Rethinking Teaching and Learning: Who's Doing the Thinking?

• Date: Saturday, April 10, 2025 

• Location: Kellogg Community College North Avenue Campus (450 North Ave, Battle  Creek, MI, 49017)

• Facilitators: Dr. April Ström and Dr. Scott Adamson

Overview

The workshop will focus on teaching and learning approaches that are underscored by the following guiding principles**:

1. Students’ deep engagement in mathematical thinking 

2. Instructors’ interest in and use of student thinking 

3. Student-to-student interaction

4. Instructors’ attention to equitable and inclusive practices

As such, the workshop will involve:

• Experiencing  evidence-based teaching practices from a student perspective, then reflecting on the learning from an instructor’s perspective;

• Briefly reflecting on lesson design and implementation so that participants can create their own lessons in the future focused on rich mathematical tasks;

• Facilitating these tasks using meaningful mathematics discourse, paying particular attention to communication (teacher-to-student and student-to-student) and critiquing the reasoning of other students; and

• Supporting all students with diverse backgrounds and mathematical preparation through equitable and inclusive teaching practices.

Overall, the training is informed by the works of:

• The 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, by Smith and Stein, 

• The Observation Protocol for Active Learning, by April Strom and Scott Adamson, and

• Building Thinking Classrooms, by Peter Liljedahl
  
  

**Reference

Laursen, S. L., Rasmussen, C. (2019). I on the prize: Inquiry approaches in undergraduate mathematics. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, (5), 1-18.