Positioning in the Discourse of Preservice Elementary Teachers in Algebraic Word Problems

• In Event: 46.086 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 46.086-3 - Exploring Teachers' Mathematics Knowledge

Abstract

This study aimed to understand how pre-service elementary teachers positioned themselves for and/or with the bar model and symbolic representation while solving algebraic word problems. For this study, four pre-service teachers were interviewed five times, asked to solve algebraic word problems and think aloud during the process. The analysis of pre-service teachers’ discursive interaction with two modes of representation, bar model and algebraic solution, showed that their positioning shifted due to previous experiences, beliefs about their prospective students, the problem type and the mathematical ideas involved in the problem. Moreover, this study highlighted that the continuum of abduction and retroduction served as a methodological orientation to analyze the positioning nature of the discourse of pre-service elementary teachers.

Authors

• Zulfukar Ozdogan, Indiana University

• Serife Sevis, Indiana University-Bloomington