Contrasting Types of Tasks: A Story of Three Lessons

Abstract

The Task Types and Mathematics Learning (TTML) research project investigated how three types of mathematics tasks contribute to mathematics learning in the middle years of schooling. As part of the data collection, teachers were provided with three tasks of different types (open-ended, contextual, representational) that focused on the relationship between area and perimeter. They were asked to teach lessons based on these tasks in a sequence of their choice. Data were collected from the teachers and the students on their preferences in terms of enjoyment and mathematics learned from the respective tasks. This chapter focuses on the relationship between teacher and student preferences for these three tasks.