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ERIC Number: EJ1329808
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jan
Pages: 10
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0025-5769
EISSN: N/A
Promoting Exploration through Synthesis
Huang, WenYen
Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, v115 n1 p26-35 Jan 2022
The study of mathematics is often described as the science of patterns (Resnik 1981), and the cognitive tasks involving the search, recognition, and assessment of patterns are fundamental to learning mathematics. Patterning activities lead students to a better understanding of dependent relations among representations, create a transparent way for students to explore the underlying mathematical structure (Moss and Beatty 2006; Wilkie and Clarke 2016), and encourage students to begin generalizing (Lee 1996; Mulligan, Oslington, and English 2020). On the basis of these principles, the Standards for Mathematical Practice (NGA Center and CCSSO 2010, SMP 7) expect students to discern patterns in relation to making use of structure. "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (NCTM 2000) also acknowledges the influence of pattern exploration activities to further students' algebraic thinking. A typical patterning activity comes in the form of a numeric or a geometric figural sequence in which students are asked to predict other instance(s) of the sequence and discover the general "rule" or algebraic function that represents the relationship. In this article, Jason Huang focuses on another instructional use of patterning, wherein students first conduct or observe a series of experiments and then investigate the mathematical relationships on the basis of their patterns found across the results.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-9840; Fax: 703-476-2570; e-mail: publicationsdept@nctm.org; Web site: https://pubs.nctm.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A