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Owner: Amy Ellis
Owner Email: amyellis@uga.edu
Paper Title: Playful Math: Supporting Students’ Reasoning and Engagement
Session Title: Ambitious Mathematics Teaching Enacting Play and Rough Drafts
Paper Type: Paper
Presentation Date: 4/11/2024
Presentation Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Descriptors: Mathematics Education
Methodology: Qualitative
Author(s): Amy Ellis, University of Georgia; Dru Horne, University of Georgia; Anna Bloodworth, University of Georgia
Unit: SIG-Research in Mathematics Education
Abstract: We address how playifying school mathematics tasks can affect students’ reasoning and engagement. Mathematical play has been shown to support students’ meaning-making, agency, and motivation, as well as foster productive mathematical dispositions. However, the bulk of this work is situated in early childhood and in informal spaces; less is known about how to make secondary and college mathematics topics more playful. We present findings from three teaching experiments with middle-school and undergraduate students to show the potential for playful math to support students’ agency, investment, and immersion, as well as encouraging the development of novel mathematical ideas.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/2101173