Should Educators Care More About the Product or the Process?

 Hello fellow bloggers! Although the material I’m discussing today is extremely beneficial to future mathematics teachers, we can't forget to start with our math joke of the day!!!

What does a triangle say to a circle?

Process vs Product

Today me and my colleagues focused on process vs product in mathematics! One of the biggest questions we were trying to answer was, “Is it more important for students to understand the process or the problem?” In a stereotypical mathematics classroom the ‘product’ is predominantly favored. Although one could argue that one is more important than the other, I believe creating balance between the two enhances students' academic potential. Many of the factors that lead to this stereotypical approach are constructed from the teachers pedagogy and assessment methods. The traditional quiz, assignment and test each unit as the only form of evaluation discourages creating a balance between the two. By including additional assessment measures that focus on the process, we can give students the opportunity to demonstrate their own constructive approach with the theory (Ex. Creating and demonstrating a probability game such as Plinko or their own unique game).

My Experience with Product vs Process

Throughout my high school experience my teachers predominantly focused on the product compared to the process. We were often asked to compute a problem and if we were lucky the teacher would give us the formula. Although I became confident in my ability to compute the problems, I feel as if I didn’t actually learn anything. I was so focused on the process that I just worked on memorizing it, instead of understanding the theoretical aspect. This hindered my learning as I didn’t understand the theory, making it harder to make connections when problem solving. If my teachers had included more classroom instruction that focused on the process, my ability to problem solve would be a lot better. 

How can we shift our mathematics classes to create a balance between process and product? 

As a future educator we must first consider how we teach the curriculum content. Using the same lesson format everyday will become boring and stale for the students. By incorporating a variety of different teaching approaches, it keeps the content fresh and will improve student engagement. An example of differentiated instruction is introducing the idea of ‘Collaboration Wednesdays’. On Wednesdays the instructor would present the students with an open question that involves lots of problem solving. Students would work together in groups on vertical surfaces to construct their own approach to solving the problem. At the end of the given time students will perform a gallery walk to inspect their peers' work. While students are doing the gallery walk, the educator would also create a consolidation speech overviewing the approaches groups used opposed to just checking their final answer. Shifting the focus to the mathematical process while having students get out of their seat and moving. Creating a balance between product and process will allow students to work on the fundamental process while still improving their ability to effectively problem solve.

This has been fun but I’m afraid that’s all I got for today folks! I’ll be back soon!

Mr. Salmond