PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Interactions between student engagement and collective mathematical activity
Page: 655
In this small-scaled classroom teaching experiment we investigated the nature of six preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ in-the-moment engagement and collective mathematical activity as they worked in pairs. Students participated in five 1-hour sessions focused on concepts of logarithms and relationships between linear and multiplicative change. We analyzed pair- and whole-group argumentation using Toulmin models (1958\2003) to understand collective mathematical activity and individuals’ participation in argumentation. Self-reported data on student engagement were collected at two random times per session per student, which were further explicated through recall interviews. Results suggest active involvement in mathematical argumentation is not sufficient for high engagement. Instead, contributing to mathematical ideas functioning as-if-shared which also prompt deeper understanding of ongoing work align with states of relatively high engagement.