Task Analysis in COACTIV: Examining the Potential for Cognitive Activation in German Mathematics Classrooms

Abstract

Although COACTIV did not gather data directly by means of classroom observation, it nevertheless provided concrete insights into the mathematics instruction provided, by reconstructing learning situations at the task level. Specifically, the tasks actually assigned by the COACTIV teachers were analyzed as documents of mathematics instruction, being classified according to a newly developed classification system with a focus on the potential for cognitive activation. The structure and scope of this classification system are presented in this chapter. As a complement to the self-report measures discussed in Chap. 6, the tasks submitted by the COACTIV teachers provide real, “objective” evidence of the content of mathematics instruction at the end of lower secondary education in Germany. The results presented in Chap. 6 and in this chapter support each other in indicating that mathematics instruction in Germany tends to offer little potential for cognitive activation. Yet, as Chap. 9 shows, exposure to more cognitively demanding tasks has positive effects on student learning gains. On the meta-level, our findings provide evidence for the theoretical argument that the tasks administered play a key role in promoting students’ mathematical learning—and that tasks are thus indeed suitable indicators of cognitive activation in the classroom.