Module 3: INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR MATHEMATICS

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IN THE INTERMEDIATE GRADES

Lesson 2

Mathematical Investigation, Design Thinking and Game-based Learning

Lesson Learning Outcomes

In this lesson, you will be able to:

• generate investigative tasks and anticipate possible problems that may arise from the task;
• execute the empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test stages of the design-thinking process;
• develop a game to motivate students, cater mathematical investigation, or practice a mathematical
skill.

PRE-ASSESSMENT

Instruction: Let’s find out how much you have already known about this lesson. Encircle the letter that you
think best answers the question. Please answer all items. Take note of the items that you were not able to
correctly answer and look for the right answer as you go through this lesson.

1. Which of the following are the three main phases of mathematical investigation?
A. Problem-posing, Conjecturing, Justifying conjectures
B. Problem-posing, Observation, Justifying conjectures
C. Problem-posing, Conjecturing, Generalizing

2. This phase involves collecting and organizing data, looking for patterns, inferencing, and generalizing.
A. Problem-posing
B. Justifying conjectures
C. Conjecturing

3. In this phase the students are to justify and explain their inferences and generalizations.
A. Problem-posing
B. Justifying conjectures
C. Conjecturing

4. In this phase the students explore the given situation and come up with a mathematical problem that
they would want to engage in.
A. Problem-posing
B. Justifying conjectures
C. Conjecturing

5. A progressive teaching strategy that allows the students to look for real-world problems and finding
creative solutions.
A. Mathematical Investigation
B. Design Thinking
C. Game-based Learning
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LESSON MAP

As you learn this lesson, you will be guided with the lesson map below.

INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES

MATHEMATICAL GAME-BASED
DESIGN THINKING
INVESTIGATION LEARNING

PROTOTYPE
EMPATHIZE DEFINE IDEATE AND TEST

Figure 1: The figure illustrates that as you learn Instructional Strategies, you will be introduced to
Mathematical Investigation, Game-based Learning and Design Thinking. And design thinking is
composed of empathize, define, ideate and prototype and test.
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CONTENT

ENGAGE ENGAGING MYSELF OF THE GOALS IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS

As an educator, what are your goals in teaching mathematics?

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EXPLORE EXPLORING MATHEMATICAL INVESTIGATION, DESIGN THINKING AND GAME-BASED

LEARNING

Read Me!

Instruction: Closely read the text below.

MATHEMATICALINVESTIGATION

Mathematical investigation is an open-ended mathematical task that involves not only problem
solving, but equally importantly, problem posing as well. In this strategy, the word “investigation” does not
refer to the process that may occur when solving a close-ended problem but an activity in itself that
promotes independent mathematical thinking. To illustrate, consider the two mathematical tasks below.

Task A – Problem-solving
There are 50 children at a playground and each child high-fives with each of the other children. Find
the total number of high-fives.
Task B – Mathematical Investigation
There are 50 children at a playground and each child high-fives with each of the other children.
Investigate.
In Task A, there is a specific problem to solve. Some of the students might attempt to solve it by
drawing diagrams for smaller numbers of children and then investigating the pattern that may arise. This
investigation is a process that may occur in problem solving. On the other hand, the problem in Task B is
not specified. The students may or may not choose to find the total number of high-fives. Some students
may want to investigate a more general case where they would want to know how many high-fives there
would be given a certain number of children. Some may want to find out how many high-fives there would
be if instead of once, the children would high-five each other twice or thrice. Some children may even
decide to work on a problem that the teacher has not thought of. This is investigation as an activity itself.
There are three main phases of a mathematical investigation lesson: the (1)problem-posing, (2)
conjecturing, and (3) justifying conjectures. In the problem-solving phase, the students explore the given
situation and come up with a mathematical problem that they would want to engage in. The conjecturing
phase involves collecting and organizing data, looking for patterns, inferencing, and generalizing. In the
final phase, the students are to justify and explain their inferences and generalizations.
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DESIGN THINKING
Design thinking is a progressive teaching strategy that allows the students to look for real-world
problems and finding creative solutions. Students do this by focusing on the needs of others, collaborating
for possible solutions, and prototyping and testing their creations. This can be summarized in five stages:
Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. These stages are adapted from the Institute of Design at
Stanford University.

Empathize

The goal of design thinking is for the students to respond to a particular need (a real-world problem)
so it is fitting that the first stage is empathy. In this stage, the teacher needs to be explicit in guiding the
students to put themselves in the shoes of others through activities like immersed observation and
interviews. According to the developmental stages, it is not natural for children in the intermediate grades
to be empathetic towards others.

Define
The next stage is for the students to define the specific problem or issue that they want to address.
First, the students will identify an audience – the future users of the product they will develop. Their
audience can be students, teachers, family members, or just anyone in their community. Then the students
will use the information they gathered from the Empathize stage and focus on one aspect of the problem.

Ideate
The third stage of design thinking is the generation of ideas to solve the identified problem. This
involves brainstorming and research. The students are to be encouraged to think out of the box and
produce radical ideas.

Prototype and Test

Finally, the students go through a repetitive cycle of prototyping and testing. A prototype is anything
that a user can interact with in order to, later on, provide feedback about it.
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GAME-BASED LEARNING
Children find games both motivating and enjoyable, so it is not a surprise that teachers harness
games to cater to learning. There are many ways in which games are used in the classroom. Games are
sometimes used as a lesson starters to get the students engaged. In some lessons, games are used to
explore mathematical concepts and processes or cater mathematical investigation. But most of the time,
games are used to practice mathematical skills.
However, not all games that involve mathematical processes are considered to have instructional
value. For example, the game of monopoly involves computations and strategies to maximize scores but it
is considered to have little instructional value. According to Koay Phong Lee (1996) in his article “The Use
of Mathematical Games in Teaching Primary Mathematics,” a game that has instructional value has the
following characteristics:
1. the game has two or more opposing teams;
2. the game has a goal and the players have to make a finite number of moves to reach the goal
stated. Each move is the result of a decision-making;
3. there is a set of rules that govern decision making;
4. the rules are based on mathematical ideas; and
5. the game ends when the goal is reached.

EXPLAIN DELVING MATHEMATICAL INVESTIGATION, DESIGN THINKING AND GAME-BASED

LEARNING

Let Me Share!
Instruction: From the concepts presented above, answer the following process questions. The following
questions will broaden your understanding of mathematical investigation strategy, design thinking as a
thought-provoking and purposeful strategy and game-based learning. You may share your answers during
the online synchronous class schedule.
1. Compare and contrast problem-solving and mathematical investigation.
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2. In what ways does mathematical investigation help develop the students who think like
mathematicians?
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3. Elaborate why you think design thinking was described as such.
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4. What are the benefits of using games in mathematics lesson?
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5. What do you think are some disadvantages of a game-based learning strategy?
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TOPIC SUMMARY

➢ Mathematical investigation is an open-ended teaching strategy that capitalizes on the students’ ability
to identify a problem. Any word problem can be transformed in to a mathematical investigation by
limiting the given information and omitting the specific question that it is asking.

➢ Design thinking is a contemporary teaching strategy that fosters creativity by allowing students to come
up with concrete and tangible solutions to authentic problems that they themselves identified.

➢ Game-based learning is a strategy that takes advantage of children’s love for games. Applying this
strategy is good in reducing math anxiety.

REFERENCES

Gusano,R,Masangkay, M, Rocena, L, Unida, M(2020). Teaching Math in the Intermediate

Grades. Rex Publishing.