Mastery Research⁚ Representation and Structure

Colindra-Rodericka M. Sterling-Blair

Department of Social Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Education,

University College of the Cayman Islands

EDU 252 – Principles, Methods and Practicum for Teaching Primary Math

Ms. Joanne Conly

October 14, 2024, 2024 (Fall Semester)

Pick one of these four areas and develop an in-depth study into the meaning of area. Show how

it should be developed/used in the classroom and evaluate its effect on student outcomes.

 Variation

 Fluency

 Mathematical thinking

 Representation and Structure

Your research paper should be approximately 4 pages in length (approximately 1,000 to 1,200

words) and should draw upon approximately 3 to 6 relevant, reliable, recent and professional

sources. Your paper should be well structured and include an introductory paragraph, content

paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

Within your content paragraphs, you should try to present a wholistic perspective. Developing

both the pros and cons of the topic.

APA referencing should be maintained throughout the research paper and must include a

final references page (not included in the page count).

 According to (Brad Henry), “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and

instill a love of learning”. This can only happen when a teacher teaches for mastery as it allows

for students to gain a thorough understanding and proficiency in the concepts being taught. The

National Centre for the Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (also known as the NCETM)

(2017) indicates five basic principles that form the foundation of teaching for mastery. These

include Coherence, Representation and Structure, Variation, Fluency and Mathematical

Thinking. This study will delve into the significance of ‘Representation and Structure’ in

teaching Mathematics, analyze how it should be used in the classroom, and emphasize how using

Representation and Structure impacts the students.

Principally, it is rather prevalent to understand the concept of Representation and

Structure, and its significance in teaching math. If one were to ask a group of people what first

thought came to mind when they heard the word mathematics, they would most likely say

numbers and/or symbols. Without realizing, numbers and symbols are examples of

representation in math; numbers represent quantity and symbols represent mathematical

operations, unknown numbers and relationships between numbers. So why is representation so

crucial to learning mathematics. In order to answer this question, one must first understand the

concept of mathematics. The nature of math is abstract. The existence of numbers and the

concept of time, for instance, are two aspects of math that depict how abstract mathematics really

is. They cannot be held as they are intangible and they cannot be seen as they are not

materialistic, but at some point, in our lives, we understand them to a certain extent (at least most

of us). Why is that so? Because we have a physical representation of these things (numerals and

clocks) that allow us to grasp the basic concept of them. What more of children who are learning

math? Representation is the depiction of abstract math using objects, symbols, diagrams, and
even words. Structure is Representation’s counterpart that is so often overlooked. Morgan &

NCETM (2024) from the NCETM, tells us that, “math is all about relationships”. The way that

math is structured in math will help students better understand the relationship between the

variables being studied. For example, using blocks to represent the sum of nine (9) and three (3)

allows students to visualize how addition works, whether it be aggregation or augmentation.

Structure would involve using ten (10) red-colored blocks and three (3) blue ones to highlight

place value as well as the breakdown of the number thirteen (13) by ten with three remaining.

Representation and Structure both play a vital role in translating abstract math concepts into a

language that children can understand, thereby allowing for mastery of concepts and not mere

learning.

Furthermore, it is crucial to explore the right way to represent and structure the learning

of math concepts to ensure the highest potential of effectiveness. It would be remiss of me to not

mention the Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract (CPA) Approach which was inspired by Jerome

Bruner’s Theory Development. Nelissen and Tomic (1998) indicate that his theory highlighted

three models of representation that one should go through to achieve effective learning: Enactive,

Iconic, and Symbolic. These involved learning through action (manipulatives), images and

abstract symbols, respectively. In other words, the CPA Approach will provide students with an

opportunity to access various kinds of knowledge, allowing for a deeper understanding. By

physically interacting with objects, students develop enactive knowledge. Visual diagrams then

assist them in building visual representations of concepts (iconic knowledge), serving as a link to

acquiring symbolic abstract knowledge (NCETM, n.d.). Unfortunately, the CPA Approach may

do more harm than good. Many of the associated drawbacks are a result of the teacher’s

misunderstanding and misconception of the approach. A lot of teachers interpret the approach to
be a linear one, where concrete should be done, then pictorial, followed by abstract (Morgan &

NCETM, 2024). On the contrary, teachers should move among the different stages as necessary

to reinforce the concept. If they’ve moved onto the abstract stage and students are not grasping

the concept, the teacher could go back to the pictorial mode as to reinforce the visual aspect of

learning. In addition to this, the teacher does not have to start with the concrete stage. They could

start with the abstract and then work their way back to the concrete. This would be like the

results of an experiment preceding the hypothesis in science. This variation allows students to

discover the foundation of and the connections within the concept (Morgan & NCETM, 2024).

In other words, they first find the answer, and then they learn why the answer is the answer.

Another misconception is that the stages must be taught individually. Incorporating two or three

simultaneously will stimulate the brain and make it easier for student to relate the nature of the

concrete information to that of the pictorial and abstract. For instance, each student would have a

set of manipulatives on their table which would act as the concrete stage. At the same time, the

teacher is using drawings to represent the information being learnt. Finally, the teacher would

ask questions to trigger the abstract thinking. The teacher should be coherent in using

manipulatives to represent structure. Though it has numerous benefits, a plan should be in place

for its removal. This prevents students from getting too comfortable with using it, to the point

that it becomes rote (learning) or using it as a crutch, where it is needed for every calculation.

There is many controversy on allowing students to select their own representation. Terwel et al.

(2009) indicates an experimental study where students were taught to collaboratively construct

representation for learning percentage and graphs. The children who were taught outperformed

the children in the control group in both the transfer and posttest. “This study shows that children

who learn to design are in a better position to understand pictures, graphs, and models. They are
more successful in solving new, complex mathematical problems”. Contrarily, Morgan &

NCETM (2024), suggest that teachers should not allow students to choose their own

representation as they are more likely to choose based on which is more pleasing to their eye as

opposed to which is more effective in portraying the structure.

From my point of view, students should be given the opportunity to choose their own

representation from time-to-time. However, the teacher should ensure that that the representation

is simple, and it highlights the underlying mathematical structure of the concept that he or she

wants the students to attain. (NCETM, n.d.) (This is not only applicable to student generated

representation, but to teacher-generated ones as well). Finally, the teacher should introduce stem

sentences for each concept being taught. According to Searle, (2021) Stem sentences incorporate

accurate mathematical terminology into a well- structured sentence. This will enable students to

express their ideas with mathematical accuracy, precision and clarity.

Unfortunately, there can be some hiccups on the learning journey caused by

representation, and thus structure. Students may be cognitively overloaded using either too many

representations, or too big of a representation (big quantities such as 100 blocks) (Morgan &

NCETM, 2024). They may also be confused if representations used among the year groups are

different. For example, if red was used for even numbers and blue for odd in Year 1, but was the

inverse in Year 2, they may confuse their odd and even numbers since they associated them with

colors and not with the actual ending digit. As was stated earlier, some students may use the

representatives, not to see structure, but as a crutch for calculating. This would hinder their

progression in the topic and prevent them from internalizing the representation into abstract

knowledge. Teachers play a vital role in students’ comprehension of representatives and their

purpose. As a result, they can also become the biggest obstacle in the child’s learning. If the
teacher does not choose the appropriate representative (one that exposes the mathematical

structure), then students will not have a deep understanding of the concept. They would probably

be able to answer certain questions, however, they would struggle with those that require

thinking on the relationship between variables; they would not know why their answer is right.

There are various aspects teachers should consider to ensure that the aforementioned

issues are mitigated. Primarily, they should ensure the most appropriate representation is used to

bring out the aspect of structure they would like the students to understand (NCETM, n.d.). They

should ensure students see the connection between the representation and the abstract structure to

ensure students still understand the concept. This can be done by simply stating or by asking

questions. From an administrative perspective, teachers should try to use a standardized set of

representations for main or general topics so that children are not confused. They should also

ensure that students understand the before taking learning to the next level, and b flexible in

scaffolding or returning to a previous level to ensure the concept is foundationally understood. In

addition to this, teachers are tasked with removing manipulatives, so they do not become

crutches that hinder a student’s growth. Finally, they should keep themselves educated so they

can do all the things above.

When done right, representation will allow students to have a better understanding of

structure. For example, if students were given the opportunity to choose their own representation,

they would likely choose objects that they are familiar with or are of interest to them. They

would be able to relate better to the object and translate knowledge from enactive and iconic to

more symbolic. This is because an internal representation would be formed from the external one

given (Nelissen and Tomic, 1998). It can also help them to connect two ideas together (Morgan

& NCETM, 2024). For instance, bar models can be used to draw attention to the equivalence of
five and three, and eight. Representation does not work alone; it can also be linked to the other

big ideas. A key part of variation is the representation of concepts in different ways to expose

essential structures. Representations are also selected and ordered in a coherent way to build

understanding of concepts. “Fluency is developed in the movement between representations and

the ability to see the structure of the maths represented in different ways”, thus leading to

mathematical reasoning and thinking. (Morgan & NCETM, 2024).

In conclusion, representation aids in teaching mastery by highlighting mathematical

structure within a concept. Though there are several drawbacks, they can be avoided if the

appropriate representation is used. The teacher should also be flexible in its use, knowing when

to remove it or when to introduce it. At the end of it all, students should use representation to the

point where they need not use it.

 References

Morgan, Dr. D., & NCETM. (2024, May 24). The Five Big Ideas - Representation and Structure.

NCETM. https://www.ncetm.org.uk/features/the-five-big-ideas-representation-and-structure/

NCETM. (2017). Five Big Ideas in Teaching for Mastery. NCETM. https://www.ncetm.org.uk/teaching-

for-mastery/mastery-explained/five-big-ideas-in-teaching-for-mastery/

Nelissen, J. M. C., & Tomic, W. (1998). Representations in Mathematics Education.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED428950.pdf

Searle, H. (2021, December 3). Why You Should Be Using Stem Sentences in Your Primary Maths

Teaching. Third Space Learning. https://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/stem-sentences/

Terwel, J., van Oers, B., van Dijk, I., & van den Eeden, P. (2009). Are representations to be provided or

generated in primary mathematics education? Effects on transfer. Educational Research and

Evaluation, 15(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803610802481265