ASSESSING MATHEMATICAL

REASONING

Quick Guide
This is a shortened version of the Teachers Guide, especially for participants in professional learning sessions.
Please consult ST5_Reasoning_TeachersGuide.docx to get a full picture of these resources.

What is Reasoning?
Reasoning is one of the proficiencies in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. “It plays a critical role in
developing students’ understanding and promoting creative thinking in mathematics.” (Vale, et al., 2017, p. 3).
Students discover and make sense of mathematical ideas and concepts when engaged in inquiry-based tasks that
require them to reason.
“Reasoning is the glue that holds everything together, the lodestar that guides learning” (Kilpatrick et al., 2001, p.
129).
Reasoning in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics is defined as:
Students develop an increasingly sophisticated capacity for logical thought and actions, such as
analysing, proving, evaluating, explaining, inferring, justifying and generalising. Students are
reasoning mathematically when they explain their thinking, when they deduce and justify
strategies used and conclusions reached, when they adapt the known to the unknown, when they
transfer learning from one context to another, when they prove that something is true or false and
when they compare and contrast related ideas and explain their choices.

Three Key Reasoning Actions

These resources divide mathematical reasoning into three main reasoning actions: Analysing, Generalising, and
Justifying. Together, these three actions cover all the components of reasoning described in the Australian
Curriculum. The learning trajectories show how these three reasoning actions develop.

Analysing
Analysing involves exploring the problem using examples provided or generating examples to form or test a
conjecture about a common property, pattern or relationship.

Analysing occurs by comparing and contrasting cases to notice:

• what is same and what is different, and to sort and classify the cases.
• what stays the same and what changes and to recall, repeat or extend the pattern.

Analysing involves using numerical or spatial structure, known facts or properties when sorting cases or
repeating and extending pattern.

Categories of cases and patterns are identified by labelling using terms, diagrams or symbols

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Generalising
Generalising involves forming conjectures that is, developing statements that are thought to be true but not yet
known or shown to be true.

Generalising involves identifying common properties or patterns across more than one case and communicating a
rule (conjecture) to describe the common property, pattern or relationship.

The statement or rule is communicated orally or written using words, diagrams or symbols.

The meaning of the statement or rule is communicated using particular examples to explain the property or
pattern. Further examples are used to explain how the rule applies to other cases, that is to show that how it is a
generalisation.

Justifying
Justifying involves checking the truth of conjectures and generalisations to demonstrate or refute the truth of a
claim.

Justifying uses logical argument to convince others of the truth of the claim or to refute the claim.

A logical argument is made by:

• using ideas that are already understood;
• following agreed processes or steps for making arguments; and
• using terms, diagrams and symbols that are known and understood.

A mathematical refutation involves demonstrating that a particular statement is false.

Tasks are usually approached by first analysing, then generalising, then justifying. Some tasks provide a conjecture
to prove or disprove, and so the generalising is already done.

There are three learning trajectories that show how students typically progress in each key reasoning action.

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Mathematical Reasoning Rubric
When conducting formative assessment of reasoning, teachers are aiming to find out how students analyse,
generalise and justify and how they communicate their findings and argument.
The Mathematical Reasoning Rubric is a ready-to-use formative assessment tool designed to identify both the type
of reasoning action that the student is using and the level of proficiency that the student is demonstrating
irrespective of the mathematical content of the task.
There are five levels of proficiency for each key reasoning action: not evident, beginning, developing, consolidating
and extending. These steps do not align with a year level. Student may not be at the same level for each reasoning
action. Using enabling and extending prompts will encourage students to develop proficiency with analysing and
demonstrate a higher level of analysing.
The rubric can be used:
• To assess individual students, or groups of students, or to plan learning for a whole class.
• With observations during a lesson, or by analysing written or recorded student work after a lesson.
• Alone, or collaboratively with your colleagues.
• With the exemplar tasks, or with your own tasks.

Prompts
Teachers may need to use prompts to elicit students’
reasoning. Examples are included in the chart below. A
poster for classroom use is included in this Quick Guide and
a colour coded set of reasoning prompt cards which can be
laminated and then used across may lessons is provided in
the full Teacher’ Guide.
Three main types of prompts are suggested in the lessons:
• Reasoning prompts - to highlight the general
questions about reasoning that students can
consider across many problems;
• Enabling Prompts – to help students get started on
a problem;
• Extending Prompts – to suggest how students who
find the task easy can get more out of it.

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Sample assessment
A Magic V is a number puzzle. The aim is to arrange five consecutive numbers so
that the sum of each ‘arm’ of the V is the same. Below are two Vs. The left V is a
Magic V (4+2+3=9 and 5+1+3=9); the V on the right is not. Each number can be used
only once.

Sam said, “It is impossible to make a Magic V with an even number at the bottom
with the set of numbers 1 to 5.”
Is Sam right? Explain why or why not.

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Summary of Exemplars
The Exemplars in this resource show how teachers have used the Rubric for formative assessment of students’
reasoning. The annotated work samples included in each Exemplar show the evidence that teachers used.
Most tasks can be easily adapted for students across Years 3 to 6 and sometimes lower. The year levels specified
indicate the year level of the students who provided the sample work.

Exemplar: Is it True? (Year 3)

This task asks students to decide whether an addition is correct or not and to explain their reasons. The content
focus is on place value and grouping, re-grouping and renaming for multi-digit addition. The reasoning foci of
this task are explaining and justifying statements; exploring and noticing relationships (analysing); and forming
conjectures and generalising. The task is easy to adapt to other content and year levels.

Exemplar: Number Towers (Year 3)

Number Towers gives students an opportunity to develop and test conjectures and form generalisations by
reasoning mathematically about numerical structures with addition. The task promotes careful analysis of a
mathematical structure. Students need to experiment systematically, keep track of results, and choose cases
carefully to test the rule. The task can be adapted for older students by using fractions or decimals.

Exemplar: The Magic V (Year 4)

The Magic V task affords an opportunity to explain the reasons why a conjecture is true. Students begin by creating
Magic Vs by trial and error, but come to see constant features. By manipulating numbers, analysing totals and
recording their ideas, students will come to see why the properties of odd and even numbers are relevant. The
main purpose is to develop students’ capacity to analyse situations, to find reasons and develop logical arguments.

Exemplar: Matchsticks (Year 4)

Students explore making rows of squares from matchsticks. The patterns can be described pictorially, numerically
and symbolically. Students learn to work systematically and keep a record of results that assist them to develop
and test conjectures. As the students describe and explain patterns, they will begin to move from additive to
multiplicative reasoning. By changing from rows of squares, the task is easy to adapt to other year levels.

Exemplar: Shapeshifter (Year 4)

Shapeshifter is based on a picture story book. Students find a rule for using a straight line to dissect a polygon to
make a polygon with one more side. The content foci are naming shapes and their components. The reasoning foci
are especially Analysing and Justifying – seeing and explaining when and why cutting off a corner increases the
number of sides.

Exemplar: What Else Belongs? (Year 5)

In this task, students find common properties of three given numbers. They notice and describe properties of
number; such as size, order, composition, place value, multiples, factors, even or odd. The students justify why
some numbers have similar or dissimilar properties. There is a strong emphasis on Analysing – seeing what is the
same and what is different. The task can very readily be adapted to other content and year levels.

Exemplar: Area and Perimeter (Year 6)

In this task, students respond to a conjecture related to a common misconception: that a rectangle with a larger
perimeter will always have a larger area. Students will learn that it is sufficient to offer one counter example to
refute a conjecture or general statement that makes a claim about all cases.

Exemplar: Painted Cube (Year 6)

The Painted Cube task is rich and complex, providing students with opportunities to explore a variety of patterns
that can be described spatially, numerically and symbolically. There are good opportunities for using visualisation.
Students learn to work systematically by keeping a clear record of results which will encourage them to develop
and test conjectures and to ask themselves questions about further cases.

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Pr int able Resour ces
Assessment Sheet

Student Name: Reasoning Task: Date:

Observation of student’s reasoning:

ANALYSING GENERALISING JUSTIFYING

• Does not notice common • Does not communicate a • Does not justify.
EVIDENT

property or pattern. common property or rule

NOT

(conjecture) for a pattern.

• Recalls random known • Attempts to communicate • Describes what they did and
BEGINNING

facts or attempts to sort a common property or rule recognises what is correct or

examples or repeats (conjecture) for a pattern. incorrect.
patterns. • Argument is not coherent or
does not include all steps.

• Notices a common • Generalises: • Attempts to verify by

DEVELOPING

property, or sorts and communicates a rule testing cases, and detects

orders cases, or repeats (conjecture) using and corrects errors or
and extends patterns. mathematical terms, and inconsistencies.
• Describes the property or records other cases or • Starting statements in a
pattern. examples. logical argument are
correct.
• Systematically searches • Generalises: • Verifies truth of statements
CONSOLIDATING

for examples, extends communicates a rule by confirming all cases or

patterns, or analyses (conjecture) using refutes a claim by using a
structures, to form a mathematical symbols and counter example.
conjecture. explains what the rule • Uses a correct logical
• Makes predictions about means or explains how the argument.
other cases. rule works using examples.
• •
Generalises cases, patterns •
Notices and explores Uses a watertight logical
relationships between
or properties using argument.
EXTENDING

properties.
mathematical symbols and • Verifies that the
applies the rule. generalisation holds for all
• Compares different cases using logical
expressions for the same argument.
pattern or property to show
equivalence.
Comments (feedback, reasoning prompts for further development):
 Assessing Mathematical Reasoning: Rubric
Assessing Mat hemat ical Reasoning: Rubr ic

This table elaborates the different levels of proficiency for each key reasoning action. It provides more detail than
the classroom assessment sheet, and should be used as a guide when looking at student work.

The levels reflect the learning trajectories. There are several descriptors for each level, for each key reasoning
action, but not all descriptors need to be present for a student to be at that level. One reason is that different
tasks bring out different reasoning actions. For example: What Else Belongs? requires verification and logical
argument whereas Area and Perimeter requires refutation using a counter example (although there are
opportunities for other reasoning in the follow up tasks). The exemplars provide examples of students’ reasoning
matched to descriptors in this rubric.

ANALYSING GENERALISING JUSTIFYING

• Does not notice numerical • Does not communicate a • Does not justify.
NOT EVIDENT

or spatial structure of common property or rule for • Appeals to teacher or

examples or cases. a pattern. others.
• Attends to non-
mathematical aspects of
the examples or cases.

• Notices similarities across • Draws attention to or • Describes what they did and
examples attempts to communicate a why it may or may not be
• Recalls random known facts common property or correct.
related to the examples. repeated components of a • Recognises what is correct
pattern using:
BEGINNING

• Recalls and repeats or incorrect using materials,

patterns displayed visually o body language (gesture), objects, or words.
or through use of materials. o drawing, • Makes judgements based on
o concrete materials simple criteria such as
• Attempts to sort cases o counting or
based on a common known facts.
• oral language (metaphors).
property. • The argument may not be
coherent or include all steps
in the reasoning process.

• Notices a common • Communicates a rule • Attempts to verify by

numerical or spatial (conjecture) about a: testing cases or explaining
property. o property using words, the meaning of a conjecture
• Recalls and repeats diagrams or number using one example.
patterns using numerical sentences. • Detecting and correcting
structure or spatial o pattern using words, errors and inconsistencies
structure. using materials, diagrams
DEVELOPING

diagrams to show
• Sorts and classifies cases recursion or number and informal written
according to a common sentences to methods.
property. communicate the • Starting statements in a
• Orders cases to show what pattern as repeated logical argument are correct
is the same or stays the addition. and accepted by the
same and what is different • Records other cases that classroom.
or changes. fits the rule (conjecture) or
• Describes the case or extends the pattern using
pattern by labelling the the rule.
category or sequence.
 • Notices more than one • Generalises: communicates • Verifies truth of statements
common property by a rule (conjecture) using by using a common property,
systematically generating mathematical terms, rule or known facts that
further cases and/or listing symbols or diagrams (e.g. a confirms each case. May use
and considering a range of number sentence or labelled materials and informal
known facts or properties. geometric diagram) methods.
• Repeats and extends • Explains what the rule • Refutes a claim by using a
patterns using both the (conjecture) means using counter example.
numerical and one example.
CONSOLIDATING

• Uses a correct logical

spatial structure. • Extends the pattern using
argument that has a
an example to explain how
complete chain of reasoning
• Searches for and produces the rule works.
and uses words such as
examples:
‘because’, ‘if…then…’,
o using tools, ‘therefore’, ‘and so’, ‘that
technology and leads to’
modelling
• Extends the generalisation
• Makes predictions about using logical argument.
other cases:
o with the same
property
o included in the
pattern

• Notices and explores • Generalises: communicates • Uses a watertight logical

relationships between: the rule (conjecture) using argument that is
mathematical symbols. mathematically sound and
o common properties
leaves nothing unexplained.
o numerical structures of • Applies the rule to find
further examples or cases. • Verifies that the statement
EXTENDING

patterns.
is true or the generalisation
• Generalises properties by
holds for all cases using
forming a statement about
logical argument.
the relationship between
common properties.
• Compares different
symbolic expressions used
to define the same pattern
to show equivalence.
Reasoni ng Pro mpt s Post er

MATHEMATICAL REASONING PROMPTS

ANALYSING GENERALISING
• What is the same and different about …? • How can you describe what is the same?
• What stays the same and what changes? • What is the rule?
• Sort or organise the following according to … • What is the pattern here?
• Alter an aspect of something to see an effect. • How can you describe the pattern?
If we change this what will happen? • What happens in general?
• What follows from this? What do you think will • Is that … (pattern) always going to work?
happen next if we do this? • Are there other examples that fit the rule?
• What do you notice…? • How could you explain the rule to someone
• When is it true? else?
• Is it just sometimes true, or is it always true?

JUSTIFYING • Tell me what is wrong with….

• Is this conjecture just sometimes true, or • Explain - why does this (process/rule/result)
always true? work?
• How do you know? • Can you go through that step by step?
• How could we show or prove that it is true? • Can you explain that step by step?
• True or false? Why? Let’s justify. • Why?
• Convince me… • If…then…
• How can we be sure…?