In Teaching By Science, a post reviewed 44 meta-analyses on math instruction.
You can see all of its results here.
The image above shows the strategies it suggests showed a “very large effect.”
I didn’t even understand what two of them were – use of heuristics and 7E Instructional Model NS.
So I looked them up.
Here’s what I found about heuristics:
At its most basic, a heuristic is “a short cut in problem solving; it is a rule for reducing the number of mental operations (or information-processing steps) taken to solve a problem” (Gray, 1994, p. 395).
Sometimes heuristics are taught by teachers, sometimes students come across them on their own. It is important to note that heuristics are general strategies that a student can use on their own to help identify and solve a math problem (Gersten et al., 2009).
Peer tutoring, a simplification of the problem by the teacher, or the use of math implements (such as a calculator or ruler) are not considered heuristics. Neither are algorithms – for example, the slope intercept equation (y = mx+b) is not considered a heuristic (Siew, Hedberg, & Lioe, 2005).
A general heuristic might be something like (Gersten et al., 2009):
Read the problem.
Highlight the key words.
Solve the problems.
Check your work.
Other examples might include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgement, stereotyping, or common sense. The most basic heuristic is considered to be trial and error (“Heuristics”, 2014).
Here’s what I learned about the 7E Instructional Model NS:
The 7 Es stand for the following. Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Extend and Evaluate. The following explanation is my take on the 7Es that has been adapted from the BSCS 5E Engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate.
There are some concerns about the use of meta-analyses, but they can still be very useful. If I was a math instructor, I’d carefully review the entire list.
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