PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Neural correlates for action-object theories
Page: 833
Research from an action-object perspective is well positioned to benefit from the emerging field of mathematics educational neuroscience. In this theoretical paper, we review some relevant findings from neuroscience studies and interpret them from an action-object perspective. This interpretation demonstrates a strong alignment of action-object theories and neuroscience findings, thus affirming many aspects of action-object perspectives on mathematical development. Neuroscience also serves to further elaborate and generalize reflective abstraction—the basis for action-object theories—as a mechanism for mathematical development. Specifically, we can begin to understand the changes in neural functioning associated with the objectification of action. This understanding helps explain some of the limitations teachers experience when attempting to provoke and support students’ constructions of actions and objects.