Literature Review- TPA Domain A Name: Lara Landry Author: Title: Chamberlin, Scott Mathematical Problems That Optimize

Learning for Academically Advanced Students in Grades K6 Journal of Advanced Academics, Prufrock Press, Inc., Vol. 22, No. 1 Fall 2010 pp. 52-76 Supporting Evidence

Journal or Text: Year: Pages: Main idea(s)

Students of advanced Eighth grade math students do not "fare well" with international academic capabilities" are not students their age. being sufficiently challenged. Vadim A. Krutetskii conducted a comprehensive study of advanced math students in the Soviet Union and came up with nine ways of thinking that advanced students possess that average learners do not possess. Advanced learners have the ability to formalize math material, generalize math material, operate with numerals and symbols, use sequential and logical reasoning, curtail, reverse mental processes, think flexibly, use mathematical memory, and work with spatial concepts.

A balance needs to be reached between the extent of low-level and high-level activities used.

Both conceptual understanding (high-level activities) and procedural skill knowledge (low-level activities) should be fostered with young math students, as both are important. Repeated exposure to mathematical procedures produce automaticity (procedural understanding), but students need to engage in high-level activities such as authentic problem solving activities. Acceptance from the textbook adoption committee is not insurance that needs of academically advanced students in mathematics will be met. It is quite probable that an overreliance on low-level tasks, such as exercises and word or story problems, is inherent in the curriculum. This may be the result of textbook companies writing texts to prepare students for state standardized tests. Such tests are helpful in assessing the majority of students, but their use with academically advanced students has not been empirically tested. The curricula in many classrooms may have an overreliance on

Teachers and parents need to closely scrutinize the adopted curriculum for students or children of advanced intellect in mathematics.

routine procedures and low-level skills. This overreliance may come through the use of textbook-based problems, which are likely mathematical exercises or word or story problems. In short, these types of tasks often have a focus on low-level thinking skills, which are not often a need for academically advanced students in mathematics.

Students must be provided with serious challenges that enable them to utilize HOT skills.

Without significant access to HOT tasks, the potential by-product is that academically advanced mathematics students may be inclined to become bored; have negative affect, such as attitude, interest, and value about mathematics; and become disengaged and less persistent with excessive exercises and word problems (Chamberlin, 2002). When negative affective ratings are maintained for extended periods of time, such as several months, temporary emotions run the risk of becoming permanent. One less-than-capable mathematics instructor for a year may permanently damage an aspiring students mathematics affect for life. HOT tasks are those on which the problem solver needs to engage in cognition to successfully solve the problem. HOT tasks also have some degree of self-regulation in monitoring level of success in problem solving.