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Using Content-Specific Open-Ended Tasks

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Teaching with Tasks for Effective Mathematics Learning

Part of the book series: Mathematics Teacher Education ((MTEN,volume 104))

Abstract

This chapter explains the ways that open-ended tasks might contribute to learning, it gives the details of a specific open-ended task and how it might be used in a “lesson”, it indicates the challenges that teachers may experience when using such tasks, it presents a range of examples of this type of task to illustrate the scope and nature of the tasks, and it summarises some research on teachers’ reactions to the tasks. The fundamental argument is that such tasks are accessible by students, able to be used readily by teachers, foster a range of mathematical actions, and contribute to some of the important goals of learning mathematics.

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Sullivan, P., Clarke, D., Clarke, B. (2013). Using Content-Specific Open-Ended Tasks. In: Teaching with Tasks for Effective Mathematics Learning. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 104. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4681-1_6

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