This page contains automatically translated content.
The 4th "Mathematical Researcher Day" at the University of Kassel
Image: Judith Reiting.In the context of the subject didactic seminar "Heterogeneity in Mathematics Teaching in Elementary School" under the direction of Prof. Rathgeb-Schnierer, students developed eight different learning opportunities for elementary school children in the summer semester 2019. The aim of this elaboration and content-related discussion was to test and reflect the theoretical knowledge acquired in the seminar in practice.
Therefore, at the end of August, about 120 curious elementary school children came to the university (location AVZ) for a morning together with their teachers to discover this extracurricular place of learning. After a joint welcome in the lecture hall by Prof. Rathgeb-Schnierer, tandems of students each took over a group of children composed according to heterogeneous aspects (mix of years, language of origin, support needs, gender ...).
The students worked with these small groups (approx. 14 to 17 children) for approx. 2 hours on the open learning opportunities they had prepared (for example, problem-solving tasks or modeling tasks). The children documented their solution paths and their procedures in research notebooks, which were evaluated by the students at a later time.
The classroom teachers used the day for observation and got new ideas for their own mathematics lessons to deal with the heterogeneity in their learning group. The opportunity to discover and cooperate with elementary school classes at the university met with a very positive response.
In the ensuing reflection, the students were consistently positive about the day in terms of their engagement with their future tasks as teachers. Through the "Mathematical Researcher Day", they have definitely become aware of the challenges that the aspired profession entails and how teaching in a heterogeneous learning group, through the development and didactic penetration of open learning opportunities, can succeed.
Contact:
Judith Reiting
AG Didaktik der Mathematik
Institute for Mathematics
Tel.: 0561 804-4658
E-mail: jreiting@mathematik.uni-kassel.de