Students' Ideas as Resources for Collective Engagement in Whole-Class Math Discussions

• In Event: Division C Section 1C: Equity Topics in Mathematics Education

Abstract

We investigated whole-class discussions in which multiple students participated in ways previous research suggests are consequential for learning. We found that in such conversations, students rarely presented the entirety of their solutions before other students engaged. Rather, incomplete explanations and written representations that emerged over time created entry points for others to contribute to joint activity in mathematically substantive ways. These aspects of student participation operated in combination with teachers’ in-the-moment responses, which created opportunities for and publicly recognized different kinds of contributions as resources for collective work. Our findings suggest that, rather than challenges in communication that must be overcome, students’ vague, unfinished, and ambiguous ideas present productive contributions that can be leveraged to support collective mathematical work.

Authors

• Nicholas C. Johnson, San Diego State University

• Megan L. Franke, University of California - Los Angeles

• Noreen M. Webb, University of California - Los Angeles

• Marsha M. Ing, University of California - Riverside

• Eric C Burnheimer, University of California - Los Angeles

• Joy Zimmerman, University of California - Los Angeles