Constructivist Learning Design In Singapore Mathematics Classrooms

In the recent recommendations made in the Singapore Secondary Mathematics curriculum, teachers are encouraged to embark on pedagogical practices that go beyond the mastery of the necessary mathematical content. These practices should provide students with opportunities to experience the discipline of mathematics deeply, such as communicating the reasoning of concepts and their connections through various mathematical tasks and activities, and applying concepts and skills learnt to new contexts, thereby building their confidence and interest for the subject. In addition, these practices should allow students to develop important 21st century competencies, such as critical and inventive thinking, and collaboration with others.

 

Current instructional practices in the secondary mathematics classroom are largely didactic and are inadequate to support these learning experiences. Therefore, there is a need for teachers to shift their pedagogical approaches to those that embody constructivist principles, which are better aligned to the recommendations made. Constructivist learning designs such as Productive Failure (PF; Kapur, 2008), the Open Ended Approach (Becker & Shimada, 1997), and the Post-Tea House Teaching Approach (Tan, 2013) have been proven efficacious in Asian mathematics classrooms. Despite that, a major challenge is to ensure their sustainability in teacher practice, i.e., whether teachers are able to continue to employ them not only in the manner intended by its designers, but also to adapt them such that they become a part of their instructional repertoire.

 

Considering the recommendations and constraints, the “Constructivist Learning Design in Singapore Mathematics Classrooms” project was conceived to

• develop and validate a constructivist learning design (CLD) that teachers can leverage for the instruction of secondary level mathematics, and
• develop teachers’ expertise in implementing and employing constructivist learning design, and
• ensure teachers’ efforts in the classroom are supported not only by a Networked Learning Community (NLC)

 

The research project started in February 2018 with an aim to share lesson design packages in secondary mathematics focusing on deeper learning of mathematical concepts. To date, a total of 8 CLD units were developed and enacted in 10 schools, involving more than 40 teachers and 1300 students.