Pre-Service Teachers’ Figurative and Operative Graphing Actions

Authors

Kevin C. Moore, University of Georgia
Irma E. Stevens, Sonoma State University
Teo Paoletti, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Natalie L.F. Hobson, Sonoma State University
Biyao Liang, University of Georgia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2019

Abstract

We report on semi-structured clinical interviews to describe U.S. pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ graphing meanings. Our primary goal is to draw on Piagetian notions of figurative and operative thought to identify marked differences in the students’ meanings. Namely, we illustrate students’ meanings dominated by fragments of sensorimotor experience and compare those with students’ meanings dominated by the coordination of mental actions in the form of covarying quantities. Our findings suggest students’ meanings that foreground operative aspects of thought are more generative with respect to graphing. Our findings also indicate that students can encounter perturbations due to potential incompatibilities between figurative and operative aspects of thought.

DOI

10.1016/j.jmathb.2019.01.008

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Moore, Kevin C.; Stevens, Irma E.; Paoletti, Teo; Hobson, Natalie L.F.; and Liang, Biyao, "Pre-Service Teachers’ Figurative and Operative Graphing Actions" (2019). Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works. 143.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/mathsci-facpubs/143

Published Citation

Moore, K. C., Stevens, I. E., Paoletti, T., Hobson, N. L., & Liang, B. (2019). Pre-service teachers’ figurative and operative graphing actions. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 56, 100692.