Reasons to Reason in Primary Maths and Science by Borthwick Alison;Cross Alan; & Alan Cross

Reasons to Reason in Primary Maths and Science by Borthwick Alison;Cross Alan; & Alan Cross

Author:Borthwick, Alison;Cross, Alan; & Alan Cross
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526451101
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Limited
Published: 2020-10-24T19:57:37.608552+00:00


Prediction, conjecture and hypothesis are all important in mathematics and science education because they require us to draw on things we know or observe, and ask us to think about other instances in the future. We are asked to make a reasoned statement about the future. They are all abstractions; a teacher’s request for a prediction, conjecture or hypothesis may be one of the earliest requests for abstract thought. They are therefore educationally very valuable and key skills within reasoning.

Both mathematics and science are about observing and perceiving phenomena, values and patterns, so both subjects are interested in predictability which allows generalisation. Goldsworthy and Feasey (1997) gave four reasons towards the importance of prediction in science. We feel their model is particularly helpful, not just with prediction, but also with conjecture and hypothesis:

prediction helps learners to think ahead and to make plans;

it helps them focus on the key variables by asking them to anticipate the relationship between them;

it gives them clues to the measurements that should be taken;

giving reasons for predictions encourages them either to describe their everyday experiences from which they have made a generalisation or to explain the scientific knowledge on which they have based their predictions.



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