Developing collaborative rich tasks with teachers in Hong Kong classrooms

Abstract

The idea of rich tasks and students’ collaboration in mathematics lessons is new to most teachers in Hong Kong and seems to be incongruous with usual practice in their classrooms. In a project aiming at catering for learner diversity, a group of teachers tried out and developed this kind of tasks initiated by the project leaders. This process involved continuous reflection and modification by teachers together with researchers, informed by students’ work and feedback, leading to changes in perception and use of the tasks. Near the end of the project, the tasks were still not perceived as widely feasible in normal lessons but the teachers have developed deeper understanding of the tasks, and reconsidered their pedagogy and nature of learner diversity.