Breakout Room #1

Christopher Charles (University of Alberta)

Comparing the effects of two inquiry-based teaching strategies on secondary students’ conceptual understanding and achievement in mathematics: A mixed-methods approach

This study compared the effects that Investigation and Exemplification, two inquiry-based teaching strategies, had on secondary students’ achievement and conceptual understanding of the three primary trigonometric ratios. Thirty-five fourth form (grade 10) students from one secondary school in Dominica were randomly assigned to two groups. The researcher taught both groups; one using Investigation and the other using Exemplification. Mixed-methods were used to analyze students’ responses on a pre-test and a post-test. Both groups had significant increases in achievement and conceptual understanding. However, the achievement and conceptual understanding of the Exemplification group was higher than that of the Investigation group.

Breakout Room #2

Fatima Assaf (University of Ottawa)

Understanding how language and mathematics intersect—From multilingual students’ learning experiences

The overall objective of this research study is to better understand multilingual learners’ mathematical experiences and meaning-making in a plurilingual educational setting. I assumed a sociocultural perspective that offers a promising epistemological conceptualization of children, their learning and language development as mediated by social, cultural, and historical contexts. One grade 2/3 classroom with 18 students from Eritrea, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria participated in the study. The data included observations, video recordings of students working on mathematics activities, copies of students’ work, and interviews with students. Since the focus is on how language and mathematics intersect, information from this study adds to the body of literature that could support educators as they plan mathematics learning for all learners in mathematics education.

Breakout Room #3

Jimmy Avoseh (Lakehead University)

Analysing teachers’ perceptions of using multiple representations to solve mathematics problems

Teachers are encouraged to incorporate a range of multiple representations in their teaching and solving of mathematical concepts. This study discusses the use of multiple representations among Ontario middle school teachers when teaching patterning and algebra. The study applied a concurrent mixed methods approach, exploring in-service teachers’ goals for, beliefs about and knowledge of representations. A total of 20 teachers participated in the online survey and five participants were chosen for in-depth interviews. The research findings highlight the need for setting appropriate goals for using representations, and the critical role of teachers’ beliefs and knowledge of representations.