Week 11 - Reflection

       Find or take a photograph that can be used as a stimulus for a maths learning experience in measurement or space.
Upload it and list 3 open ended questions you would pose to the children. Support your ideas with literature.

Three open ended questions:

1.     Looking at this image on the board the height of. this structure is equivalent to 35.05 metres. Find an object in the classroom and work out how many you would need to create the same height as this Lego structure.

2.     Using the Stimulus as a guide, partner up and work out the height of the other person in metres using a tape measure or metre ruler. How did you get close to 35 metres? list all your ideas and working out on a piece of paper.

3.     The height of our classroom reaches from around 8 – 10 metres high. Using this as a basis measure up how much higher the ceiling would need to be to fit the Lego tower.

The reason this specific stimulus was chosen since it will promote a stronger involvement from the students. Through targeting the interests of the students, they will start to talk about the Lego pieces and be intrigued as to how the tower is so tall. It is in my belief that the open-ended questions engage the learners to step into the realm of reasoning and communicating  ( NESA , 2018) to solve the questions and collaboratively work to find an answer. The questions are moderated to suit an array of learners keeping in mind the variation of levels they may be at. Within the classroom, the students with sensory preferences such as visual learners could benefit immensely from this activity as they are learning through seeing the image and adapting that to the task at hand ( AAMT , 2001). I view this as vital as each student will have a different preference on how they learn and in a future classroom I would need to adhere to this and adapt my teaching to suit these needs.  Tok , Bahtiyar & Karalok ( 2015 ) provided a study that synthesised the idea that teaching math in a creative manner has positive learning implications such as : Lessening math anxiety , increasing math achievement and improving individual attitudes regarding math. This study implicates the need for teachers to incorporate creativity within the math lesson and promote the interests of the students so that both improvement in academic achievement and mathematic interest can be a reality . 

Tok , S., & Bahtiyar , A. , & Karalok , S . ( 2015). The Effects of Teaching Mathematics Creatively on Academic Achievement , Attitudes towards Mathematics , and Mathematics Anxiety. International Journal of Innovation In Science and Mathematics Education, 23 ( 4) 1-24. Retrieved from : https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/CAL/article/view/7887/10018

AAMT 2001  Mathematics Shaping Australia :  Proceedings of The Eighteenth Biennial Conference of The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers INC ( 2001) . Adelaide South Australia : The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers INC. Retrieved from : file:///Users/parisgalanis/Downloads/Maths_Shaping_Aust.pdf

Nsw Education Standards authority ( 2018 ) . Outcomes. Retrieved from : http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/mathematics/mathematics-k10/outcomes/

Guinness World Record. ( 2015 ) . Tallest structure built with LEGO bricks . [ Photograph]. Retrieved from : http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-structure-built-with-interlocking-plastic-bricks