Reciprocal Teaching and Problem SolvingOverview
Reciprocal teaching is an excellent method for teaching problem solving. Even though a student might understand the mathematical concepts being taught to them in school, being able to use the information to discover new things and solve problems is a little more difficult to do. As a future math teacher, it is something I value and want to help my students excel at. Studies have proved that using the reciprocal teaching method has improved students problem solving skills and it is something that I think all students should know how to do so that they can discover new things. |
Skills and Insights Gained
Before I wrote this paper, one of the hardest things I had to do was decide what my signature pedagogy was. What did I think was an important thing to do in classrooms in order to help students become better problem solvers? I think one of the best ways you learn is by reflection, and you can use reflection to help you learn problem solving as well. One of the reasons children have a hard time with problem solving, is because they don't know what exactly they are supposed to discover, or can not understand and use all of the information in the question. When I was doing research, I found reciprocal teaching. I had heard of it before to help build reading comprehension, but then I found articles about how it can be used in math. Which made a lot of sense to me because they need to be able to comprehend the math problem they are trying to solve and math is known as the "universal language". Reciprocal teaching has 4 steps, they are predicting, clarifying, solving, and summarizing.
- I read numerous articles on reciprocal teaching and how it can be used in math classrooms.
- I looked at studies that showed evidence of reciprocal teaching improving problem solving skills in students.
- I used the information I had learned, and the research I had done, and wrote up a research paper.
- I presented my information to my class.
Lessons Learned
When I am teaching problem solving, reciprocal teaching is a method that I will use. Now that I know so much about it and how I can use it in a math classroom, I will be able to use it effectively. Problem solving is one of the hardest things I think I would have to teach my students and reciprocal teaching will help me accomplish this. I can see where my students need extra help, where they mess up, what questions they have, and how I can help them improve their problem solving skills. The students can also get better at solving problems, which is the biggest focus in math classes, by using this practice. I tutor high schools in mathematics and I have encouraged them to use some methods of reciprocal teaching and it has really helped them out. Once they figure out a problem, I make them relay back to me exactly how they did it so that I know that they understand it, and that they know that they understand it and feel accomplished.
Importance
This research has taught me a lot about a wonderful effective method to help students improve their problem solving skills. With my knowledge on it, I will be able to use it in my classroom, and also help other teachers use it as well. I believe that it can help students solve problems, and become more confident in their abilities. I already know that I can teach math concepts, and many other teachers can do it as well. However, something I think needs to improve in the schools is teaching students how to solve problems, and how to understand the process so that they can do it over and over again. Reciprocal teaching is a way that this can be improved. For those who want to study math, there is a certain type of thinking used when you solve these problems. You have to know how to analyze information, and have a little creativity to get to a solution. However, you can only really feel proud of your solution if you understand how you figured it out and it will encourage you to solve more and more problems, which is something that I want to develop in my students. I want them to think the way they need to think to be excellent problem solvers.