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Building Thinking Classrooms: Conditions for Problem-Solving

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Posing and Solving Mathematical Problems

Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

Abstract

In this chapter, I first introduce the notion of a thinking classroom and then present the results of over 10 years of research done on the development and maintenance of thinking classrooms. Using a narrative style, I tell the story of how a series of failed experiences in promoting problem-solving in the classroom led first to the notion of a thinking classroom and then to a research project designed to find ways to help teachers build such a classroom. Results indicate that there are a number of relatively easy-to-implement teaching practices that can bypass the normative behaviours of almost any classroom and begin the process of developing a thinking classroom.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    At the time, I was only informed by Mason (2002). Since then, I have been informed by an increasing body of literature on noticing (Fernandez, Llinares, & Valls, 2012; Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010; Mason, 2011; Sherin, Jacobs, & Philipp, 2011; van Es, 2011).

  2. 2.

    Levelling (Schoenfeld, 1985) is a term given to the act of closing of, or interrupting, students’ work on tasks for the purposes of bringing the whole of the class (usually) up to certain level of understanding. It is most commonly seen when a teacher ends students work on a task by showing how to solve the task.

  3. 3.

    This research is now informed also by Norton and McCloskey (2008) and Anderson and Shattuck (2012).

  4. 4.

    In Canada, grade 12 students are typically 16–18 years of age, grade 11 students 15–18 and grade 10 students 14–17. The age variance is due to a combination of some students fast-tracking to be a year ahead of their peers and some students repeating or delaying their grade 11 mathematics course.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Peter Liljedahl

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  1. Peter Liljedahl
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Correspondence to Peter Liljedahl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Patricio Felmer

  2. University of Helskini, Helsinki, Finland

    Erkki Pehkonen

  3. University of Georgia, Athens, USA

    Jeremy Kilpatrick

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Liljedahl, P. (2016). Building Thinking Classrooms: Conditions for Problem-Solving. In: Felmer, P., Pehkonen, E., Kilpatrick, J. (eds) Posing and Solving Mathematical Problems. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28021-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28023-3

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