Promoting Reasoning and Problem Solving with Tasks

Room to Grow - a Math Podcast

In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis continue the season 5 series on the Mathematics Teaching Practices from NCTM’s Principles to Actions, celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. This month’s practice is “Implement Tasks that Promote Reasoning and Problem Solving.” Our hosts being by expounding on the difference between selecting a task and implementing it, and that selecting a good task does not guarantee good implementation. They bust the idea that the only way to engage students in reasoning and problem solving is with a rich task, by considering how educators can weave together procedural learning with conceptual understanding.

Next, they connect reasoning and problem solving to the Standards of Mathematical Practice, particularly practices 7: Attend to and make use of structure and 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Capitalizing on students’ natural noticing and shining the light on the underlying mathematics leads to stronger connections and increasing students’ ability to generalize their understanding.

By building a foundation of reasoning and sense-making, and helping students understand that this is a resource for them tap into, that allows for the learning and engagement beyond rote classroom experiences.

Additional referenced content includes:

· NCTM’s Principles to Actions

· NCTM’s Taking Action series for grades K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12

· Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks article from Smith and Stein

· A Teacher’s Guide to Reasoning and Sense-Making from NCTM

Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [e-mail] . Be sure to connect with your hosts on X and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.