Mathematical Argumentative Writing: Toward Stronger Genre Uptake and Tasks That Elicit It

• In Event: 31.092 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Three - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 31.092-9 - Multidisciplinary Approaches in Secondary School: Explorations of Reform and Transformation

Abstract

New standards and assessments require students to produce Mathematical Argumentative Writing (MAW). However, recent surveys suggest teachers seldom engage students in mathematical writing, likely due to confusion around expectations of this newly required genre. In order to design effective tasks and instruction to support students’ MAW, we must first understand how posing different kinds of questions impacts students’ writing. To explore this intertextual relationship, I analyzed 330 writing samples to six mathematical tasks, examining differences elicited by variations in the task. Drawing from rhetorical genre studies (Bawarshi, 2000) and structural mapping (Knipping, 2003), I exposed the underlying structure of students’ MAW, highlighting ways different tasks elicit differences in students’ uptake of the genre. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed.

Author

• Leslie C. Banes, University of California - Davis