Mathematics Education Seminar

Why Promoting Inquiry-Based Mathematics Teaching Did Not Work

Michiel Doorman, Freudenthal Institute

Over the past decades many efforts have been taken to design and implement inquiry-based approaches to learning mathematics. However, current trends seem to stress failures of these approaches and advocate direct instruction. In this presentation I will first describe attempts to implement inquiry-based teaching methods for inclusive mathematics education and for preparing students to become actively engaged and responsible citizens. I will outline the design research process, its theoretical basis, the designed products and some quantitative results. Finally, I will turn to the title of the talk, discuss the suggested failures, and conclude that the main mistake is rooted in framing inquiry-based approaches as an alternative (with minimal guidance) for traditional teaching.

Mathematics Education Seminars are conducted monthly; additional information can be found on the seminar webpage

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