Recently, I watched Phil Daro's Against "Answer-Getting". I like the phrase answer-getting because it sums up exactly what my students are trying to do in math class. I am aware of this and I have used various strategies over the years to move my students farther from just answer-getting, and towards other things mathematical.
Here in Quebec, students are evaluated on their ability to reason mathematically and on their ability to solve problems. Reasoning is evaluated throughout the year and students sit a final exam. Lots of answer-getting here.
Students are also evaluated on their ability to solve problems, without a final exam. Here was my chance to expose my students to forms of evaluation which didn't focus on getting the answer.
This year, I gave my students some evaluation tasks based on Dan Meyer three-act tasks. I've used these tasks in the past for instruction but never for evaluation.
In the first instance I used Dan Meyer's three-act task called Finals Week. I showed the students only the first act. Multiple times. As many times as they wanted, actually. Then I gave out the sheet below. I wanted them to do a number of things: describe the problem, list what they would need to know, list what they would not need to know, describe/list the problem solving process they would follow, and estimate an answer.
The second task I used was Dan's Leaky Faucet.
The third task I used this year was Dan's Meatballs.
I do not have student samples (note to self: conserve student samples!), but I did make a number of observations about the student work.
Some students had success because the numbers weren't in the way. Sometimes students just make up math to arrive at the "answer-getting". This forced them to think about the process not the product.
Some students were able to show their problem solving process not by way of a series of steps, but in one compact formula. They created a new formula which incorporated all of the elements required (here I'm thinking about Meatballs).
This is definitely something I will keep doing, and do more of in the future. I'm proud that I moved my students a little farther away from the focus on answer-getting.
