d.
Planning the Work of Learners
The
teacher wanted to keep the work to one hour-long lesson if possible.
She thus planned a single investigation by pupils, and decided
to set up a relationship with a number of input variables and
just one out put with a complex mathematical relationship which
the pupils would not easily "spot". This would provide quite a
challenge for pupils to solve, and introduce all the issues about
systematic control of variables that she wanted to discuss during
and after the investigation.
She
decided that they would be able to keep a record of the best values
and results using the table in the spreadsheet rather than writing
on paper, and also write a brief report on what they had done
within Excel itself. They could then print out the table and report
to provide evidence for assessment.
Since
the work was focusing on higher order skills, rather than practising
techniques, she decided that pupils would learn best by working
in pairs in order to generate conjectures, discuss strategies,
and evaluate results.
Key
Skills: The teacher expected that the work would help pupils
develop their numeracy and mathematical concepts, particularly
in their understanding of place value. She also planned to develop
their problem solving abilities, through the explicit discussion
of strategies.
Questions
for Consideration
Try
out the spreadsheet FLOWER, and consider the pupils' task in relation
to a class that you might do this activity with.
- Is
it suitable?
- What
changes might you want to make?
- Identify
the advantages of:
- Individual
working
- Groups
of three or more
 Part
2: Teaching with ICT
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