PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Reasoning about changes: A frame of reference approach
Page: 243
In a RUME 18 Theoretical Report, my co-authors and I presented our cognitive description of a conceptualized frame of reference, consisting of mental commitments to units, reference points, and directionality of comparison when thinking about measures. Here I present a pilot study on how a focus on conceptualizing a frame of reference impacts students’ ability to reason quantitatively about changes. The two-part empirical study consisted of clinical interviews with several students followed by teaching interviews with three students, who were chosen because of their varying abilities to conceptualize a frame of reference. This initial evidence shows that the ability to conceptualize a frame of reference benefits students as they attempt to reason with changes.