PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
An investigation of a students’ constructed meanings for animations in construction of a hypothetical learning trajectory
Page: 243
This study reports results of an investigation into the meanings a precalculus student constructs as she views an animation independently and describes her image of the problem context as it influences her ability to construct meanings in a novel problem context. Using an exploratory teaching interview, the student’s initial meanings and image of the problem context shifted once the animation was utilized as a didactic object. An analysis of her meanings and prior research are used to modify a hypothetical learning trajectory for supporting students in their emergence of productive images of novel problem contexts to construct meaningful and appropriate formulas and graphs. The results and the construction of a hypothetical learning trajectory of this study can potentially be useful for a teachers’ awareness of students’ constructed meanings while designing or selecting mathematical tasks that incorporate applets and animations in her instruction.