Teaching through Problem Solving in Elementary School: from teacher training to the implementation of a class on unitary

Abstract

This paper presents a class implementation done in a 5th year class of Elementary School, inspired by the Teaching-Learning-Evaluation Methodology in Mathematics through Problem Solving, which was developed and planned during a teacher training. The main goal is to analyze how the development of teacher training course, offered in a virtual format, based on the Teaching-Learning-Evaluation Mathematics Methodology using Problem Solving might contribute on teaching Mathematics. Qualitative research was the methodology adopted to conduct this work, and the main procedures were based on participant observation and on the analysis of the participant teachers’ documental production. The data has been built from a training offered to nine 5th grade teachers in an elementary school located in the countryside of the State of São Paulo. The current paper is thus focused on the analysis of a lesson plan prepared by a pair of teachers who were participating in the training activity as well as its implementation. Lesson Study was the chosen teacher training methodology that was adapted to suit the online environment. It was observed, through the analysis of the work, a movement towards the constitution of numerous types of knowledge that compose the teacher’s general professional knowledge when they plan and implement a class based on Problem Solving. We can argue that the goal of the teachers was reached, in the sense of promoting the mathematical understanding of unitary fractions, using actions centered on the students. This is due to the fact that the teachers’ report suggests that the implementation [...].