Action Research Draft Report

Increasing Higher Level Thinking Through Math Journals

Our 4^th grade Math and Writing scores on the TAKS have been lower in our African American sub-group for two consecutive  years.  When I first started my research I focused on how to increase depth and complexity in higher level thinking to increase our 4^th grade mathematics scores on TAKS.   I interviewed and observed several teachers from different grade levels to understand and gauge the level of complexity of questions they asked their students during math lessons.   The teachers had provided their students with several strategies to solve problems.  The students were successful in going through the process of solving the problems but had difficulty understanding  what, how, or how to explain the process to solve the problem in their own words.  For example,  the students had learned various strategies for addition but were unable to identify a strategy to use to solve the problem, they just knew to add.  Most of the students continued to have difficulty solving problems because they have not developed the higher level thinking needed in problem solving.  The students were unable to transfer knowledge or reasoning to solve the problem, they just do the mechanics (strategies) of solving a problem.

This raised even more questions and concerns for me as I continued to research higher level questioning in math lessons.  I did not understand how students could not transfer the information and strategies the teachers had provided in math lessons to problem solve.  Math Lessons should be student centered not teacher centered to develop problem solvers and inquisitive learners.  Some questions I asked myself were Are teachers providing students with opportunities to process information from long to short term memory by asking higher level thinking questions?  Are students provided opportunities to analyze, compare, contrast, group, infer, sequence, evaluate, hypothesize, predict, and speculate throughout a math lesson.  These questions and research lead down me a path of increasing higher level thinking through math journaling.

"Incorporating writing assignments into a mathematics course helps students develop as both writers and mathematicians.  Drake and Amspaugh (1994) observe that teachers who add writing to their class often find it easier to recognize and diagnose the nature of students' conceptual problems.  In addition, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states that, "the very act of commuicatin clarifies thinking and forces students to engage in doing mathematics" (p.214).

I began to have a strong belief through my research that writing is an integral component to understanding and applying mathematics.

This information provided myself and three colleagues with a desire to increase higher level thinking through math journals in our classrooms.   On a daily basis we implemented math journals using math vocabulary, pictures, and student made resources in order to develop and improve their higher level thinking skills.  The teachers and students will complete a questionnaire at the beginning of implementing the math journals and several months later. 

This is the section for interview answers from teachers and students. Description of implementing math journals. Findings of implementing math journals on a daily basis.

References

1. Burns, Marilyn & Silbey, Robyn (Ap 2001) Math Journals Boost Real Learning. Instructor, v110 no7 p.18-20.

2. Edgington, Anthony & Dick, Rodney F., Assistant WR Coordinators.  Using Writing to Learn Mathematics. WRite Away! The University of Louisville’s Writing-across-the-Curriculum Newsletter. Retrieved on January 31, 2006 from http://www.louisville.edu/provost/wroffice/math72.html

3. Kasparek, Rebecca Finley (8 Apr 1996) Effects of Using Writing-To-Learn Mathematic. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association

4. Liebars, Cathy (Feb 1997) Journal Writing for Mathematics Teacher Education. www.ceemost.csupomona.edu

5. Mason, Ralph T. & McFeetors, P Janelle(Oct 2002) Interactive writing in mathematics class: Getting started. The Mathematics Teacher Vol 95 Iss7, pg.532