Creating optimal mathematics learning environments: combining argumentation and writing to enhance achievement

The issue of mathematics underachievement among students has been an increasing national concern over the last few decades. Research suggests that academic success can be achieved by focusing on both the individual and social aspects of learning by creating a bridge between cognitive and socio-cultural views of knowledge and learning. Within the area of mathematics education, the development of metacognitive skills and the incorporation of discourse in classroom instruction has resulted in deeper conceptual understandings and increased mathematical achievement. However, studies in this field tend to focus on the effects of these practices separately, making research that seeks to harness the potential of both quite rare. The study described in this paper attempted to address this gap in the literature by examining the effects of writing and argumentation on achievement. Two hundred and eleven students and five teachers participated in this multi-methods study, which investigated the effects of three treatment conditions on mathematical achievement. These conditions were writing alone,argumentation alone, and writing and argumentation combined. Recognizing that teacher factors are also important in the developing and sustaining of effective learning environments and acknowledging the influence of teachers beliefs on any educational initiative, the study also sought to describe the beliefs of these five ninth grade mathematics teachers and investigated how consistently these beliefs were manifested in practice.