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Mathematics Education Research Journal

, Volume 24, Issue 2, pp 153–168 | Cite as

Supporting students’ strategic competence: a case of a sixth-grade mathematics classroom

  • İ. Elif Yetkin Özdemir
  • Stephen J. Pape
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

Mathematics education research has documented several classroom practices that might influence student self-regulation. We know little, however, about the ways these classroom practices could be structured in real classroom settings. In this exploratory case study, we purposefully selected a sixth-grade mathematics teacher who had participated in a professional development program focussed on NCTM standards and SRL in the mathematics classroom for extensive classroom observation. The purpose was to explore how and to what extend she structured classroom practices to support strategic competence in her students. Four features of classroom practices were found as evidence for how strategic competence was potentially supported in this classroom: (a) allowing autonomy and shared responsibility during the early stages of learning, (b) focusing on student understanding, (c) creating contexts for students to learn about strategic learning and to exercise strategic behaviour, and (d) helping students to personalise strategies by recognising their ideas and strategic behaviours.

Keywords

Mathematics education Middle-school levels Strategic competence Classroom practices Case study 
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Copyright information

© Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Elementary Education, Division of Elementary Mathematics EducationHacettepe ÜniversitesiAnkaraTurkey
  2. 2.Eğitim Fakültesi, İlköğretim BölümüHacettepe ÜniversitesiAnkaraTurkey
  3. 3.School of Teaching and Learning, College of EducationUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleUSA

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