Effectiveness of direct approach in teaching mathematics

In the first part of Master thesis I consider the direct approach in teaching mathematics. I describe the steps, which guide teachers in preparing their lessons. Also, some key elements of direct approach, particularly important when teaching students with learning problems in mathematics, are presented. These elements are: direct explanation, asking questions, guided exercises and feedback. In the next part I report of two studies which considered the effectivity of direct approach in comparison to indirect approach. To illustrate the theoretical part I present examples of commented lessons plans based on direct approach and examples of lessons plans based on indirect approach. In the empirical part of Master thesis I report the research, with which I explored whether these are differences in preferences of students toward indirect or direct style of teaching. I was interested, which teaching style the students in the observed population prefer and if the preferred style is related to academic achievements and gender. In addition, I explored the learning effect of each approach. In the conducted research I assessed whether students with lower academic achievements learn more if they are thought with direct approach then with indirect approach. I found that students in general prefer the direct approach regardless their academic achievements and gender. Further, more students with both higher and lower academic achievements perform better if direct approach is used, then in the case of indirect approach of teaching.