Utilizing Journals in Mathematics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if journal writing in mathematics increases student comprehension of the mathematics concept. When teaching mathematics to my students, I usually instruct using the format of modeling, guided practice, and the independent practice. By the end of the lesson, the students tend to be able to follow the steps in order to solve the problem, but they may not understand the reason for each step that must be followed in order to solve the problem. My hope was that when the students are forced to explain the process they used in order to solve the problem, it may result in the students having a better understanding of the importance of each step in solving the mathematics problem. I anticipated that when students are able to write about and understand the steps in a mathematics problem, it will increase their comprehension of the mathematics concept.