During the school year 2013-14 we decided to try a new approach to maths in 1st and 2nd of ESO called Critical Thinking Skills in order to motivate students, raise mathematical awareness and promote critical thinking. One year later we are proud of the outcomes and have shared the experience in the latest convention of APAC (Associació de Professors i Professors d’Anglès de Catalunya / Catalonian English Teachers Association), this year focusing on the Dynamics of Motivation.
But what exactly do we mean by Critical Thinking? As Núria García and Trini Ureña explained to the teachers attending the APAC convention, it is a different way of exploring Maths, raising the students mathematical awareness by using a different methodology. The teachers provide real life experiences that allow the students to practise what they are taught in more theoretical lessons. If you have a look at the following examples, you can see some exercises that link daily experiences and Maths.
Critical Thinking is already a successful ongoing project at St. Peter’s; like other innovative projects, it shares the goal of encouraging curiosity, inquisitiveness and a predisposition to investigate. The idea is not only to catch the students attention but also to achieve long lasting significant-learning. In Maths and in other subjects.
For more info, you can have a look at the presentation that Núria García and Trini Ureña did at the APAC Convention (1) ….
….or enjoy the following report about Maths in real life (it was recorded last school year during a visit of 2nd of ESO to the Museum of Mathematics. Trini Ureña explains the importance of linking Maths to real life, starting in minute 2:50)
