Jaime Torre Takes Open Approach to Math

Jaime Torre, GSA’s Math Department chair, has adopted a new classroom approach to help ALL of his students get more out of math. “My goal is to teach them creative thinking, a growth mindset, and resilience,” he said.

The traditional approach, teaching the mechanics of solving math problems and then having students repeat the process, rewards students who are “skilled at memorizing and computing,” Jaime said, but a more open, creative approach “reaches more students in a diverse class.”

Jaime engages his students with “rich, open, visual, creative tasks,” like answering this question that Algebra II students worked in groups to solve: Using any mathematical operations with only the numeral four, what equations will yield the results 1 through 20?

Some equations came quickly (4+4+4 = 12, 4x4 = 16, 4/4 = 1), but others were harder to come by at first. Quite naturally, though, groups adopted different tactics to find other equations, and they learned from each other in the process, often finding multiple ways to achieve the same result.

They also made mistakes, which Jaime said help learning and cognitive development. “I want them to know that mistakes make their brains grow.”

So, how is the open task approach going? Very well, Jaime said. Research shows that students who do well with either approach perform well on standardized tests, he said, but that this new approach “is more equitable because it brings success to students with diverse skills and strengths.”

Jaime guides Algebra II students.