45.082 - Multiplicative Models of Situations Across Disciplines

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Multiplicative thinking, that combines numbers and composes quantities, plays a central role in the mathematics and science that students encounter in school, beyond the elementary years. Research indicates that students, and oftentimes their teachers, struggle with many parts of the “multiplicative conceptual field” (Vergnaud, 1983) and that classroom instruction typically provides insufficient breadth and depth to support student learning. This session brings together four different lines of inquiry that explore how and where students and teachers see multiplication as sensibly modeling situations where different quantities combine and interact multiplicatively. The goals of the session are to highlight and build on recent advances and engage discussion among mathematics and science educators.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Research in Mathematics Education

Chair

• John P. Smith, Michigan State University

Papers

• Supporting Dynamic Conceptions of Multiplication - Richard Lehrer, Vanderbilt University; Marta Anna Kobiela, McGill University

• Multiplication as Coordinated Measurement - Andrew G. Izsak, Tufts University; Sybilla Beckmann, University of Georgia

• Multiplicative Meaning in Physics - Bruce Sherin, Northwestern University

• Exploring the Intuitive Basis of Students' Understanding of Multiplicative Relationships - John P. Smith, Michigan State University

Discussant

• Mariana Levin, Western Michigan University