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Many people have negative memories about doing mathematics in school. To change this outcome, teachers are working to create spaces where students experience intellectual safety while learning. When math is taught in ways that welcome students' ideas when they are in-progress, learning mathematics can be less threatening and more personally meaningful. One productive approach is to treat the process of doing mathematics as generating a rough draft, seeking feedback and alternative perspectives, and revising the draft. Students are familiar with rough drafts in English language arts, so why not bring rough drafting into math class?
Rough draft thinking is a process of continuously and iteratively developing new understandings, which contrasts with a more typical experience of doing mathematics -- trying to compute a correct answer quickly. Correct answers are only a small part of what it means to understand math.
Join Amanda Jansen to think about how mathematical understandings can be developed and refined through a spirit of rough drafting. She will share examples of how middle school and high school mathematics teachers in Delaware have implemented rough draft thinking in their classrooms.
Amanda Jansen is a Professor in the mathematics education program area in the School of Education, and she has a joint appointment in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Her research addresses how teachers can create more engaging and motivating mathematics learning experiences for students.