ERIC Number: EJ1043956
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0839
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Rethinking Factors
Ziv Feldman
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, v20 n4 p230-236 Nov 2014
This article describes an exciting exploration-based activity in which students develop an alternative definition of factor that can help them solve problems like the one presented above. Students work in groups to collect data, analyze the data to make conjectures, and then spend a significant amount of time debating and justifying their conjectures. Although designed for prospective teachers, the activity can be modified for middle school classrooms. Details are given about how to implement the activity in a middle school classroom as well as what we learned from past enactments with prospective elementary teachers. It concludes with a discussion of the activity's potential to impact students' related work with greatest common factors (GCF) and least common multiples (LCM).
Descriptors: Learning Activities, Active Learning, Problem Solving, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Middle School Students, Secondary School Mathematics, Teaching Methods, Mathematical Concepts, Concept Formation, Prediction, Mathematical Logic
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1502. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-3702; Fax: 703-476-2970; e-mail: orders@nctm.org; Web site: http://www.nctm.org/publications/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A