Abstract
This study elaborates on the sociomathematical norm of what counts as an acceptable mathematical explanation by focusing on cases in which tasks are grounded in settings that exist outside pure mathematics. We propose that establishing this norm supports the more equitable distribution of student learning opportunities by making the rationale for particular solution methods more accessible to all students. The data that we analyzed to understand the specific strategies teachers use to initiate and guide the negotiation of this norm come from video-recordings of two 7th-grade teachers’ classroom instruction after a short, targeted professional development. The analysis we conducted is grounded in the symbolic interactionist view that normative ways of communicating and acting are negotiated through interaction on an ongoing basis. Our findings show that the teachers used two strategies to support students to ground their explanations in extra-mathematical settings, but these strategies were largely unsuccessful. We use excerpts from classroom discussions to explain why these strategies did not work and make suggestions for both future research and professional development.
Zusammenfassung
Die Studie befasst sich mit der soziomathematischen Norm, was in anwendungsorientierten Zusammenhängen als angemessene mathematische Erklärung gilt. Es wird vorgeschlagen, dass die Etablierung dieser Norm zu einer gerechteren Verteilung von Lernchancen beträgt, indem sie die Begründung bestimmter Lösungsverfahren allen Lernenden zugänglicher macht. Die analysierten Daten stammen aus Videoaufzeichnungen des Unterrichts zweier Lehrkräfte in Jahrgangsstufe 7 und wurden mit dem Ziel analysiert, die spezifischen Strategien zu verstehen, mit denen Lehrkräfte die Aushandlung dieser Norm initiieren und begleiten. Die Analysen fußen auf der symbolisch-interaktionistischen Sichtweise, dass normierendes Kommunizieren und Handeln in der Unterrichtsinteraktion fortwährend ausgehandelt wird. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Lehrkräfte zwei unterschiedliche Strategien einsetzen, um die Schülerinnen und Schüler dabei zu unterstützen, Erklärungen in anwendungsorientierten Zusammenhängen zu entwickeln, dass diese Strategien jedoch weitgehend erfolglos waren. Anhand von Ausschnitten aus Unterrichtsgesprächen erläutern wir, warum diese Strategien erfolglos bleiben, und machen Vorschläge sowohl für die zukünftige Forschung als auch für die Professionalisierung von Lehrkräften.
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This work was supported, in part, by funds provided by UNC Charlotte.
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All three authors conceptualized the manuscript. The first two authors took the lead on writing and revising the manuscript with the third author providing extensive feedback on both the original submission and revision.
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L. Reinke, M. Stephan and P. Cobb declare that they have no competing interests.
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Reinke, L., Stephan, M. & Cobb, P. Teacher Press to Establish What Counts as an Acceptable Explanation Grounded in Problem Settings. J Math Didakt 45, 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13138-023-00225-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13138-023-00225-1
Keywords
- Sociomathematical norms
- Ratio and proportion
- Realistic mathematics education
- Teacher discourse
- Quantitative reasoning