Öppna uppgifter i matematikundervisningen

Sammanfattning: The following study aims to define what an open-ended question in mathematics education is and investigate what the effects are on the learning process. Firstly, conversations were conducted with teachers that are using this approach in their mathematics education. Then systematic searches for relevant scientific articles were conducted in various databases.The result shows that there are three main features of open-ended questions; there may be more than one acceptable answer, it requires a higher level of thinking from the person solving the problem compared to closed questions and both the students and the teacher will learn during the process. Moreover, the result indicates that using open-ended questions has positive effects on student’s engagement, contributes to a positive classroom climate, increases the possibility that all students can be involved in the same teaching activity and makes the students’ knowledge visible for both the student and the teacher.The findings conclude that it requires good planning from the teacher before using this approach in the classroom to enhance the possibilities of the good effects. Furthermore, I discussed what I, as a future teacher, need to think about while using open-ended questions in my classroom. Lastly, I give suggestions on further research about open-ended questions in the early years.