Incorporating productive dialogue in mathematics classrooms is vital to providing students an opportunity to connect meaningfully with peers (Webb et al., 2019). These discussions can increase individual students’ mathematical understanding and problem-solving skills while encouraging collaboration among peers to solve mathematical problems (Alrø, 2004). Utilising higher-level thinking questions in mathematics lessons is an essential component of productive dialogue (Gillies, 2019). Teachers can use higher-level thinking questions to promote student discussion and build relationships.
This poster presentation from the 2023 ESAI conference identifies previous studies on dialogue to explore how incorporating higher-level thinking questions in mathematics classrooms may promote meaningful connections among students. In addition, an in-progress research study is discussed. This research aims to develop a questioning guide primary-level teachers can use to incorporate higher-level thinking questions. The guide also aims to act as a form of professional development for teachers. Design-based research has been chosen as an appropriate methodology to identify current issues teachers face in asking higher-level thinking questions.
