The role of discussion in mathematics

Abstract

This study focuses on the role of discussion in Mathematics. A questionnaire was given to all Mathematics teachers in Maltese State Secondary Schools, to see whether discussion is considered important, what type of discussion is being promoted in the classroom and what difficulties teachers encounter when they do discussion. A case study was carried out with two different groups of Form I students, one from a Junior Lyceum and the other from an Area Secondary School. During this case study, the different groups were video-taped whilst working on two activities involving discussion. This study was done with the aim of comparing the discussion ability of both groups and identifying the difficulties involved in trying to promote discussion.