PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Construction of a mathematics learning assistant’s fragile mathematics identity
Page: 348
This paper shares results of a discourse analysis of an interview with a female student who was working as an undergraduate mathematics tutor and learning assistant. The student is shown to have developed a mathematics identity made up of a strong identity as a doer of mathematics and a weak sense of belonging within her mathematics community. I use robust mathematics identity to refer to a mathematics identity that includes both a strong identity as a doer of mathematics and a sense of belonging in mathematics. A fragile mathematics identity is one in which one or the other of these constructs is not present. This interpretation of these terms is closely aligned with, but slightly different from, the way these terms are used in other literature in the field. This student is shown to have a fragile, rather than robust, mathematics identity.