AMQ 2021 Congress – Mathematical Connections

October 15 to October 21 2021

https://congres2021.amq.math.ca

Reflection on Manipulative Materials: What Practices Promote the Mathematical Learning of All Students?

Both research and communities in primary mathematics education agree that the use of manipulative materials is necessary to facilitate student learning (Moyer, 2001, MEQ, 2006). Indeed, based on the idea developed by several learning theories (e.g., Piaget, 1962; Bruner, 1977) that manipulative materials are necessary for the development of mental images, their use is often taken for granted. Using them would inevitably help the student. However, providing materials to students is not enough. As discussed by Carbonneau et al. (2013), several didactic variables seem to play a significant role in students’ learning using manipulative materials. We have also observed 3rd-grade students using different strategies to perform operations depending on the material used. The type of material made available then induces certain ways of doing things for students.

Drawing on the research results of the MathRéaliser project, this workshop proposes to explore two tasks and the reasoning of students solving them to reflect on the following questions :

1. How do different didactic choices influence the mathematical reasoning deployed by students?
2. How do these choices take into account inherent differences in the primary mathematics class?
3. More generally, what variables can be considered in planning and interventions in the classroom when manipulative materials are used?

These reflections on didactic variables will empower teachers to better meet the unique needs of each student in their class. The two explored tasks focus on learning fractions and were. The two tasks explored focus on learning fractions and were experimented with in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.