Implementing productive practice in a grade 9 Mathematics class: A design research study

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Date

2024

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

Several attempts have been made to encourage practice in Mathematics, but no consensus has been reached to implement practice to promote mastery of procedural fluency in integer arithmetic in a grade 9 Mathematics class. To determine the role of practice in Mathematics, the research addressed the significance of “productive practice” to promote mastery of procedural fluency in integer arithmetic in a grade 9 Mathematics class as forthcoming from the National Senior Certificate diagnostic reports on Mathematics. The study focused more on procedural fluency in integer arithmetic in a grade 9 Mathematics class. Hence, the research question of the study was: “Does productive practice promote mastery of procedural fluency in integer arithmetic?” In the study, I gave learners work related to procedural fluency in integer arithmetic and asked them to analyse the procedures and reflect on possible solutions. Observations of learners working with the designed activities and a teacher reflective journal were the types of data collection methods that I used in the study. The results were discussed per activity and the groups` written responses to the questions in the five designed activities dealing with integer arithmetic in a grade 9 Mathematics content. The results emphasis was on how the groups responded to designed activities. The objective of this study is to contribute towards ways to improve achievement outcomes in school Mathematics.

Description

Magister Educationis - MEd

Keywords

productive practice, grade 9 mathematics, design research study, integer arithmetic, procedural fluency

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