Enhancing grade 1 Thai students’ learning about mathematical ideas on addition through lesson study and open approach

Abstract

The paper aimed to enhancing Grade 1 Thai students’ learning about mathematical ideas on addition through lesson study and open approach. The participants included 70 Grade 1 students in Khon Kaen University Demonstration School (Primary school level), Khon Kaen, Thailand. Methodology was qualitative research. Based on lesson study, teachers discussed how to enhance students’ mathematical ideas on addition. And, they chose open approach to enhance students’ mathematics learning. One of the teachers agreed to present the lesson based upon the lesson plan made cooperatively with his or her colleagues. Fellow teachers were active observers to notes on what happened in the classroom. All of the teachers then met again as a group for analysis, criticism and evaluation of the lesson plan in order to examine the appropriateness of teacher’s performance, materials used and problems involved in enhancing students’ learning about mathematical ideas on addition. Finally, teachers discussed necessary revisions to the lesson plan based on their observations and reflections. Data collected from observations of classroom teaching events, team reports, students’ tasks, and individual reflections were analyzed qualitatively. The findings revealed that open approach for addition teaching enhanced 6 categories of mathematical ideas on addition including 1) whole counting, 2) counting on, 3) making ten, 4) factorization of the addends, 5) factorization of the augends, and 6) factorization of the addends and the factorization of the augends. It seemed that the majority of students’ thinking processes were formed of making ten by using the blocks to explain their ideas. Teacher also needs to provide different ways of thinking and solving problem in order to help stimulate and encourage students to put their efforts in thinking for the solutions.