In Math, I will teach them probability and statistics with a focus on open-ended problem questions, as I found this is the most efficient and productive way for students to reflect and focus on their thinking and mental processing (Özsoy & Ataman 2009; Suriyon et al. 2013). Instead of just trying to get through the problem and find an answer, I hope that they will feel more comfortable with sharing their ideas out loud with their peers. In this way, they can find gaps in knowledge and together fill those gaps and finally find solutions to the problem in question. I will emphasize out-loud thinking because this causes a slower rate of thought and thus more time for reflection (Mokos and Kafoussi 2013). I have already realized that my students do not dully read the question so I hope this method will help them, at the very least, read through the question instructions so they have a better idea of what they need to do. Because Math was the most difficult subject for me, I want to give as much support as possible because I think that it is harder to reflect on a subject that is mainly made up of numbers and formulas; I think it is harder to express in words what we normally express in numeric values.
As a summative assessment, they will be creating a statistics booklet. They will choose a question from a given questionnaire (which they all answered beforehand) and they will plot this data in the form of diagrams (histograph, bar graph and pie chart). They will also reflect on their findings on their final conclusions page; they will explain which graph worked the best/ worst for their question and why they found it to be that way. I feel that this will be a great project because, again, it is engaging and they have the chance to express their mathematical thoughts in a form other than just numerical.
References
Mokos, E. , Kafoussi, S. (2013). Elementary students’ spontaneous metacognitive functions in different types of mathematical problems. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 2 (2), 242-267. doi: 1 0.4471 /redimat.201 3.29
Özsoy., G., Ataman, A. (2009). The effect of metacognitive strategy training on mathematical problem solving achievement. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 1(2), 67- 82.