Journalling in mathematics

What is journalling?

The benefits of journalling

Teaching tips for journalling

Writing prompts for journalling

References

Journalling involves students writing about their learning in mathematics. What they write can be based on a prompt given by the teacher – for instance, on a topic currently being covered in class. Alternatively, it can be more self-directed, with students choosing from a menu of prompts, or simply free-writing about their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Teachers will often read students’ journal entries and respond with comments or questions. Sometimes this can evolve into an ongoing written conversation between student and teacher. Journalling can happen before, during, or after a session of mathematics learning.

Journalling has benefits for students, teachers and the mathematics programme as a whole. These include: promoting understanding, promoting a sense of involvement with mathematics, promoting better informed teaching and promoting teacher student relationships.

Journalling promotes understanding by building on the powerful links between writing and learning. According to one researcher:

... writing can engage all students actively in the deliberate structuring of meaning: it allows learners to go at their own pace; and it provides unique feedback, since writers can immediately read the product of their own thinking on paper" (Emig paraphrased in Borasi and Rose,p.384).

Journalling in mathematics allows students to:

• establish connections between mathematical ideas. For instance, by asking students to explore and write about various strategies for solving similar problems;

• focus on what they do and do not know;

• develop more precise ways of communicating;

• clarify, organise, and refine their thinking;

Researchers report that journalling can help students to deal with the struggles that are often involved in learning and doing mathematics. It can also allow students to examine the nature of mathematical knowledge and what it means to think mathematically.

Journalling promotes a sense of involvement with mathematics when it encourages students to:

• summarise goals, strategies, and reactions to mathematics;

• record their accomplishments and openly vent frustrations;

• consider the relevance of mathematics in their lives.

When teachers read their students’ journal entries they are able to gain a new perspective on how individual students are coping with their mathematics learning. This information can be used to develop next learning steps.

Journalling promotes better-informed teaching by providing teachers with:

• formative data about students' understanding and dispositions, including students’ emerging ideas about mathematical concepts;

• a basis for learning conversations (written and oral);

• an opportunity for feedback and feed-forward;

• information that assists in short and long-term planning.

Journalling can also help teachers to make deeper connections with their students. It does this by:

• enabling students to actively participate in a dialogue with teachers though a private, non-threatening means;

• allowing students to share ideas, opinions and feelings about mathematics, the mathematics programme and their own learning styles;

• providing a permanent record for the teacher and student to examine.

Careful management is needed to maximize the potential of journalling. The following tips provide useful advice for using journalling as a learning technique in the classroom.

Journalling tasks fall into two distinct groups, self-directed, and teacher directed.

Free-choice journalling is where students choose to write about whatever they wish. This can be informed by a checklist of possible starters. Such lists can be developed within the class. One particular list is referred to on ARB resource NM1226. The items on this list are not meant to be exhaustive. The teacher may encourage students to self-select different aspects from this checklist over time so that they reflect more widely on their learning.

Sometimes the teacher can choose the prompt or topic for journal writing. This might be a particular aspect taken from the journalling checklist above, or instead center on various aspects of the mathematics that the students are currently encountering. Some general suggestions follow, along with particular examples.

Borasi, R., & Rose, B. (1989). Journal writing and mathematical instruction. Educational studies in mathematics 20(4): 347-365.

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