Journal of Research in Mathematics Education

The Influence of Decisions Planning an Out-of-Class Academic Festival on Statistics Teaching Practices

2024-04-12T10:54:50+02:00

Some researchers in mathematics education have studied the decisions professors make during classroom context activities. These decisions are explained by several factors: 1) how professors conceive the structure of mathematics; 2) what they know about the mathematical content; and, 3) what they consider the best didactic strategies to improve students' learning.

Based on these studies, this article explores how two professors’ decisions, made beyond classroom contexts, influence their teaching practice. Two professors, who were teaching the same probability course, participated in this study. We apply Wenger’s theory of Communities of Practice to analyze such influence in terms of the way these professors participated in, and reified, their out-of-classroom decisions. This study allowed us to perceive that decisions taken at faculty meetings are not always relevant to students’ understanding of concepts, however, it did not enlighten us as to the process that led the professors to make their decisions.

Trends in Research on Didactic Knowledge and Technology Integration in Mathematics Education: A Bibliometric Study

2024-07-01T11:53:31+02:00

Determining the knowledge and competencies necessary for the effective use of educational technologies in the classroom is a priority for researchers and educators. This bibliometric study addresses the question: What inferences can be drawn about the development and evaluation of teachers' knowledge and competencies from research on the incorporation of technology into mathematical instruction processes, using TPACK and/or DMKC from OSA as theoretical frameworks? A total of 312 articles from Scopus and WoS were analyzed, and thematic coding and connection mapping were performed using Atlas.ti. The first result indicates that the most influential authors utilizing these theoretical frameworks are Font, Breda, and Godino, with Spain serving as the hub of a collaborative network with Latin American countries. The second result suggests that one of the future lines of development/action/research is to seek the integration of both models to determine the knowledge and competencies required by teachers to incorporate technology in the classroom, either generally or for specific content areas. The analysis highlights emerging research areas, such as the knowledge and competencies needed for integrating technology into the teaching and learning process of specific concepts.

Learning the Concept of Linear Function by Implementing a Sequence on the Motion of Objects

2024-06-13T13:51:48+02:00

The concept of function is perhaps one of the most important in mathematics. Its importance lies not only in relating variables of different nature, but also in its vast applications across various scientific disciplines. However, its teaching and learning have become topics of interest for research in mathematics didactics. Based on the terms of objectification, semiotic means and joint labor of the Theory of Objectification, this article analyzes the learning process of the meaning of linear function in three high school students (14-15 years old) as they deal, for the first time, with a didactic sequence in which the rectilinear motion of objects is graphically represented and tabulated. The methodology was qualitative, in its case study modality. The results indicate that, during the sequence, students identify the correspondence between variables and manage to write algebraic expressions from the information in the graphs. The article concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of the design of this sequence.

Mathematical Modelling from a Semiotic-Cognitive Approach

2024-08-20T09:54:27+02:00

Mathematical modelling has acquired relevance in different fields at an international level, both in education and research. This article states that, throughout the construction of the theoretical corpus of this mathematical process and competency – among others – two big issues have occurred: one of terminological nature since the definitions surrounding modelling have varied, and other of representational nature since different representations have been proposed to explain modelling as a cyclical process. These two issues occur mainly due to the diversity of positions on how modelling is understood and how this process is tried to be explained. To address the terminological issue, a position was adopted on the terminology surrounding modelling in Mathematics Education, based on the main theoretical developments of ICTMA Community. To address the representational issue, a modelling cycle from a semiotic-cognitive approach that represents this process in a non-set way is proposed, that is, without a strict separation between «real world» and «mathematical world». In this way, a proposal aligned with a system of theoretical principles (terminology and structure), a methodology (modelling cycle), and sketches of research questions (for future theoretical and empirical developments) is presented to address both issues.