Mathematical investigations : the impact of students’ enacted activity on design, development, evaluation and implementation

Abstract

This paper is based on a year-long action research study that I conducted in a Form Four mathematics class in a girls’ state secondary school in Malta. The focus is on presenting the framework that was used to plan, develop, design, classify, implement and evaluate investigative tasks. This framework hence provides principles and guidelines on examining the differentiation between the tasks as designed and foreseen by the teacher and the actual instructional activities as undertaken by the students. For the teacher-researcher, students’ perspectives become crucial within the developmental cyclic process of designing, modifying, implementing and evaluating tasks. The study reported in this paper shows that when students’ contributions (students’ classroom experiences, responses and understandings) are valued, the teacher-researcher gains more informed knowledge and improved understanding about the design and implementation of investigative tasks.