Möjligheter och begränsningar med läroboksbaserad och laborativ matematikundervisning

Sammanfattning: Mathematics is a central topic in today's education debate, including discussion of its educational quality and various teaching methods. Today basically two different teaching methods are used; one is the textbook based method, with the book in focus and the other one the laboratory method by which teaching is performed through practical applications. The purpose of this study was to examine four primary school teachers' view of these two teaching methods by means of four relevant inquiries. By interviewing the four teachers, advantages and disadvantages were highlighted and the purpose was achieved. In order to support the analysis, two theories applied; the socio-cultural perspective and the cognitive perspective. The results of this study together with previous research disclosed advantages and disadvantages of both methods and none turned out to be better than the other. However, two aspects were prominent in the study;   time saving and   individual adaptation.   Time saving was considered a major advantage of textbook based instruction because it facilitates the work of teachers in planning lessons. In contrast, the laboratory approach was considered time consuming.  However, individual adaptation was considered to be more beneficial by the laboratory teaching method. Thus, it is important to be aware of that implementing individualized education also is time consuming, and teachers must ask themselves whether they have time to do or not to do this. Finally, it is central that teachers are aware of the two teaching methods, with their opportunities and constraints, and that the teachers consider this when choosing teaching method. Of course it is not necessary to select either method; it is also possible to mix both of them.