understand shape and space as a sighted and visually impaired person.  Thus a humanized perspective was brought to learning of mathematics.  After the unit five focus students took part in an individual and a whole group semi-structured interview with the teacher/researcher.

Using qualitative instrumental case study methods, data sources included students’ mathematics journals, activity pages, transcripts of audio and videotaped semi-structured individual and group interviews, a teacher/researcher diary and a detailed unit overview and lesson plans.  The study gathered rich descriptive data focused on bringing out the students’ perspective of their experience.

Results indicate the students’ demonstrated positive engagement with mathematics and that use of the IE theory utilizing the students’ imagination and affective responses allowed multiple access points to connect with the mathematical concepts.  Three conclusions of the study were that the students expanded their mathematical awareness through making a variety of connections, they were able to develop self-confidence in their learning of mathematics through using emotions and imagination, and they were able to use cognitive tools, particularly a sense of wonder, to engage with mathematics.  The dissertation concludes with a discussion of implications and recommendations in four areas.  This includes further research in different contexts, in the interaction of imagination and affective responses, and into characteristics of mathematical engagement such as self-confidence.

Recommendations for how future pedagogical practice might include use of the IE theory and how expansion of student’s perspectives in classroom practice could be embraced bring the dissertation to a close.