Examining the impact of lesson structure when teaching with cognitively demanding mathematical tasks in the early primary years

The current investigation systematically contrasted teaching with cognitively demanding (challenging) tasks using a task-first lesson structure with that of a teach-first lesson structure in a primary school setting (Year 1 and 2). The findings indicate that there is more than one way of incorporating challenging tasks into mathematics lessons to produce sizeable learning gains. Analyses of interviews with teachers and students regarding their perceptions of learning with challenging tasks suggest that each type of lesson structure has distinct strengths. It is concluded that teachers should consider varying the structure of lessons to provide a range of learning experiences for students.