PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 1)
2012
Portland, Oregon
HONORABLE MENTION AWARD: Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Evolving Meanings for Generalizing, Doing Mathematics and Justifying
Page: 1-32
We document the evolving meanings that preservice elementary teachers ascribed to the sociomathematical norms of a mathematics class designed to foster mathematical sophistication. Specifically, we explore the developing meanings students gave to: a) their instructor’s request for general solutions to problems; b) classroom norms concerning problem solving behaviors; and c) their instructor’s expectation for mathematical justification. Finally, we document changes in student mathematical sophistication during the course of a semester, and illuminate the reflexive relationship between their mathematical sophistication and their interpretations of these classroom sociomathematical norms.