Harley 1

Allison Harley

EDML 583

October 10, 2016

Creating Cognitively Demanding Tasks

Task 1:

Textbook information:

Holt McDougal: Algebra 1; Ron Larson, Laurie Boswell, Timothy D. Kanold, Lee Stiff; 8th
Grade, Chapter 5: Solving and Graphing Linear Inequalities; Section 5.3: Solve Multistep
Equations, p. 314

Task:
Problem 3: Solve the inequality.
2x 3 > 7

What standards does it address?

Standard 8.EEI.7- Extend concepts of linear equations and inequalities in one variable to more
complex multistep equations and inequalities to real-world and mathematical situations.
a. Solve linear equations and inequalities with rational number coefficients that include
the use of the distributive property, combining like terms, and variables on both sides.
SC Process Standard(s):
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason both contextually and abstractly.
3. Use critical thinking skills to justify mathematical reasoning and critique the reasoning of
others.
6. Communicate mathematically and approach mathematical situations with precision.

Convert to a High Cognitive Demand Task:

Haley is selling Worlds Finest Candy Bars to her class to fundraise money for her AVID
class. Each candy bar sells for $2 each and her goal is to raise more than $7. If she lost $3 at
school, how many candy bars does Haley have to sell to reach her goal? Set up an inequality,
explain how you set up your inequality and justify your answer.

Characteristics of a High Cognitive Demand Task:

This problem has been transformed in to a high cognitive task because instead of solving
an equation mathematically, they have to complete critical thinking steps to get to that point.
They are required to develop the inequality instead of being given one. This requires critical
thinking because students have to pull out information and determine where the information
belongs in the equation. In addition, students must use their creativity and most students will
have different equations and different justifications. The characteristics that changes this task
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from a low demand to a high demand is that students solve the problem in more than one way
and students must explain and justify their solutions.
Two Anticipated Solutions:
1. 7 < 2x 3 2. 2c > 7 + 3
10 < 2x 2c > 10
5<x c>5

Student one has written the problem and justified it by explaining that if she wants to sell
more than seven dollars worth, then we have to use a less than inequality sign to show that that
is the least amount she wants to fundraise. This also shows that the expression to the right of the
sign should be greater than this number. She determines that the variable changing is the amount
of candy bars and each candy bar is worth two dollars. Since Haley lost three dollars, we will
subtract that value from the amount of candy bars she has sold. Student one uses the additive
inverse to add three both sides of the equation. She simplifies to 10 < 2x. She then uses the
multiplicative inverse to divide the value by two to get: 5 < x. She justifies this solution by
saying that Haley must sell more than five candy bars to reach her goal.

Student two has written the problem differently. He knows that each candy bar will sell
for two dollars each so he uses 2c (c defined as candy bar). He explains that Haley lost three
dollars, so she actually needs to sell three more dollars in addition to the seven dollars she wants
to fundraise to make up for it. He writes this as 7 + 3, which he simplifies to 10. He knows that
the amount of money Haley makes selling candy bars has to be greater than 10 so he writes in
the inequality sign to be greater than. He receives the answer c > 5 when simplifying. The
student reaches to the conclusion that Haley must sell more than 5 candy bars.

Task 2:

Textbook information:
Holt McDougal: Algebra 1; Ron Larson, Laurie Boswell, Timothy D. Kanold, Lee Stiff; 8th
Grade, Chapter 3: Graphing Linear Equations and Functions; Section 3.4: Find Slope and Rate of
Change, p. 173

Task:
Guided Practice 1: Find the slope of the line that passes through the points.
(5, 2) and (4, -1)

What standards does it address?

8.F.4 Apply the concepts of linear functions to real-world and mathematical situations.
a. Understand that the slope is the constant rate of change and the -intercept is the point
where = 0.
b. Determine the slope and the -intercept of a linear function given multiple
representations, including two points, tables, graphs, equations, and verbal descriptions.
SC Process Standard(s):
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason both contextually and abstractly.
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3. Use critical thinking skills to justify mathematical reasoning and critique the reasoning of
others.
Convert to a High Cognitive Demand Task:
A student was directed to find the slope of the line that passes through the following points:
(5, 2) and (4, -1)
Did the student get the correct answer? If not, explain what mistake the student made and how to
correct it.

Characteristics of a High Cognitive Demand Task:

This problem began as a low cognitive demand task because students had to do math
without any connections. They are given a formula in which they plug in numbers and get the
right answer, assuming they follow the steps correctly. Now, it has been converted in to a high
cognitive demand task because the student has to make sense of an error. This creates and
opportunity for the student to think critically about the math problem. Instead of solving a
problem in their own way, the student is forced to look at the problem from a different point of
view. If this student were to solve the problem, perhaps they would have labeled x1 and x2
differently, opening up the opportunity for different interpretations. In addition, the student
finding the error must explain and justify why the error was incorrect. Any time students have to
explain and justify, the task becomes more cognitively demanding.

Two Anticipated Solutions:

A student, Jordan, began to solve this problem. The student did make an error. I could
not tell what the error was at first, so I started by plugging in the problem the way I would
usually do it. I prefer for the first set of coordinate points be labeled as x1 and y1 and the second
set of coordinate points to be labelled as x2 and y2. When I began plugging in, I got:

I compared this back to the first problem, I saw that the error was with the numerator of the
problem. The student that began to write this accidentally flip-flopped the first two numbers.
This was the error that the student made. After fixing this error, the student should get to the
correct answer.
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A second student, Jennifer, took a different approach. Her justification follows: First, I
looked at the numbers the student was using and in what order. Since the student began with 2 in
the front, I assumed that she had labeled the first set of coordinate points as x2 and y2 and the
second set as x1 and y1. I found an error here, so the student was incorrect. The first error that I
found was that the student forgot to follow the equation and subtract the negative one. Instead,
the student subtracted one. This was not the only error that I found. I looked at the denominator
and saw that the student made in error and switched the x value. So instead of x2-x1, the
student wrote it as x1-x2. The student should flip the values of x to follow the equation. It does
not matter which values of x and y you choose, as long as it is consistent on the numerator and
the denominator. After fixing these two problems, the student should get the correct answer.