PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Using Community College Students’ Understanding of a Trigonometric Statement to Study Their Instructors’ Practical Rationality in Teaching
Page: 2-502
This preliminary research report documents work in progress from a study that seeks to understand community college trigonometry instructors’ practical rationality regarding instructional decisions, using students’ understanding of trigonometry notions as a trigger for the conversations about those decisions. Students’ answers to one set of tasks were used to prompt discussions between two full-time instructors. We describe the task, the students’ responses, teachers’ anticipations of students’ difficulties, and their reactions and interpretations of students’ understanding of the task. The process provides insights into the nature of the obligations that instructors respond to, and instructors’ impressions of the role of curriculum and the demands that it imposes on teachers and students when pressures for increasing transfer rates are high. As a preliminary research report, we seek guidance from the audience on furthering the analyses of teachers’ data.