Characteristics of Teacher’s Interventions in the Inquiry-based Lesson of Mathematics: Through a Teaching Experiment of SRP in Grade 3

Abstract

　　The purpose of this paper is to clarify the characteristics of teachers’ interventions in inquiry-based lessons through comparison with “problem solving lessons” generally conducted in Japan. In this study, we designed an inquiry-based lesson using the framework of “Study and Research Paths (SRP)” formulated within the “Anthropological Theory of the Didactic” (ATD). In SRP, instead of learning the piece of mathematics knowledge one by one, students engage in activities to acquire the necessary knowledge as needed and use anything which is available to create an answer. In order to achieve the purpose of this paper, we analyze SRP lessons using the perspectives of “triple dimension of teachers’ work” proposed in ATD: mesogenesis, topogenesis, and chronogenesis. Then, based on the results of the analysis, we tried to clarify the difference of the teacher’s interventions between SRP and “problem solving lesson” through the comparison. The differences identified as a result imply teacher’s expertise necessary to carry out inquiry-based lessons like SRP.