Noticing affordances of a typical problem

Abstract

Typical mathematics problems, such as examination-type questions, are often used in classrooms to develop students' procedural fluency. In this article, we describe and analyse what a secondary school mathematics teacher noticed about the affordances of such a problem, as well as how she orchestrated a mathematically productive discussion using the adapted problem in class. The findings suggest that a teacher's productive noticing of the affordances offered by typical problems can enhance the learning experiences of mathematics students.