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*Inquiry Topic Change* - New Reference List

Inquiry Topic: How can we increase learner autonomy and encourage the development of self-regulated learning strategies in math classes? How can we encourage students to become more active learners? How can we guide learning while still giving students freedom to learn and explore on their own terms? References Adediwura, A. A. (2012). Effect of peer and self-assessment on male and female students’ self-efficacy and self-autonomy in the learning of mathematics. Gender and Behaviour, 10(1), 4492-4508. This study found that using peer and self-assessment techniques enhanced students’ self-efficacy towards learning mathematics. Participating in assessment allowed the students to be more involved in decision-making and personal assumption of responsibility. It also allowed them to acquire new learning skills and strategies by allowing them to reflect on their performance. These new skills and strategies could then be applied in future learning. Ahmed, W., van der Werf, G.
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Reference List for Inquiry Project

Inquiry Questions: How can fine arts education, specifically dancing, be integrated into mathematics instructions in a way that is meaningful and works to deepen understanding of mathematical concepts? What are the benefits of movement-based learning? References Anderson, A. (2015). Dance/movement therapy’s influence on adolescents’ mathematics, socio-emotional, and dance skills. The Education Forum, 79(3), 230-247. This article discusses how integrating dance/movement therapy into math classrooms can be beneficial for students’ wellbeing and how it is especially helpful for students with learning and behavioral disabilities. Buranich, R. (2016). Math in motion: How integrating dance and into a math classroom affects a student’s ability to learn. Senior Honors Theses, 141, 1-51. This paper describes how integrating fine arts lessons into math classrooms can be beneficial for learning both the fine art and for learning mathematics. Dimondstein, G. (1985). The place of dan
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Entrance Slip: Embodied Learning

I think embodied learning is important in math classes if we want our students to actually understand the concepts on a deeper level. The way math is presented in school is often more as a series of steps you can follow to obtain the right answer. Without a deeper understanding of why this process worked and why this result is useful, the right answer is meaningless. I think there is some truth to the phrase "seeing is believing" in that it becomes much easier to understand something we can observe. This is why visual "proofs" can be useful even if they are not rigorous. They give us some intuition about why something is true. I think we probably use a certain amount of embodied learning without even realizing it. We use gestures when we speak, we use pictures and diagrams, we use real world examples. All these things help take math off of the page and into reality. Embodied ways of learning seem to be more natural for mathematics that is more concrete. As the mat
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Exit Slip - Inquiry Topic

For my inquiry project,  I would like to focus on the role of movement as a teaching tool in classrooms. The classic classroom can sometimes feel like an oppressive setting and I think the ability to learn while moving around could be very freeing. I think it is really cool when teachers can get students to learn in such a way that they aren't even aware that they are doing so. I also would really like to see how my two favourite activities, math and dance, can compliment each other. I am very excited about this idea in theory and I am interested in how I could do this practically in a way that actually does enhance learning and isn't just gimmicky or trivial.
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Entrance Slip: Marks in School

Before I entered the B.Ed program, I was very accustomed to getting assigned percentage grades for every assignment, exam, and course. Because this program mostly operates on a pass/fail system, for the first time I am being exposed to what it is like to be a student without being graded. On the one hand, I feel much less stressed about school while still feeling motivated to work hard and do well. There is less competition and less pressure to be perfect. On the other hand, sometimes I feel uncertain about whether or not the work I am turning in is actually good or just good enough to pass. Even when I receive qualitative feedback, it is much harder to interpret than quantitative feedback. I suppose my discomfort with not knowing exactly how well I am doing stems from growing up in a system focused on grades and competition. Maybe if I was more accustomed to an educational environment in which the focus was more on learning, I would feel less of a need to have my performance thoroughl
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Exit Slip: Short Films

I don't know if I would use the videos in a class because I don't really like the idea that the best way to get girls interested in math is by appealing to their aesthetic interests. From my perspective, this kind of thinking is strengthening gender stereotypes rather than fighting them. It makes it seems like the only way to get girls interested in math is by presenting it in a more feminine form. We don't need to masculinize math to appeal to boys so I don't think we should need to feminize it to appeal to girls. I worry that this might create some sort of divide between "regular math" and "girl math", that this is only perpetuating the idea that math is normally only made for boys. I did like the fields medal videos. I think it can be very inspiring to see people who love math explain why they are so passionate about it. I also think it is very beneficial to expose students to a diverse set of role models as a lack of relatable role models can b
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Making Students Feel Welcome

What might make you (or your students) feel welcomed or less-than-welcomed to a particular subject area or discipline in school? In making students feel welcomed, I think it is important to be inclusive in a way that does not single out those who are different. For example, in my university math classes I was often the only woman in the room. Sometimes this was explicitly pointed out by the professor who would address us as "lady and gentlemen". I appreciate that he was trying to be inclusive by not just referring to us as "guys" but instead it made me feel "othered". I felt much more welcomed in classes where the professors would just treat us as a group of students, not students who are gendered. I also think we can make students feel welcomed by the examples we use. I remember having to give a presentation on one of the Feynman lectures and in the lecture, Feynman uses an example involving having to rescue a "beautiful woman" who has fallen
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