Blog Post

This task had students work through math problems, that were presented to them in a different form then they usually see. Students were given this worksheet and instructed to first count the number of dots on the left side of the domino and place that number under the part square. Then students were told to count the dots on the right side of the domino and place that number on the right side of the part square. Finally students were told to add the parts 1 and 2 together to get the total, or add up the number of dots on the domino. I would say this assignment is not higher level thinking, because this task is mostly memorizing. This task does not allow students to make the problem their own, or incorporating it into real world problems. The task is simply asking the students to add numbers together. The only thing the dominoes are doing for the students is providing them with a visual reference. This student told me he counted the dots on the left then continued counting the number of dots on the right, which would be your total.

Questions:

1.     Does the use of the dominoes provide students with a better understanding of how an addition problem works?

2.     Does the domino really help the students?

3.     Does the students understand that the use of dominos is just another way of making an addition problem?

I would try to find the answer to these questions by interviewing a wide range of students and ask them a couple of questions. I could ask them an addition problem without the visual aid of the domino, and then after they answered the questions, I would present them the same addition problem with the aid of the dominos. This would show me if they depend heavily on the picture or if they could see it’s a simple addition problem. If the student’s can’t answer the addition problem without the aid of the dominoes then this shows me they depend too much on the visual aid, and maybe they don’t mentally now the addition problem. These little interviews with the students will allow me to see what some students know and what others may not still understand.