Methods to Engage Students in Their Mathematical Learning Experience

In 2005 Park studied the effects of different classroom variables and engagement on students' achievement He found that there was a positive correlation between student engagement and student achievement We conducted our self study research in Geometry and Pre-Calculus classes with the goal of answering the question: what teaching methods can we use to engage students and facilitate their learning of thematical concepts? Our study required planning lessons that elicited student engagement and then evaluating the effectiveness of these lessons. This process included reflecting, learning, and extending our knowledge to make decisions about our future practice. We found the most successful activities were goal oriented: students performed immediately to answer specific questions. Another characteristic of engaging lessons was when students took leading roles in the lesson while we acted as facilitators. As this research focused on students' short-term retention of concepts, an interesting extension could evaluate the effect engaging lessons had on long-term retention of mathematical concepts.