Teachers’ Actions and Students’ Engagement Behaviors During Number System Knowledge Discussions: Implications for Enhancing Active Engagement

Abstract

A critical challenge for elementary mathematics teachers is meeting the learning needs of all students, especially when there is variability in students’ number knowledge. Because young students’ number system knowledge (NSK) contributes to future success in mathematics, NSK activities must be designed to engage all students, particularly students who have struggled to engage in mathematics, to help students build early number knowledge. In this manuscript, we describe a quick images number sense intervention implemented across five second-grade teachers and 75 students, and examine outcomes related to teacher actions and student engagement behaviors. The results of our mixed-methods study indicate that the intervention provided multiple ways for students of varying abilities to engage with and learn the content. Our results provide practical implications for teachers, and prompt questions to evaluate in future research.