Teachers across all grade levels agree that problem solving and reasoning are areas of weakness in students. Assessments among U.S. students indicate that these weaknesses persist (NCTM 2014) in spite of repeated calls that date back more than thirty years for increased problem solving, reasoning, and sense making in our schools. The NCTM is…

Many teachers have designed lessons for students who will be working in groups to discuss and solve a problem. After investing time in constructing an interesting problem, creating strategically designed groups, and introducing the problem carefully, teachers may be left wondering how to help students collaborate to make sense of mathematical…