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RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2011 www.PosterPresentations.com Blended Mathematical Collaboration using a Wiki, GeoGebra and Jing Research “[S]tudents need the opportunity not only to hear what the teacher is teaching, but actually converse and articulate their own understanding of the content being presented” (Piccolo, Harbaugh, Carter, Capraro & Capraro, 2008, p. 404). Professional Vision: “Communication is an essential part of mathematics and mathematics education. It is a way of sharing ideas and clarifying understanding. Through communication, ideas become objects of reflection, refinement, discussion, and amendment” (NCTM, 2000, p. 60). “The Ontario Association for Mathematics Education envisions a learning environment where…[s]tudents engage in inquiry, pose questions, and actively discuss their understandings with one another” (OAME website). Ontario Mathematics Curriculum Policy: "Communication is an essential process in learning mathematics. Through communication, students are able to reflect upon and to clarify ideas, relationships, and mathematical arguments" (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005, p. 16). In Ontario, the communication process expectation, which is to be integrated into student learning in all areas of each elementary and secondary mathematics course, states that: “Students will communicate mathematical thinking orally, visually, and in writing, using mathematical vocabulary and a variety of appropriate representations, and observing mathematical conventions” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005, p. 46). Communication in Mathematics Mathematics Communication in a Net Generation: Changing Possibilities Combining Tools to Facilitate Blended Collaboration in Mathematics Implementing Blended Collaboration References The Net Generation In 2011, 97% of Canadians, ages 15 to 24, participated in online social networking (comScore, 2011). Youth communicate online, not via e-mail or bulletin boards, but through sites where their input is presented in brief comments, images, and video (comScore, 2010; 2011). Changing Possibilities In mathematics, effective communication requires a precision that is greater than that in social discourse and employs special terms and symbols that present additional technical demands. In the past, online asynchronous collaborative learning environments did not support the simple exchange of mathematical ideas in symbol or image forms (Nason & Woodruff, 2004). Now, “Communicating with mathematical expressions on the Internet is not as easy as communicating with regular text, but there are tools that make it possible." (Hodges & Hunger, 2011, p. 43) Project Goal: Making It Simpler & Providing Build-On Potential Building mathematical expressions using web publishing tools can be complex and tedious. Today’s youth prefer the more immediate and natural communication afforded by audio and video. Web publishing tools display mathematical expressions as graphic images. Thus they cannot be picked up by others and employed as starting points for additional mathematical exploration. They lack "build-on" potential. A course wiki with embedded GeoGebra applets and Jing videos may be a solution. Context comScore. (2010). comScore releases August 2010 U.S. online video rankings. Reston, VA:comScore, Inc. http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/9/comScore_Releases_August_2010_U.S._ Online_Video_Rankings comScore. (2011). It’s a social world: Top 10 need-to-knows about social networking and where it’s headed. Reston, VA:comScore, Inc. http://www2.comscore.com/l/1552/ing-and-Where-it-is-headed-pdf/2xfxdy Hodges, Charles B.; Hunger, Gail M. (2011). Communicating mathematics on the Internet: Synchronous and asynchronous tools. TechTrends, 55(5), 39-44. Hufferd-Ackles, K., Fuson, K. C., & Gamoran-Sherin, M. (2004). Describing levels and components of a math-talk learning community. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35(2), 81-116. Nason, R., & Woodruff, E. (2004). Online collaborative learning in mathematics: Some necessary innovations. In T. S. Roberts (Ed.), Online collaborative learning: Theory and practice (pp. 103-131). Hershey, PA: Information Science Pub. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM]. (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM. http://standardstrial.nctm.org/document/chapter3/comm.htm Ontario Association for Mathematics Education [OAME]. (2011). A vision for learning mathematics. Toronto: OAME. http://www.oame.on.ca/main/index1.php?lang=en&code=principles Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 9 and 10: Mathematics, 2005 (revised). Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/math910curr.pdf Piccolo, D., Harbaugh, A., Carter, T., Capraro, M., & Capraro, R. (2008). Quality of instruction: Examining discourse in middle school mathematics instruction. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(3), 376-410. Course Principles of Mathematics, Grade 10, Academic (MPM2D) Participants 23 students : 11 male, 12 female General Panet High School, Petawawa, Ontario Wiki GeoGebra Jing Phase1: Setting up the environment Phase 3: Embedding GeoGebra applets Phase 5: Commenting on each others’ work Phase 2: Posting mathematics text Phase 4: Embedding Jing videos Phase 6: Combining Skills Course Tasks Jill Lazarus & Geoffrey Roulet Renfrew County District School Board Faculty of Education, Queen’s University Phase 1: Setting up the classroom environment 1. Developing a “math-talk learning community” (Hufferd-Ackles, Fuson & Gamoran-Sherin, 2004). Establishing mathematics communication and collaboration as a classroom norm. 2. Introducing the wiki with students visiting the site for course information. 3. Using GeoGebra in class to present mathematics. Phase 2: Posting mathematics text to wiki pages Students post a word problem and an algebraic model in text to their own pages on the wiki. Phase 3: Embedding GeoGebra applets on wiki pages Students return to their original problem and post a graphical model using GeoGebra. Phase 4: Embedding Jing videos on wiki pages Students create a GeoGebra animation and record this in a Jing video that is posted to the wiki as a Seasons’ Greetings card. Phase 5: Commenting on each others’ work Phase 6: Combining skills in a collaborative exploration Findings, Implications, Questions & Future Research Need to cater to wide range in Internet experience, skills and motivation Enthusiasm and engagement increased when the class had more computer access and developed experience and comfort. Assessment – Can we expect work to be presented via the Web? Next step is to conduct discourse analysis of student wiki contributions and look for evidence of growth in understanding. Online
