Try it yourself: create your own Variation sequence

You are now going to think on how you might use Variation theory in your own teaching practice.

You will do this by adapting some tasks of your own choice in such a way that the Variation adds another layer to it.

To scaffold the task, you can think about doing the following steps:

1. Think about a context or situation where you might be able to use Variation. Can you find a specific resource or curriculum topic you think lends itself for this? You can think about the themes of the examples we have already shown. For example, arithmetic or geometric figures might be particularly suitable.

2. Pick a set of tasks about this topic. Think whether the wording of the tasks need to be changed to make it more Variation-like.

3. Now imagine you are one of your students and complete the tasks. How did it go? Are there any changes you would make?

You could then describe these examples in this discussion step, so they are shared with other learners. We can then build a library of variation sequences, which will help all learners develop their understanding the concept. You could reply to other examples with some constructive comments. You could even share scans, images or other visual materials via this padlet. You can add a contribution by double-clicking on the canvas; the row at the bottom allows you to add files, images, links and various other sources.

Note that we have also provided examples on the padlet.

Don’t forget, you can open the padlet in a new window by right-clicking and selecting ‘open in a new window’.