INSTRUCTIONAL

STRATEGIES FOR
MATHEMATICS IN
INTERMEDIATE GRADES
Instructor: Kris Mellan M. Sabiniano
 Contents

01 02 03
Problem Solving Inductive Learning Concept
Attainment
PROBLEM SOLVING
Problem Solving

The problem-solving strategy involves students being challenged to collaboratively solve real-
world math problems that they have not yet previously encountered.
It is student-centered and promotes critical and creative-thinking skills, problem-solving
abilities, and communication skills.
The integral part of this strategy is the time given to the students to struggle with the problem,
and its beauty is in the varied solutions that the students would produce.
Problem Solving

Three Main Elements of Problem-solving:

(1) the word problem,
(2) the time given for the students to struggle with the problem and

(3) the mathematical discourse

The Word Problem

In many Filipino classrooms, word problem are given at the end of the lesson and the students are
expected to answer them by applying the concept or skills that have just been taught to them.
In most cases, the teacher first demonstrates how to solve a problem, and then the students would
independently answer a similarly structured problem. In these practices, the students are not doing
problem-solving – they already know how to solve the problem! They know that the just-taught lesson is
the key to solve the problem and they pattern their solutions to what the teacher demonstrated.
In using the problem-solving strategy, the problem serves as the starting point of the learning experience.
Therefore, it is given at the beginning of the lesson. The challenge for you, the teacher, is to choose or
create a problem that can be solved using the target concept of the lesson at hand can but can also be
answered using previously learned knowledge and skills.
The Word Problem

How you present the problem also matters especially for the elementary grades.
It is not always helpful to introduce the problem by posting it on the board;
doing this may intimidate some of the students and reading and comprehension
skills may intervene. Instead, it is suggested to narrate the problem in
storytelling manner to engage the learners.
Encourage the students to imagine the scenario and allow them to clarify
information if they find some details confusing. Showing drawings or real
objects might help.
The Time Given For The Students To Struggle With
The Problem
The goal is for the students to collaborate –share their ideas with each other – to come up with
solutions.
Encourage the students to use their previously learned knowledge and skills to solve the problem
and to communicate their ideas with their classmates through words, equations, and /or illustrations.
It is natural for the students to find this phase burdensome especially when it is their first time to
engage in such an activity; critical thinking and communicating ideas are not easy tasks after all.
So, it is the task of the teacher to encourage the students to think out of the box. Tell the students
that there is more than one way to solve the problem, so they do not need to worry about their
solutions being wrong as long as every step they did is meaningful to solving the problem.
The Mathematical Discourse

This is the most exciting element of the problem-solving strategy. While the students are working in small
groups to solve the problem, you get to move around and enjoy the mathematical talk that the students are
engaging in. of course, you may intervene in the students’ discussion when corrections and clarifications are
needed but be careful not to give hints. It may be tempting to do so especially when the struggling but don’t.
As you encourage your students to think, believe that they can actually can. Allow yourself to be amazed at
how the students would defend their thinking; correct each other’s ideas, and figure things out on their own.
Remember that all students-generated solutions, as long as correct, can be directed to the concept or skill
that is the objective of the lesson. The challenge is how you would process those various solutions, make
sense of each of them, and use them to generalize or come up with a solution that makes use of the
knowledge/skill that is the objective of the lesson. In this phase comes the importance of the teacher’s
fluency of the subject matter.
The Mathematical Discourse
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) defines discourse in the mathematics classroom as, "ways of representing,
thinking, talking, agreeing, and disagreeing; the way ideas are exchanged and what the ideas entail; and as being shaped by the tasks in
which students engage as well as by the nature of the learning environment."

Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn (Chapin, O’Connor, and Anderson 2009) identifies 5 practices that are
critical in improving the quality of discourse in the mathematics classroom. They include:

1) Talk moves that engage students in discourse

2) The art of questioning

3) Using student thinking to propel discussions

4) Setting up a supportive environment

5) Orchestrating the discourse

The Mathematical Discourse
Examples of mathematical discourse include
• A student asks another student or the teacher, “I don’t understand how you got the
answer. Could your show your reasoning again?”
• A student explains, “I first added 20 and 40 to get 60. Then I subtracted 2 and added 3
to get 61. This works because 18 + 43 is equal to (20 – 2) + (40 + 3) = (20 + 40) – 2 +
3.”
• Students write in their journals about their mathematical reasoning or processes.
• A student states, “I see a pattern that I think will always work, because each number is 3
more than the one before it.”
• A group of students discuss the mathematical conditions in which an idea will or won’t
always work.
• A students challenges an algorithm posed by another student by saying, “I don’t think
that will work with 37 x 98 because ...”
• A student answers a question in response to the teacher.
• A student provides a counterexample to illustrate why an idea doesn’t work in all cases.
Non-examples of Mathematical Discourse include
• The teacher provides an explanation of a mathematical procedure to a
student, a group, or the class.
• The teacher provides further explanation in response to a student’s question
or comment.
• Two students discuss the scores of last week’s football game.
• The teacher provides instructions to the class about an activity they are
about to engage in.
• The teacher provides a counter example to a method posed by a student.
• A student asks a question about non-mathematical procedures related to an
assignment, such as when the assignment is due, whether students need to
show their work, and the like.
• Students practice applying a rote procedure to solve problems of a specific
type (seat work).
INDUCTIVE
LEARNING
Inductive Learning

The inductive learning strategy, sometimes called discovery learning is based on the principle of
induction. Induction means to derive a concept by showing that if it is true to some cases, then it is
true for all. This is he contrast to deduction where a concept is established by logically proving
that it is true based on generally known facts. The inductive method in teaching is commonly
described as “specific to general,” “concrete to abstract,” or “example to formula.” Whereas the
vice versa is used to describe the deductive method.
In an inductive learning lesson, the teachers design and facilitate activities that guide the learners
in discovering a rule. Activities may involve comparing and contrasting, grouping and labeling, or
fining patterns. In mathematics classes. The learners engage in inductive learning when they
observe examples and then, later on generalize a rule or formula based on the example.
Inductive Learning

There are four processes that the students go through when given an inductive learning activity:
(1) observe,
(2) hypothesize,
(3) collect evidence, and
(4) generalize.
Observe

Children love looking for patterns. When given many

examples, it is natural for them to look for similarities and
assume rules. So, the key is to give them examples to observe.
These examples must be well-thought-of so that the student
would eventually arrive at a complete rule.
For instance, if you want your students to discover the rule in
multiplying decimal numbers, it is better to use the examples in
set B than those in a set A so that the students’ observation
would focus in the “placement” of the decimal point
Hypothesize

The students form rules in their minds as they observe. In this stage, encourage the students to
share their thoughts. Assure them that there are no wrong hypotheses. Acknowledge the variety
of the students’ ideas but also streamline them to later on test only the unique hypotheses.
In our example, the hypothesis , “place the decimal point according to the number of the
decimal places of the factors” may be considered the same as, “from the whole number product,
move the decimal point to the left according to the decimal places of the factors.
Collect Evidence

Here, the students test their hypothesis by applying their hypothesis to other examples.
If there is more than one hypothesis generated by the class, intentionally give a counterexample
for them to test.
Generalization

Finally, the students would now formalize their hypothesis to a rule. Support the students so that
they would use mathematical terms in stating their rule.
For example, instead of saying “the number of digits to the right of the decimal point,” lead the
students to say, “the number of decimal places.” Doing this would develop the students’
mathematical vocabulary and therefore their overall mathematical communication skills.
 CONCEPT
ATTAINMENT
Concept Attainment

Concept attainment is another instructional strategy anchored to the constructivist learning

theory. In this strategy, the concept is not directly taught to the students. Instead, the students
understand and learn concepts by identifying common attributes through comparison and
contrast of examples and non examples.
Since concept attainment is used in understanding meanings, it is often applied in English
vocabulary lessons. However, it is also useful in learning mathematical terminologies.
Concept Attainment

There are five simple steps in the concept attainment strategy:

(1) presentation of examples and non examples,
(2) listing of common attributes,
(3) adding student-given examples,
(4) defining the mathematical term, and
(5) checking of understanding.
Presentation of examples and non-examples

Alternately give examples and non-examples. The students should be able to guess some
common attributes based on the examples alone. Non-examples are given to confirm their
guesses.
Listing of common attributes

List down the common attributes given by the students. This may be done as a whole class or by
pairs or triads first. Some listed attributes may be later crossed out as the listing of examples
and non examples go on.
Adding student-given examples

Ask the students to provide their own examples based on the listed attributes. Then confirm
whether their suggestion is indeed an example. Based on the students’ answers, some of the
attributes may be revised to make them clearer for the students.
Defining the mathematical term

Help the students come up with a word or phrase for the concept. The exact term may not come
from them, especially when it is too technical (e.g., polyhedron), but the etymology of the word
may be derived from them (e.g., many polygonal faces).
Checking of understanding

To verify that the students have understood the concept, give them a list and ask them whether
each item on it is an example or a non-example.
Summary

✓ Not all word problems develop problem-solving skills. A good use of the problem-solving strategy involves a realistic
problem, ample time for students to thsing about the problem, a venue to engage the students in mathematical discourse.

✓ Inductive learning is about the students discovering the mathematical concepts by themselves with the teacher as
guide. In this strategy, the students observe, hypothesize, collect evidence and generalize.

✓ Mathematics is considered a language with its own set of jargons. Mathematical terms can also be defined through
discovery by applying the concept attainment strategy.