The true essence of mathematics lies not in the accumulation of fragmented knowledge, but in revealing the structured nature of its internal connections and logic. Guiding students from “seeing the trees” to “seeing the forest” is the key pathway to achieving deep learning. With this consensus, on November 6, 2025, the inter-school mathematics joint teaching research activity themed “Focusing on Structure, Promoting Deep Learning” officially commenced at SUIS Wuxi. Mathematics teachers from our school and SUIS Hefei Campus gathered together, using “structure” as the bridge and “depth” as the banner, to engage in an intellectual exchange that connected teaching perspectives.
01 Classroom Demonstrations Reveal Expertise, Structured Thinking Begins to Bloom
Centered around the teaching theme “Focusing on Structure, Promoting Deep Learning,” four mathematics teachers from the Hefei and Wuxi campuses each showcased their strengths, presenting a series of high-quality lessons that highlighted mathematical thinking and facilitated student deep learning.
Teacher Zha Shuting’s lesson “Understanding 100” followed the cognitive thread of “Operation — Construction — Abstraction,” designing a three-tier structured activity: “Counting Sticks — Arranging Cubes — Using an Abacus,” integrated with the cultural context of Wuxi Pingtan. Through demonstrating “99 plus 1 makes 100” with continuous carrying, it accurately illustrated the “base-ten” counting principle. Relying on the geometric intuition of “Point — Line — Surface,” it helped students establish a clear conceptual system of place value, fully demonstrating the logic of structured design in teaching number concepts in lower grades.
Teacher Jiang Liting’s lesson “Posing Problems — Analysis of Quantitative Relationships” used “problem creation” as the core vehicle, combined with real-life materials like “peach and pear trees,” to guide students through an inquiry chain of “posing problems — modifying problems — solving problems.” Through comparing one-step and two-step word problems and using line diagrams for visual representation, students gradually abstracted the model “Total – Part = Other Part,” achieving the structured construction of quantitative relationships and effectively developing logical reasoning literacy.
Teacher Tu Jiaojiao’s lesson “Analyzing Quantitative Relationships from Conditions or Problems” used “chocolate distribution” as the problem scenario, constructing a complete problem-solving structure: “Understanding the Problem & Modeling — Relationship Analysis — Formulating Equations — Checking and Reflecting.” Focusing on comparing the thinking behind two solution methods, it clearly differentiated between forward and backward reasoning strategies through graphical representations, allowing students to form orderly mathematical thinking habits while mastering analytical methods, thus internalizing problem-solving strategies into thinking structures.
Teacher Shi Yan’s lesson “Oral Calculation of Two-Digit Addition and Subtraction” used a “jump rope competition” as the real-world context, designing a structured path of “Operational Perception — Comparative Analysis — Inductive Modeling — Application and Extension.” Understanding the principle of “adding/subtracting digits in the same place value” through concrete operations, students summarized strategies for optimizing mental math. Varied practice with a “spinner game” deepened pattern recognition, achieving structured transfer from operation to algorithm and enhancing calculation ability and number sense.
02 In-depth Lesson Preparation Traces Origins, Extensive Discussion Promotes Growth
Principal Meng gave high praise to the four lessons. These lessons were not only demonstrations of teaching but also a collision and fusion of educational philosophies. Principal Meng was delighted to see colleagues from the Hefei campus bring such wonderful classes, demonstrating deep teaching fully centered on “student-centeredness,” whether in number sense construction in lower grades or thinking training in upper grades. This fully proves that the two campuses have formed a powerful educational synergy under the theme of “Focusing on Structure.” We look forward to continuing to deepen such teaching exchanges and jointly the brilliant blueprint for SUIS mathematics education!
The mathematics groups from the two campuses respectively explained their lesson preparation ideas, teaching designs, and philosophies.
Attending teachers actively exchanged their observations and insights from the lessons, jointly explored teaching wisdom, and put forward their own constructive suggestions.
03 Expert Guidance Charts the Course, Thematic Discussion Clarifies the Path
During this joint teaching research activity, Director Luo provided professional and in-depth comments on the four demonstration lessons. He particularly pointed out that Teacher Tu Jiaojiao from the Hefei campus and Teacher Jiang Liting from the Wuxi campus, teaching the same topic “Analysis of Quantitative Relationships,” presented teaching practices with distinct styles and unique ingenuity. Teacher Tu closely followed the four-step problem-solving process – “Understand the Problem – Analyze Quantitative Relationships – Formulate the Equation – Check and Reflect” – cultivating students’ rigorous problem-solving habits and thinking quality through progressively layered teaching activities. Teacher Jiang focused on constructing mathematical models, guiding students to deeply understand the essence of the mathematical relationship “Total – Part = Other Part” during the process of analyzing quantitative relationships. The two teaching approaches, each with its own characteristics, jointly interpreted the structured thinking in mathematics teaching, providing valuable teaching paradigms for promoting the development of students’ core mathematical literacy.
In this “Focusing on Structure, Promoting Deep Learning” mathematics joint teaching research activity, Ms. Fan Yanhua, a distinguished elementary mathematics teaching researcher from the Xishan District Teacher Development Center, was invited to share her insights. With a unique perspective, she interpreted the true essence of a “good lesson.” She emphasized that high-quality teaching need not adhere to a fixed model but should fundamentally uphold scientific principles and maintain a student-oriented stance. Ms. Fan highly praised the educational ecosystem demonstrated in the Xiehe classrooms—where students truly become masters of their own learning. Through carefully structured activities, teachers have created a platform for students at different cognitive levels to express themselves freely.
Simultaneously, Teacher Fan also offered professional suggestions: Teachers can further optimize the integration and use of teaching resources, provide students with diverse choices of learning tools through systematic organization of textbook content, and guide them to autonomously optimize learning strategies during the inquiry process, thereby deepening their understanding of knowledge. She emphasized that this kind of teaching practice, centered on the development of student thinking, is the essence of achieving deep learning.
Although the four demonstration lessons had distinct features, they all successfully guided students to achieve a thorough understanding of knowledge and development of thinking. This teaching practice, which focuses on both the scientific nature of teaching and fully respects student agency, vividly illustrates the educational wisdom that “Teaching has principles, but no fixed method; the priority is finding the right method.”
This teaching research activity concluded successfully amidst the collision of ideas and sharing of wisdom. The four wonderful lesson examples and in-depth discussions fully demonstrate that with structured teaching as the boat and deep learning as the oar, we are forging a new course for mathematics education. Teachers from both campuses unanimously agreed that this cross-campus teaching research not only built a platform for professional dialogue but also ignited the spark of teaching innovation. Everyone agreed to take today as a starting point, continuously deepen cooperation, and jointly construct new models for mathematics teaching, allowing structured thinking to truly integrate into every lesson and letting deep learning take root and sprout in every child’s heart. We believe that with the joint cultivation by teachers from both campuses, mathematics education will surely usher in a more vibrant spring!
