Teaching Reflection and Action Research - The Path to Teacher Development

Author: Shen Jiliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Should students "learn to do" or "learn to understand"? The new curriculum standards emphasize that mathematics learning should focus not only on the results of students' learning but also on the process. I believe what is more important is the students' thinking process, meaning we should help them learn to understand. During the recent teaching of the multiplication algorithm, I truly realized the importance of helping students learn to understand. When teaching this content for the time, I did not guide students to analyze the principles behind it. Under the teacher's dominance, by the end of the lesson, most students could "mimic like a cat painting a tiger" to use the vertical form to multiply a multi-digit number by a single-digit number, achieving the goal of teaching them to "learn to do." However, upon closer analysis, it became clear that the students did not truly "learn to understand," which left a time bomb for their future learning of multi-digit multiplication by multi-digit numbers. After analyzing the reasons for the failure of this lesson, in another class, I adjusted my teaching approach. I focused on the intrinsic connections between knowledge, allowing students to gradually understand the principles through attempts and discussions, ultimately reaching consensus. Moreover, in this lesson, I made a bold attempt. After students tried to calculate the result of 8 × 3, I encouraged them to raise the problems they encountered during their calculations. I then summarized their questions and wrote them on the blackboard in real time, turning them into shared issues. Students raising questions reflected their desire to solve problems, and when they helped each other address the issues they cared about, they naturally focused their attention and engaged in genuine thinking—this is the best of student participation in the learning process.