Evolutionary Medicine

Teaching Strategies

Exploratory Tasks & Learning

An exploratory task in mathematics is one which leads to students “interpreting situations in mathematical terms, formulating mathematics questions, making conjectures… and making generalizations.”²⁰ Exploratory tasks will primarily be used in the Presentation and Application phases of this unit when analyzing various tables and graphs.

Explore-Before-Explain

An explore-before-explain strategy means “situating learning in real-life situations and problems and using those circumstances as a context for learning.”²¹ With the simulation activity, students will have a chance to explore the mathematical concept of exponential functions before the technical vocabulary and formulas are directly taught to them, facilitating coherence in their learning and generally encouraging their mathematical empowerment.

Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction is a direct, structured method of teaching. While an overabundance of direct instruction can inhibit student learning, the calculated use of this strategy can greatly benefit all students, especially those who “learn and think differently” than their peers.²² Explicit instruction will be used exclusively during the Generalization phase of this unit to teach students relevant academic vocabulary as well as to teach them the formulas for exponential functions.

Cooperative Learning (Group Work)

Cooperative learning is “the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.”²³ In cooperative learning, however, it is imperative to hold students individually accountable; otherwise this learning will not occur.²⁴ Throughout the Generalization and Application phases of the unit, students will be assigned to small, heterogenous (in academic attainment) groups, so that they can learn with and from one another when analyzing both exponential and linear data. Within these groups, students will be assigned roles and responsibilities, so that individual learning does not fall by the wayside.