Thinking through mathematics: Engaging students with inquiry-based learning - Book 3 (Ages 10-13)

What is mathematical inquiry?

Mathematical inquiry is a process in which students respond to ill-structured, open-ended questions that reflect the authentic problems we encounter in 'real' life. This is unlike most problems we teach in mathematics, which are well-structured and close-ended. An open-ended ill-structured question has no single correct answer. It contains ambiguities in the problem or in the process of solving the problem that require students to make a number of decisions. This means that the emphasis is on the reasoning, judgements and evidence students provide rather than just on the answer (see Developing good inquiry questions on p 15).