Constructivism and Peer Collaboration in Elementary Mathematics Education: The Connection to Epistemology
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Anoop Gupta 1 *
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1 University of Windsor, Windsor, CANADA
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Abstract

In this paper, an attempt is made to determine if peer collaboration increases student achievement in teaching elementary mathematics. Empirical evidence and philosophical problems with constructivist epistemology are considered. Two things are argued: first, it is reasonable to think, for elementary mathematics, peers collaboration is useful (especially in heterogeneous groups). Peer collaboration is an appendage to instruction, not a replacement for the didactics of an expert, or individual problem solving (which occurs both at its inception, when mathematics is discovered as well as advanced levels). There is reciprocity between individual and social settings in learning mathematics. Second, for the teaching of mathematics an adequate epistemology will guide, to some extent, a successful pedagogy.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75364

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2008 - Volume 4 Issue 4, pp. 381-386

Publication date: 22 Dec 2008

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