Many thanks to Mr. Weiss for reminding me to compile all of this summer’s makeovers. Here’s every revision principle we applied this summer, ranked from most frequently occurring to least.
- (9) Add intellectual need.
- (6) Raise the ceiling on the task.
- (5) Add intuition.
- (5) Lower the floor on the task.
- (4) Reduce the literacy demand.
- (4) Show the answer.
- (2) Put students in the shoes of the person who might actually experience this problem.
- (2) Start the problem with a concise, concrete question.
- (2) Ask a better question.
- (2) Delay the abstraction.
- (1) Offer an incentive for more practice.
- (1) Enable pattern-matching.
- (1) Get a better image.
- (1) Add modeling.
- (1) Change the context.
- (1) Open the problem up to more than one possible generalization.
- (1) Justify the constraints.
If you’re looking for a dy/dan house style, for better or worse, that’s it right there.
1 Comment
Robert Kaplinsky
September 26, 2013 - 1:29 pm -This is a fantastic list of what teachers can do to increase the rigor of existing textbook problems.