Student’s Mathematical Thinking in Area unit using Lesson Study and Open Approach

Abstract

        The purposes of this research were 1) to study students’ mathematical thinking using a lesson study and an Open Approach. The study was conducted during a second semester of academic year 2017. Participants in this research were 28 students who were in Grade 4 students at Wat Thung Yae School, Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat. Research instruments consisted 6 lesson studies, Mathematical thinking tests, Field note and Student interview form. A framework of Isoda & Katagiri (2012) was adopted for data analysis.
         The results revealed that in order to solve the mathematical problem sets in “Area Unit”, students used 7 types of mathematical thinking. These thinking skills included type 1 : Idea of Sets; the students logically identified conditions of sets to find the area. Type 2 : Idea of Units, the students focused on sizes and relationship. Type 3 : Idea of Representation; the students used symbols to represent mathematical thinking process by themselves. Type 4 : Idea of Operations; the students were able to analyze appropriate operations for addition and multiplication. They could also create a grid to calculate the area. Type 5 : Idea of Algorithms; the students attempted to formulate a formula to find the area. Type 6 : Idea of Fundamental Properties; the students used functional properties to explain their thinking processes. Type 7 : Ideas of Expressions; the students verbally clarified and elaborated the solutions or the concept they had written.