Teachers Writing about Math: Exploring Inquiry in an Online Community

• Main Author: McLoughlin, Brenda
• Other Authors: McDougall, Doug
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: mathematics; inquiry; professional development; problem solving; online; collaboration; three-part lesson; mathematics reform; constructivism; lesson study; student engagement; differentiation; constructive criticism; 0280; 0524; 0727
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33666

This study followed three elementary-school teachers as they engaged in online discussions about inquiry-based mathematics teaching, and wrote and tested inquiry lessons for their own classrooms. In an inquiry lesson, students bring their own knowledge to open-ended problem situations, and build on that knowledge as they try out solutions and share their ideas with others. Evidence from the study suggests that teachers may turn to inquiry as an antidote to the way they learned about mathematics as schoolchildren, and that participating in an online community is a way for teachers to gain new mathematical and pedagogical knowledge and to change their conceptual understanding of inquiry-based teaching. The study results indicate that online professional development can help teachers improve their practice, but that care must be taken to build social ties within the group, and to structure tasks in a way that encourages collaboration and constructive criticism.