Investigating the changes in teachers' pedagogical practices through the use of the Mathematics Reasoning Heuristic (MRH) approach

Abstract

Our changing world needs many more mathematically literate individuals. Mathematical literacy can be defined, parallel to reading and writing literacy, as not only being able to understand the fundamental notions of mathematics, develop sophisticated mathematical models and evaluate someone else’s use of numbers and mathematical models but also being able to represent quantitative relations using algebraic reasoning and interpret and reflect on mathematical language patterns. In order to help students become mathematically literate, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has focused attention on students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics suggesting students need to be actively involved in the learning process using their experiences and prior knowledge. Along with this view on learning, understanding of teaching has also been revised in mathematics classrooms. Teachers now need to provide students with a challenging and supportive classroom environment in which they can build new knowledge by engaging in exploration of mathematical ideas by themselves. Since the publication of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics in 1989, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has paid special attention on teacher change, problem solving, and, more recently, using writing in mathematics classrooms for helping students develop thorough mathematical understanding and to becoming more mathematically literate. This change in the views of learning and teaching has placed students in the center of learning occurring in the classroom by altering students’ roles and requiring them to be actively involved in talking and writing in mathematics classrooms. The NCTM mandated that students at all levels should be able to use mathematical ideas in a