RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Characterizing Instructor Questions Intended to Support Quantitative Reasoning
Page: 126
Meanings for the definite integral are most productive when rooted in quantitative reasoning. However, little is known about how instruction may effectively support these meanings. This study examines the discourse actions of one instructor who intended to promote students’ quantitative reasoning in a lesson exploring ideas foundational to the definite integral. We draw upon video data of the instructor’s conversations with three undergraduate students who were working together during class. We analyzed whether his conversational turns could promote quantitative reasoning and characterized them according to a discourse action typology. Results suggest most of his discourse actions did opportune quantitative reasoning and that different types of discourse actions had the potential to elicit quantitative reasoning in distinct ways. We also identify two additional discourse actions not in the original typology. We conclude with implications for practice and suggestions for future research.