Investigating the Impact of Field Trips on Teachers’ Mathematical Problem Posing

Abstract

This study examines the impact of field trip experiences on teachers’ mathematical problem posing. Teachers from a large urban public school system in the Midwest participated in a professional development program that incorporated experiential learning with mathematical problem formulation experiences. During 2 weeks of summer 2011, 68 teachers from eight low-achieving city schools explored city landmarks that were not only accessible to the general public but were also considered rich in mathematical connections. Field trips included museums, historical landmarks, a local airport, and an international sporting event. Following each field trip, teachers were asked to create inquiry-based mathematics problems grounded in these experiences to implement in their classrooms. This article discusses the impact field trips and accompanying professional development activities had on teachers’ ability to create problems that provide students with opportunities to engage in meaningful mathematics.

Exploring experiential learning processes in the context of an international school–university partnership

“…Since 2010, the network has maintained an active relationship with higher education partners in the United States -the teacher education units at the University of South Carolina and Auburn University (Virtue, 2017). The partnership has resulted in six study tours for network teachers in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia (2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and two study tours of Norway by faculty and students from the University of South Carolina (2013Carolina ( , 2015.…”

“…International and field‐based programs can provide effective professional learning for educators in many areas – art (Kushins, 2015), history and social studies (Blair, 2016; Call, 2019), mathematics (Coutney et al., 2014), and museum educators (Grenier & Sheckley, 2008) – and international experiences can also nurture leadership competency development (Sroufe et al., 2015). Moreover, short‐term group study‐abroad experiences can foster relationships and engagement that influence learning and support becoming a member of a knowledge community (Davis & Coryell, 2020).…”

Exploring junior secondary students’ plagiarism behavior

“…Unlike rote learning, inquiry PjBL focuses on students' acquisition of knowledge in a problem-solving context and is more effective in the development of inquiry skills (Cho and Brown, 2013). Stronger knowledge exchange is evident as teachers facilitate and encourage questions to strengthen students' decision-making, interpretation, and communication skills (Courtney et al, 2014), as well as their IL skills (Bowler, 2010). PjBL involves students in constructive investigation (Thomas, 2000), which emphasizes students scaffolding one another other through discussion and discourse (Case, 2006) in order to achieve a deeper understanding of a particular topic (Cho and Brown, 2013).…”