Abstract
While the infrastructure of the SimCalc technology provides unique opportunities for students to wrestle with complex and conceptually difficult mathematics in developmentally appropriate ways, the degree to which students engage in “doing” mathematics varies widely across classrooms. Some classrooms provide minimal opportunities for students to conjecture, justify, and exemplify, whereas in other classrooms these activities are an indispensable part of their day-to-day operations. One of the primary mechanisms by which students can be encouraged to engage in authentic mathematical activities is through the use of appropriately challenging discourse. In this chapter, I describe discursive norms and patterns observed across multiple SimCalc classrooms in order to better understand the interaction between discourse and technology in the broader classroom environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Chi, M. T. H., Lewis, M. W., Reimann, P., & Glaser, R. (1989). Self-explanations: how students study and use examples in learning to solve problems. Cognitive Science, 13(2), 145–182.
Cobb, P., & Bauersfeld, H. (1995). Introduction: the coordination of psychological and sociological perspectives in mathematics education. In P. Cobb & H. Bauersfeld (Eds.), The emergence of mathematical meaning: interaction in classroom cultures (pp. 1–16). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Cobb, P., & Yackel, E. (1996). Constructivist, emergent, and sociocultural perspectives in the context of developmental research. Educational Psychologist, 31(3/4), 175–190.
Cohen, D. K., & Ball, D. L. (1999). Instruction, capacity, and improvement. CPRE Research Report Series RR-43. Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
Cohen, D. K., & Ball, D. L. (2001). Making change: instruction and its improvement. Phi Delta Kappan, 83(1), 73–77.
Cohen, D. K., Raudenbush, S. W., & Ball, D. L. (2003). Resources, instruction, and research. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(2), 119–142.
Ernest, P. (1991). The philosophy of mathematics education. London: The Falmer Press.
Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Gutierrez, K. D. (1994). How talk, context, and script shape contexts for learning: a cross-case comparison of journal sharing. Linguistics and Education, 5(3/4), 335–365.
Hiebert, J., & Grouws, D. A. (2007). The effects of classroom mathematics teaching on students’ learning. In F. K. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 371–404). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Hiebert, J., & Wearne, D. (1993). Instructional tasks, discourse, and students’ learning in second-grade arithmetic. American Educational Research Journal, 30(2), 393–425.
Johnstone, B. (2002). Discourse analysis. Malden: Blackwell.
Kawanaka, T., & Stigler, J. W. (1999). Teachers’ use of questions in eighth-grade mathematics classrooms in Germany, Japan, and the United States. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 1(4), 255–278.
Kennedy, M. (2005). Inside teaching: how classroom life undermines reform. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Kline, M. (1980). Mathematics: the loss of certainty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lakatos, I. (1976). Proofs and refutations: the logic of mathematical discovery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: language, learning, and values. Norwood: Ablex.
Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: social organization in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.
Pierson, J. (2008). The relationship between patterns of classroom discourse and mathematics learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Roschelle, J., Shechtman, N., Tatar, D., Hegedus, S., Hopkins, B., Empson, S., Gallagher, L. P., et al. (2010). Integration of technology, curriculum, and professional development for advancing middle school mathematics: three large-scale studies. American Educational Research Journal, 47(4), 833–878. doi:10.3102/0002831210367426.
Smith, M. S., & Stein, M. K. (2011). Five practices for orchestrating productive mathematics discussions. Reston: Corwin.
Stein, M. K., Grover, B. W., & Henningsen, M. (1996). Building student capacity for mathematical thinking and reasoning: an analysis of mathematical tasks used in reform classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 33(2), 455–488.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Tatar, D., Roschelle, J., Knudsen, J., Shechtman, N., Kaput, J., & Hopkins, B. (2008). Scaling up innovative technology-based mathematics. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 17(2), 248–286.
vanZee, E., & Minstrell, J. (1997). Using questioning to guide student thinking. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 6(2), 227–269.
Voigt, J. (1994). Negotiation of mathematical meaning and learning mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 26(2/3), 275–298.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Webb, N. M. (1991). Task-related verbal interaction and mathematics learning in small groups. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 22(5), 366–389.
Webb, N. M., Nemer, K. M., & Ing, M. (2006). Small-group reflections: parallels between teacher discourse and student behavior in peer-directed groups. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(1), 63–119.
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wetherell, M. (2001). Themes in discourse research: the case of Diana. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. Yates (Eds.), Discourse theory and practice: A reader (pp. 14–28). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pierson Bishop, J. (2013). Mathematical Discourse as a Process that Mediates Learning in SimCalc Classrooms. In: Hegedus, S., Roschelle, J. (eds) The SimCalc Vision and Contributions. Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5696-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5696-0_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5695-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5696-0
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)