RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Examining Ways in Which Students Engage With Sets of Outcomes in Combinatorics
Page: 124
Lockwood (2014) articulated the importance of sets of outcomes, suggesting that a “set-oriented perspective” is a productive way of thinking for students as they solve counting problems. While this construct has indeed proven useful, it remains quite broad. In this report we aim to provide more detailed insight into the variety of ways students engage with outcomes while counting, exploring ways that we might elicit robust set-oriented perspectives in students. We present data from student interviews that were designed to elicit engagement with sets of outcomes, and we report on a variety of ways in which students worked with outcomes as they solved problems. We highlight contrasting cases that emerged in these interviews, making the case that there is room for nuance (and differences) in students’ engagement with sets of outcomes in counting.