Examining Preservice Teachers' Interpretations of the Equal Sign From a Multiliteracies Perspective

• In Event: Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: Literacy Research Issues in the 21st Century

Abstract

Recent reforms have called for the engagement of students in an interconnectedness of ideas across contexts and disciplines. This research was designed to examine preservice elementary teacher’s interpretations of the equal sign. Twenty-two preservice teachers were asked to translate and describe what the equal sign meant in the context of twelve statements taken from mathematic and social media examples. Results suggest that preservice teachers hold multiliterate understandings of the equal sign. Participants were able to interpret the statements in a variety of ways that invoked multiple, context-specific meaning pointing towards an understanding of text and textual representations, such as symbols, used across contexts and disciplines.

Authors

• Ian Whitacre, Florida State University

• Jennifer Schellinger, The Florida State University

• Robert Schoen, Florida State University

• Zachary Champagne, Florida State University