PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 1)
2012
Portland, Oregon
Experts’ Reification of Complex Variables Concepts: The Role of Metaphor
Page: 1-433
Using a theoretical perspective of embodied cognition, we explored how six experts integrated metaphors to reason and communicate about arithmetic and analytic complex variables concepts. We found that experts who displayed evidence of reification of a complex variables concept or had a need to use a concept imparted their sense of understanding through enacted metaphors. These metaphors were often invented or reinterpreted, based on personal experiences and created to convey nuances of the experts’ understanding to students. The experts appeared conscientious of using metaphors relevant to their own students. This research may support practitioners’ efforts to create opportunities for students to create or reinterpret experts’ metaphors into personally meaningful metaphors that both capture important mathematical concepts accurately and align with their own understandings, experiences, and culture. Further research may investigate how technology may serve as a tool for such an endeavor.