How Does the Instructional Context Affect Teachers' Explanations in Math?

• In Event: Teacher Knowledge and Teacher Practice in Mathematics

Abstract

Explaining is a core practice of teaching math. However, math teachers often omit the rationale behind the solution steps (i.e., principle orientation) when giving explanations. We investigated whether student teachers’ principle-orientation is influenced by the instructional context. In Study 1, math student teachers were either exposed to a situation framing mathematics as argumentation, or a situation framing mathematics as a toolbox, or a math-neutral situation, before they wrote an explanation. Student teachers’ explanations in the argumentation condition were more principle-oriented than those produced in the other conditions. Study 2 suggested that this effect was due to a specific mindset primed by the context. These results show how the socio-cultural context influences the way teachers enact core practices such as explaining.

Authors

• Mona Weinhuber, University of Freiburg

• Andreas Lachner

• Timo Leuders

• Matthias Nückles, University of Freiburg