Faculty of Education Competitive Grants

Project Title: Qifa Shi teaching: Confucian heuristics and mathematics teaching in Shanghai

Chief Investigator: Professor David Clarke

Funded by: 2007 Faculty of Education Competitive Grant

Project Summary: In analyses undertaken at the ICCR, Professor Yi-Ming Cao identified the forms and functions of Qifa Shi teaching (Confucian heuristic teaching) from video data of mathematics lessons in Shanghai. Qifa Shi teaching is both highly structured and highly dialogical, but with an almost total absence of direct student-student interaction. The Qifa Shi approach utilizes Confucian heuristics to address contemporary Chinese concerns about student independent thinking and problem solving skills within the constraints of Chinese classroom culture and conventions. This project examines whether the constituent functional elements (eg Pu Dian = Bridging Strategies) can be connected empirically to valued learning outcomes.