OSMEÑA COLLEGES

City of Masbate
GRADUATE SCHOOL

APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES IN TEACHING AND

LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS

I. Introduction.
It is a process in which the teacher plans structured activities or creates learning
environments, implements them in classrooms, guides students to construct the knowledge or
discover the knowledge through these activities and gives feedback for further progress or
improvement in learning.
    The structured activities or learning environment are planned based on various methods
and techniques depending on the purpose for which they are designed. The present trend is to
plan the learning environments based on some Instructional design model.

Instructional design model.

       An Instructional design is a decision making process by means of which the most
appropriate instructional strategy is selected to achieve an identified objective under a set of
conditions. Instructional design requires development of learning material using learning theories
and instructional strategies to ensure quality of design, delivery and effectiveness of transfer of
learning to intended outcomes.
     It provides wider scope for teachers to plan and create learning environments and facilitate
learning. Within the broad frame work of the instructional design, the teacher wisely selects and
organizes suitable methods and strategies depending on the content category and the objectives
to be achieved. It also involves assessment and evaluation strategies.
The various questions answered by the instructional design are presented in the following
diagram.
The recommendation made by NCF 2005 is that the mode of transaction should be through
constructivism. Hence, instructional design models constructivism are to be followed. There are
several instructional design models based constructivism and one of the suitable model for
science and mathematics subjects and most often used model is Five E’s model developed by
Roger Bybee.

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust
 II. Discussion
Five E’s Model Stage
State-1: Engage: 

This stage assesses the previous knowledge of the learner and helps them become
engaged in a new concept through the use of short activities that promote curiosity and elicit
prior knowledge. The aim is to organize students’ thinking toward the learning outcomes of the
current activities.
        Facilitating learning environment, learning activities and situations and focusing the minds
of learners on the higher order learning tasks is the main purpose of this stage. As far as possible
present real-life situations to engage student’s attention on learning tasks.
The different ways of engaging learners are:
·         Ask open ended questions.
·         Act out a problematic situation.
·         Define a problem.
·         Show a surprising event.
·         Note unexpected phenomenon.
·         Consider possible responses to questions.
·         Present situations where student’s perceptions vary.
Stage-2: Explore:
In this stage, learners are guided to explore and find answers for the questions/issues raised
during the engage stage. Teacher role is to structure and present learning environment which
facilitate learners to involve in investigative activities and provide opportunities for students to
get directly involved with discovery process and construction of knowledge.
     Expose the students to a variety of experiences at this stage. These experiences may involve
observations of events or objects, manipulations of materials, work with simulations,
examinations of representations, viewing a short video, or reading. These experiences provide a
common basis for all students that the teacher can use the assist them in identifying and
developing concepts and skills.
     Some of the investigative activities can be as follows:
·         Provide structured activities.
·         Have them work in teams.
·         Experiment with materials.
·         Use their inquiry to drive the process.
·         Employ problem solving strategies.
·         Identify sequence or patterns of events.
·         Brainstorm possible alternatives.
According to constructivist approaches, it is very suitable to structure small groups
(3 to 6 members) while involving students in the above-mentioned activities or any appropriate
activity. Co-operative learning strategies are most suitable for this purpose.

Stage-3: Explain:
Here students are provided with opportunity to explain their understanding of their experiences
from the explore phase. The questions and discussion lead students to patterns, regularities,
and/or similarities and prompt them to describe concepts or skills in their own words.

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust
 At the second stage, students have engaged in the learning activities and through mutual
interactions discovered the knowledge (scientific facts, concepts, generalizations and procedures)
and constructed. Expressing this abstract knowledge through communicable form is the purpose
of the third stage.
Students can express the constructed knowledge in different ways as follows:
·         Explain the constructed ideas.
·         Construct and explain a model.
·         Represent ideas through pictures/figures/graphs.
·         Represent information through symbols.
·         Present a summary based on the data.
·         Present oral and written reports.
·         Review and criticize solutions.

Stage-4: Expand/Elaborate:
    This phase challenges students to extend their understandings or skills and/or to practice them.
Through new experiences at this time, students develop deeper understanding, an extended
conceptual framework, and improved skills. Some of the tasks, such as reading an article, may be
done as homework and discussed during the following class period.
In the fourth stage, the teacher provides opportunities and guidance for students to apply the
constructed knowledge in several real-life situations. The students can also correlate the newly
constructed knowledge to other related fields of knowledge. These new relationships can further
lead to new discoveries or new understandings.
·         Apply knowledge and skills in real life situations.
·         Transfer knowledge and skills.
·         Ask new questions.

Stage-5: Evaluate:
 The final phase of the instructional model encourages students to assess their understanding and
abilities and provides opportunity for the teacher to evaluate student progress toward achieving
the learning objectives for the activity. The tasks may involve writing summaries, applying
concepts and skills to novel situations, constructing a concept map. Or taking a quiz.
At this stage the teacher evaluates whether the students have constructed the knowledge
completely and correctly and also have developed conceptual understandings. According to
constructivist theory, evaluation should be as far as possible diagnostic in nature.
The tools that are suitable for this purpose are:
·         Checklists for observations.
·         Projects and problem-based learning products.
·         Achievement and attainment tests.
·         Concept/mind mappings.
·         Portfolios assessments.
·         Rubrics.
·         Student interviews

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust
Example:
Subject: Geometry                                                                        Class: IX
Topic: Length of segment parallel to either X or Y axis.
Technique: 5 E Model

1.ENGAGE      Show pieces of straws to the class and ask them how they can find the
length of the same. Obviously, they will want to use a measuring scale. Ask
them for methods to find the length of a straw without using a measuring
scale. Ask them for methods to find the length of a straw without using a
measuring scale. Show them different types of paper as plain paper, graph
paper, craft paper and see if the length of the straws can be measured.
Apparently, a graph paper comes in handy. That is because there is a
relationship between the co-ordinates of points and the length of the
segment determined by two such points. Here the teacher announces that the
class is going to discover this relationship to find the length of a segment.
2.EXPLORE Have points and their co-ordinates put up on the chalkboard as follows:
 Group I :i) A (3,6) B (5,6) ii) T (5,8) V (1,8)
Group II: i) X (7,14) Y (7,10) ii) M (3,2) N (3,8) Is there any common
characteristics of each group? Where would the pair D (8, 8) and E (8,4)
go? Students are encouraged to plot one pair on their graph papers. All
students of Group I compare their segments and derive one common
property. The same is done by Group II. Can the length of the segment be
found out? Is there a relationship between the co-ordinates of the endpoints
and the length of the segment?
3. EXPLAIN The students are encouraged to explain this relationship in their own words.
On the basis of their work, they devise a formula to find the length of the
segment parallel to X asis. Similarly find the length of the segment parallel
to y axis.
4. ELABORATE Where will this formula be useful? Here the teacher can probe for an
answer.
5. EVALUATE Give each Student a card with co-ordinates of a point. Students pair up and
try to find the length of the segment formed. Be sure that the co-ordinates
are such that the segment formed must be parallel to one of the two axes.
Pair up with a different student and now find the length of the new segment.

The students devise the formula on their own. They get adequate practice through the game. The teacher
only facilitates through use of appropriate questions.

In-Service Teacher Task.

 Select a topic from your Subject Taught in your field of Teaching (you can choose any of the
topics from 1st quarter – 4th Quarter)

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust
  Make an Instructional Model Design using the 5 E Technique (from the topics you
choose)
 Submit a Reflection about best practices of this Technique. (Students and
Teacher)

OSMEÑA COLLEGES
City of Masbate
GRADUATE SCHOOL

5 E’s Technique in Teaching Mathematics

(Write your topic)

Name:
Subject: Approaches in Teaching Mathematics
Section: 3008

Objectives:

1.ENGAGE
2.EXPLORE
3.EXPLAIN
4. ELABORATE
5. EVALUATE

Reflection
Students Teacher

Questions:
1. How would you describe yourself as a mathematics teacher?
2. How would you effectively engage your students into the teaching and learning process?

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust
3. How would you change the traditional mindset of the learners regarding “mathematics is
a difficult subject”

OSMEÑA COLLEGES, INC. | GRADUATE SCHOOL

City of Masbate, 5400 Philippines  [email protected]  oc.edu.ph  (056) 333-4444
In God We Trust