Mathematics in Teams—Developing Thinking Skills in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Mathematics is more than just basic skills. Mathematical thinking should be an important aspect of mathematics education. In the Netherlands, higher-order thinking skills like mathematical problem solving, reasoning, modelling and communicating mathematics have been part of the examination program since 1989. To assess these skills in an authentic and open way, the Mathematics A-lympiad, a competition for teams in upper secondary school, was designed. Shortly hereafter a Mathematics B-day was developed which showed that open-ended tasks for teams can also be designed within the domain of pure, formal mathematics. As a result of the success of the Mathematics A-lympiad, similar activities have been created for lower secondary and for primary school. The Mathematics A-lympiad assignments fulfil specific requirements, such as being accessible for all students, eliciting mathematical thinking and providing opportunity for different strategies and solutions. In the wake of these events more attention is paid to higher-order thinking skills in regular mathematics education as well.