Module 2

Intended Learning Outcomes 

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the educational theories on which the teaching of Math is anchored.
2. Cite the implications of these educational theories to the teaching of Math.
3. Explain at least three guiding principles in the teaching of Math.
4. Illustrate spiral progression approach in teaching Math with an example

Discussions 
GUIDING PRINCIPLES / THEORIES IN THE TEACHING OF MATH

Lesson 1. Educational Theories on which Math Teaching is Grounded

1. Experiential Learning
- Advocated David Kolb (1975)
- Is learning that occurs by making sense of direct everyday experiences.

1.
Provides the information that
Concrete
Experiences serves as a basis for reflection
COURSE MODULE

5.
2.
Gather
Reflections
information

Through the testing of our We assimilate the information

ideas, we once again gather and form abstract concepts
information through experience
4. 3.
Testing of Abstract
our ideas Concepts

Then use these concepts to

develop new theories about the
world, which we then actively
test.

2. Situated Learning
- Theorized by Lave and Wenger (1990)
- Is learning in the same context in which concepts and theories are applied.
o Workshops
o Kitchens
o Gardens Used as classroom
o farms
• Research has shown that real-life applied activities and problem-solving activities establish a
contextual setting for many lessons, providing motivation and encouraging curiosity (Hiebert and
Carpenter, 1992)
- take on. Some examples may include using tiles for basic addition or using toothpicks
for examining the principles of geometry.

3. Reflective Learning
- Refers to learning that is facilitated by reflective thinking. It is not enough that learners
encounter real-life situations. Deeper learning occurs when learners are able to think
about their experiences and process these, allowing them the opportunity to make sense
of and derive meaning from their experience.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

4. Discovery Learning
- Takes place in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his/her own
experience and prior knowledge to solve a problem.
- As method of instruction, teacher makes students interact with one another, with
instructional materials or with their environment by exploring and manipulating objects,
wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments.

5. Cooperative Group Learning

- allows students to work through math equations in a small group setting. To implement
this teaching method, arrange students in groups of four to six individuals. After the basic
information and assignment has been presented to the class, allow students to break off
into their groups and work through the assigned equations. Move about the classroom to
interact with each group as they work on their projects and hold a presentation period at
the end of the lesson for each group to present its conclusions.

Elements of Cooperative Learning Model

Elements Purpose Instructional Implication

Positive Ensure that success by an Students are linked to other students in such a
interdependence individual promotes success way that one member cannot succeed unless
COURSE MODULE

among other group members other group members also succeed.

Face-to-face Interactions where " students
promotive promote each other's learning
interaction by encouraging, praising,
supporting, helping, and
assisting.
It requires that all group members be
responsible for knowing the material and help
to complete task

Individual and Ensure that all members Establish an optimal group size and include
group contribute to achievement of individual assessments. Help students
accountability the goal and learn as understand that each person needs to
individuals. contribute to the success of the group.

Interpersonal and Students are taught and Improved self-esteem is an associated benefit
small-group skills encouraged to employ the of this element.
social skills needed for
cooperation

Group processing Individuals assess their own
work and the group as a whole
assesses how they functioned
for the purpose of defining
strengths and weaknesses.
Establish dedicated time for group reflection by
providing structures such as specific
questions, learning logs. Or sentence stems
that focus on how well the learner is
functioning and how to function even better.

6. Inquiry-based learning.

Activities 

Research what is inquiry-based learning as one of the educational theories in Math.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

Lesson 2. Principles of Teaching Math

1. Balance Principle
o Help students understand what a pattern is and how to recognize a pattern.
o They learned to predict the next steps by studying different patterns.
Procedural Approach
- Is the traditional teacher-led, direct instruction that depends heavily on memorization of
rules or procedures for solving problems.

Procedural-based Instruction
- provides mathematics facts, algorithms, and formulas that can be used to solve
mathematical problems,
- The emphasis is on the students learning important concepts of mathematical
connections, relationships, and applications. Rather than emphasizing direct-
instruction, memorization, drill, and practice.

Conceptual-based mathematics instruction

- conceptual-based instruction seeks to provide the reasons why the algorithms and
formulas work.
o Mathematics teaching should pay attention to the mastery of foundation concepts
COURSE MODULE

with a balance of computational and procedural skills, conceptual comprehension

and problem-solving practice.

Procedural Knowledge is Conceptual Knowledge is

• “Action sequences for solving problems,”
Rittle-Johnson & Wagner (1999)
• “Like a toolbox, it includes facts, skills,
procedures, algorithms or methods,” Barr,
Doyle et. Al (2003)
• “Learning that involves only memorizing
operations with no understanding of
underlying meanings,” Arslan (2010)
• “To know how something happens in a
particular way,” Hiebert and Leferre (1986)
• “Explicit or implicit understanding of the
principles that govern a domain and of the
interrelations between pieces of knowledge in
a domain,” Rittle-Johnson & Wagner (1999)
• “Ideas, relationships, connections, or having a
‘sense’ of something,” Barr, Doyle et. Al
(2003)
• “Learning that involves understanding and
interpreting concepts and the relations
between concepts,” Arslan (2010)
• “To know why something happens in a
particular way,” Hiebert and Leferre (1986)

Examples. Questions that use:

Procedural Knowledge
• Measure the perimeter of the room
• If you sleep for 7.5 hours each day, what
percentage of the day is spent sleeping?
• Find the sum of one-third, one-quarter and
one-fifth
• Match the object to its associated volume
formula
• Multiply 24 by 8
• Find an equation to solve this problem
https://teachingmathliteracy.weebly.com/conceptual-vs-procedural-knowledge.html
Conceptual Knowledge
• Estimate the perimeter of the room. Justify
your estimate
• Is it reasonable to state that many people
sleep for 30% of the day? Why or why not?
• Without adding, is the sum of one-quarter,
one-third and one-fifth bigger or smaller that
one?
• Explain how to determine if you have matched
an object to its correct volume formula
• In your head, multiply 24 by 8. Explain your
method. Try to find another method that
works.
• Find a problem that can be solved using this
equation. How can you tell if you are right?

View this video presentation: https://www.therecoveringtraditionalist.com/balanced-math-instruction/

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

Features of the balanced approach in Math Teaching (Frei, 2008)

•Math Teaching should abide by the DepEd K to 12 Curriculum Guide fo

Standards-based Mathematics.
•It should follow the spiral progression approach
•The context of teaching Math comes from integrating other subjects into
Integrated Mathematics instruction

•When students are actively engaged, they move towards successful

Engaging
COURSE MODULE

mastery of key concepts and meaningful

Open to and practices differences

instruction

•One study found out the children improved in overall mathematical

Makes use of problem-solving proficiency when they were taught mathematics through problem-solving
strategies.

Guided practice •Teacher and students do things together, thus the "we do" strategy

Makes use of manipulatives, games and •When learners use manipulatives or concrete objects to represent
calculators. mathematical ideas, they learn to organize their thinking and reflect on
concrete representation (Dean and Florian, 2001)

•Instruction begins with clarifying the outcomes of instruction. it ends

Assessment-driven and data-driven with assessing results (summative assessment) but assesses learning
instruction. while instruction is in progress and adjusts instruction based on
assessment results.

2. Three-tiered principles (J. Bruner)

- Teach Math beginning with enactive level proceeding to the iconic level and finally to the
symbolic level.

information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such as

words, mathematical formula or other symbol systems.
o If you teach the concept of fraction, do not begin with the
Symbolic definition. Get a cake or any other material, ask the pupil to
divide it into two, show that one part is called one half and the
other is

information is stored visually in the form of images (a mental

picture in the mind’s eye)
Iconic o This may explain why, when we are learning a new subject, it
is often helpful to have diagrams or illustrations to accompany
verbal information.

Enactive encoding action-based information and storing it in our

memory.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

Illustration 1:
In teaching Fraction, do not begin with the definition:
• Get a cake or any other material;
• ask the pupil to divide it into two, show that one part is called one half and the other is
another one half;
• Draw/diagram that cake on the board, label one part ½ and the other also ½;
• Tell them ½ is called fraction in relation to the whole.
• Define fraction as a part of a whole.
Illustration 2:

3. For effective math teaching, employ experiential and situated learning, reflective learning,
COURSE MODULE

constructive, cooperative learning and discovery and inquiry-based learning.

o Exploration of math concepts through manual manipulation of mathematical concepts is
vital to understanding and mastery.

Activities 

Prepare a lesson plan in Mathematics choose from Grade 4 to Grade 6.

What principle you are using? Why?

Lesson 3. Spiral Progression Approach

- The basics of Math are revisited in every Grade level but are taught in increasing depth and
breadth as one goes up in Grade level of the K to 12.

Grades 7 -
10

Grades 4 -
6

Grade 1 -
3

K-Algebra,
Geometry,
Statistics
and
Probability

Activities 

Illustrate the spiral progression approach in teaching Math with a concrete example from the Math
Curriculum Guide.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

Lesson 4. Teaching Methods

1. Problem Solving
Steps of the problem-solving
• Understanding the problem
o Students ask what the problem is asking, what information is needed to solve the
problem and what information is given.
• Planning and communicating a solution. The following strategies can be employed:
➢ Drawing a diagram
➢ Drawing a table
➢ Acting it out or using concrete materials
➢ Guessing and checking
➢ Creating an organized list
➢ Looking for a pattern
➢ Creating a tree diagram
➢ Working backwards
➢ Using simpler numbers
➢ Open-ended problem solving
➢ Analyzing and investigating
➢ Using logical reasoning
COURSE MODULE

➢ Breaking down ideas into smaller pieces

➢ Writing a number sentence
➢ Writing down ideas as work progresses so students do not forget how the problem
was approached
➢ Approaching the problem systematically
➢ Rereading the problem in order to rethink strategies if the student becomes “stuck”
➢ Orally demonstrating and explaining how an answer as reached (Frei, 2012)
• Reflecting and generating. Students reflect on their answer and determine if their answer
makes sense
• Extension. Students explore on other perhaps even simpler way of arriving at the answer.

Other Techniques in Problem Solving

- Obtain the answer by trial and error.
- It requires the student to make a series of calculations. In each calculation, an estimate of
some unknown quantity is used to compute the value of a known quantity
- Use an aid, model or sketch
- A problem could be understood by drawing a sketch, folding a piece of paper, cutting a
piece of string, or making use of some simple aid. Using an aid could make a situation
real to them.
- Search for a pattern
- This strategy requires the students to examine sequences of numbers or geometric
objects in search of some rule that will allow them to extend the sequences indefinitely.
- Example: Find the 10th term in a sequence that begins, 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,… This approach is
an aspect of inductive thinking.
- Elimination strategy
- This strategy requires the students to use logic to reduce the potential list of answers to a
minimum. Through logic, they throw away some potential estimates as unreasonable and
focus on the reasonable estimates.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

2. Concept attainment strategy

- This strategy allows the students to discover the essential attributes of a concept. It can enhance
students’ skills in
a. Separating important from unimportant information
b. Searching for patterns and making generalizations
c. Defining and explaining concepts
Steps: .
a. Select a concept and identify its essential attributes.
b. Present examples and non-examples of the concepts
c. Let students identify or define the concept based on its essential attributes
d. Ask students to generate additional examples
COURSE MODULE

3. Concept formation strategy

- This strategy is used when you want the students to make connections between and among
essential elements of the concept:
Steps:
a. Present a particular question or problem
b. Ask students to generate data relevant to the question or problem.
c. Allow the students to group data with similar fraction.
d. Ask students to label each group of data with similar attributes.
e. Have students explore the relationships between and among the groups. They may
group the data in various ways and some groups may be subsumed in other groups
based on their attributes.

4. Direct formation
- This is the deductive method of teaching.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Activities 

1. Using the same lesson plan, from the last activity, what method or strategy you are using? Why?
2. Research on heuristic and algorithmic methods of problem solving. How do they differ? Which is
more conceptual in approach? Which is more constructivist?
3. Which is easier to use: concept attainment, concept formation strategy or direct instruction? Why?

Resources and Additional Resources 

Teachers' Effective Methods for Teaching Mathematics | eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/info_7889696_teachers-effective-methods-teaching-
mathematics.html#ixzz1StJ83ZvG
Brenda B. Corpuz, PhD. and Gloria G. Salandanan, PhD. (2015). Principles of Teaching 2 (with TLE).
Lorimar Publishing, Inc.

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO

 Module 2

COURSE MODULE

Prepared by: EVEROSE C. TOYLO