Master's Thesis

Master of Education - Mathematics Education

Awarded by The Evergreen State College

Abstract

This research project examines the effects of student discourse and teacher questioning on students' conceptual understanding in a fifth-grade mathematics classroom. The research examines these two pedagogies from both student and teacher perspectives. The primary focus is on student learning: How does student discourse and high-press questioning affect students' conceptual understanding of mathematics? I collected the majority of the data during a five week period at the start of a school year in two heterogeneous fifth-grade classes taught by the researcher. Using mixed methods analysis I found that these pedagogies promoted on-task student talk enabling students to develop and refine their understanding of the mathematics. The pedagogies also promoted cooperation within the classroom as students worked together to conceptualize some of the big ideas they investigated. The secondary question addressed the teacher's experience implementing these student-centered pedagogies. In this respect, student discourse served as a highly valuable formative assessment, while high-press questioning facilitated student thinking.

Keywords: high-press questioning, student discourse, conceptual understanding, teacher-researcher

Master's Thesis (pdf)