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- All Subjects: Mathematics Education
- Creators: Thompson, Patrick W
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Description
Past research has shown that students have difficulty developing a robust conception of function. However, little prior research has been performed dealing with student knowledge of function composition, a potentially powerful mathematical concept. This dissertation reports the results of an investigation into student understanding and use of function composition, set against the backdrop of a precalculus class that emphasized quantification and covariational reasoning. The data were collected using task-based, semi-structured clinical interviews with individual students outside the classroom. Findings from this study revealed that factors such as the student's quantitative reasoning, covariational reasoning, problem solving behaviors, and view of function influence how a student understands and uses function composition. The results of the study characterize some of the subtle ways in which these factors impact students' ability to understand and use function composition to solve problems. Findings also revealed that other factors such as a students' persistence, disposition towards "meaning making" for the purpose of conceptualizing quantitative relationships, familiarity with the context of a problem, procedural fluency, and student knowledge of rules of "order of operations" impact a students' progress in advancing her/his solution approach.
ContributorsBowling, Stacey (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick W (Committee member) / Moore, Kevin C (Committee member) / Milner, Fabio (Committee member) / Van de Sande, Carla (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The advancement of technology has substantively changed the practices of numerous professions, including teaching. When an instructor first adopts a new technology, established classroom practices are perturbed. These perturbations can have positive and negative, large or small, and long- or short-term effects on instructors’ abilities to teach mathematical concepts with the new technology. Therefore, in order to better understand teaching with technology, we need to take a closer look at the adoption of new technology in a mathematics classroom. Using interviews and classroom observations, I explored perturbations in mathematical classroom practices as an instructor implemented virtual manipulatives as novel didactic objects in rational function instruction. In particular, the instructor used didactic objects that were designed to lay the foundation for developing a conceptual understanding of rational functions through the coordination of relative size of the value of the numerator in terms of the value of the denominator. The results are organized according to a taxonomy that captures leader actions, communication, expectations of technology, roles, timing, student engagement, and mathematical conceptions.
ContributorsPampel, Krysten (Author) / Currin van de Sande, Carla (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick W (Committee member) / Carlson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Milner, Fabio (Committee member) / Strom, April (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This dissertation report follows a three-paper format, with each paper having a different but related focus. In Paper 1 I discuss conceptual analysis of mathematical ideas relative to its place within cognitive learning theories and research studies. In particular, I highlight specific ways mathematics education research uses conceptual analysis and discuss the implications of these uses for interpreting and leveraging results to produce empirically tested learning trajectories. From my summary and analysis I develop two recommendations for the cognitive researchers developing empirically supported learning trajectories. (1) A researcher should frame his/her work, and analyze others’ work, within the researcher’s image of a broadly coherent trajectory for student learning and (2) that the field should work towards a common understanding for the meaning of a hypothetical learning trajectory.
In Paper 2 I argue that prior research in online learning has tested the impact of online courses on measures such as student retention rates, satisfaction scores, and GPA but that research is needed to describe the meanings students construct for mathematical ideas researchers have identified as critical to their success in future math courses and other STEM fields. This paper discusses the need for a new focus in studying online mathematics learning and calls for cognitive researchers to begin developing a productive methodology for examining the meanings students construct while engaged in online lessons.
Paper 3 describes the online Precalculus course intervention we designed around measurement imagery and quantitative reasoning as themes that unite topics across units. I report results relative to the meanings students developed for exponential functions and related ideas (such as percent change and growth factors) while working through lessons in the intervention. I provide a conceptual analysis guiding its design and discuss pre-test and pre-interview results, post-test and post-interview results, and observations from student behaviors while interacting with lessons. I demonstrate that the targeted meanings can be productive for students, show common unproductive meanings students possess as they enter Precalculus, highlight challenges and opportunities in teaching and learning in the online environment, and discuss needed adaptations to the intervention and future research opportunities informed by my results.
In Paper 2 I argue that prior research in online learning has tested the impact of online courses on measures such as student retention rates, satisfaction scores, and GPA but that research is needed to describe the meanings students construct for mathematical ideas researchers have identified as critical to their success in future math courses and other STEM fields. This paper discusses the need for a new focus in studying online mathematics learning and calls for cognitive researchers to begin developing a productive methodology for examining the meanings students construct while engaged in online lessons.
Paper 3 describes the online Precalculus course intervention we designed around measurement imagery and quantitative reasoning as themes that unite topics across units. I report results relative to the meanings students developed for exponential functions and related ideas (such as percent change and growth factors) while working through lessons in the intervention. I provide a conceptual analysis guiding its design and discuss pre-test and pre-interview results, post-test and post-interview results, and observations from student behaviors while interacting with lessons. I demonstrate that the targeted meanings can be productive for students, show common unproductive meanings students possess as they enter Precalculus, highlight challenges and opportunities in teaching and learning in the online environment, and discuss needed adaptations to the intervention and future research opportunities informed by my results.
ContributorsO'Bryan, Alan Eugene (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick W (Committee member) / Milner, Fabio (Committee member) / Roh, Kyeong Hah (Committee member) / Tallman, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Researchers have described two fundamental conceptualizations for division, known as partitive and quotitive division. Partitive division is the conceptualization of a÷b as the amount of something per copy such that b copies of this amount yield the amount a. Quotitive division is the conceptualization of a÷b as the number of copies of the amount b that yield the amount a. Researchers have identified many cognitive obstacles that have inhibited the development of robust meanings for division involving non-whole values, while other researchers have commented on the challenges related to such development. Regarding division with fractions, much research has been devoted to quotitive conceptualizations of division, or on symbolic manipulation of variables. Research and curricular activities have largely avoided the study and development of partitive conceptualizations involving fractions, as well as their connection to the invert-and-multiply algorithm. In this dissertation study, I investigated six middle school mathematics teachers’ meanings related to partitive conceptualizations of division over the positive rational numbers. I also investigated the impact of an intervention that I designed with the intent of advancing one of these teachers’ meanings. My findings suggested that the primary cognitive obstacles were difficulties with maintaining multiple levels of units, weak quantitative meanings for fractional multipliers, and an unawareness of (and confusion due to) the two quantitative conceptualizations of division. As a product of this study, I developed a framework for characterizing robust meanings for division, indicated directions for future research, and shared implications for curriculum and instruction.
ContributorsWeber, Matthew Barrett (Author) / Strom, April D (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick W (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Tzur, Ron (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This is a report of a study that investigated the thinking of a high-achieving precalculus student when responding to tasks that required him to define linear formulas to relate covarying quantities. Two interviews were conducted for analysis. A team of us in the mathematics education department at Arizona State University initially identified mental actions that we conjectured were needed for constructing meaningful linear formulas. This guided the development of tasks for the sequence of clinical interviews with one high-performing precalculus student. Analysis of the interview data revealed that in instances when the subject engaged in meaning making that led to him imagining and identifying the relevant quantities and how they change together, he was able to give accurate definitions of variables and was usually able to define a formula to relate the two quantities of interest. However, we found that the student sometimes had difficulty imagining how the two quantities of interest were changing together. At other times he exhibited a weak understanding of the operation of subtraction and the idea of constant rate of change. He did not appear to conceptualize subtraction as a quantitative comparison. His inability to conceptualize a constant rate of change as a proportional relationship between the changes in two quantities also presented an obstacle in his developing a meaningful formula that relied on this understanding. The results further stress the need to develop a student's ability to engage in mental operations that involve covarying quantities and a more robust understanding of constant rate of change since these abilities and understanding are critical for student success in future courses in mathematics.
ContributorsKlinger, Tana Paige (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn (Thesis director) / Thompson, Pat (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Teachers must recognize the knowledge they possess as appropriate to employ in the process of achieving their goals and objectives in the context of practice. Such recognition is subject to a host of cognitive and affective processes that have thus far not been a central focus of research on teacher knowledge in mathematics education. To address this need, this dissertation study examined the role of a secondary mathematics teacher’s image of instructional constraints on his enacted subject matter knowledge. I collected data in three phases. First, I conducted a series of task-based clinical interviews that allowed me to construct a model of David’s mathematical knowledge of sine and cosine functions. Second, I conducted pre-lesson interviews, collected journal entries, and examined David’s instruction to characterize the mathematical knowledge he utilized in the context of designing and implementing lessons. Third, I conducted a series of semi-structured clinical interviews to identify the circumstances David appraised as constraints on his practice and to ascertain the role of these constraints on the quality of David’s enacted subject matter knowledge. My analysis revealed that although David possessed many productive ways of understanding that allowed him to engage students in meaningful learning experiences, I observed discrepancies between and within David’s mathematical knowledge and his enacted mathematical knowledge. These discrepancies were not occasioned by David’s active compensation for the circumstances and events he appraised as instructional constraints, but instead resulted from David possessing multiple schemes for particular ideas related to trigonometric functions, as well as from his unawareness of the mental actions and operations that comprised these often powerful but uncoordinated cognitive schemes. This lack of conscious awareness made David ill-equipped to define his instructional goals in terms of the mental activity in which he intended his students to engage, which further conditioned the circumstances and events he appraised as constraints on his practice. David’s image of instructional constraints therefore did not affect his enacted subject matter knowledge. Rather, characteristics of David’s subject matter knowledge, namely his uncoordinated cognitive schemes and his unawareness of the mental actions and operations that comprise them, affected his image of instructional constraints.
ContributorsTallman, Michael Anthony (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick W (Committee member) / Saldanha, Luis (Committee member) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Harel, Guershon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation reports three studies of students’ and teachers’ meanings for quotient, fraction, measure, rate, and rate of change functions. Each study investigated individual’s schemes (or meanings) for foundational mathematical ideas. Conceptual analysis of what constitutes strong meanings for fraction, measure, and rate of change is critical for each study. In particular, each study distinguishes additive and multiplicative meanings for fraction and rate of change.
The first paper reports an investigation of 251 high school mathematics teachers’ meanings for slope, measurement, and rate of change. Most teachers conveyed primarily additive and formulaic meanings for slope and rate of change on written items. Few teachers conveyed that a rate of change compares the relative sizes of changes in two quantities. Teachers’ weak measurement schemes were associated with limited meanings for rate of change. Overall, the data suggests that rate of change should be a topics of targeted professional development.
The second paper reports the quantitative part of a mixed method study of 153 calculus students at a large public university. The majority of calculus students not only have weak meanings for fraction, measure, and constant rates but that having weak meanings is predictive of lower scores on a test about rate of change functions. Regression is used to determine the variation in student success on questions about rate of change functions (derivatives) associated with variation in success on fraction, measure, rate, and covariation items.
The third paper investigates the implications of two students’ fraction schemes for their understanding of rate of change functions. Students’ weak measurement schemes obstructed their ability to construct a rate of change function given the graph of an original function. The two students did not coordinate three levels of units, and struggled to relate partitioning and iterating in a way that would help them reason about fractions, rate of change, and rate of change functions.
Taken as a whole the studies show that the majority of secondary teachers and calculus students studied have weak meanings for foundational ideas and that these weaknesses cause them problems in making sense of more applications of rate of change.
The first paper reports an investigation of 251 high school mathematics teachers’ meanings for slope, measurement, and rate of change. Most teachers conveyed primarily additive and formulaic meanings for slope and rate of change on written items. Few teachers conveyed that a rate of change compares the relative sizes of changes in two quantities. Teachers’ weak measurement schemes were associated with limited meanings for rate of change. Overall, the data suggests that rate of change should be a topics of targeted professional development.
The second paper reports the quantitative part of a mixed method study of 153 calculus students at a large public university. The majority of calculus students not only have weak meanings for fraction, measure, and constant rates but that having weak meanings is predictive of lower scores on a test about rate of change functions. Regression is used to determine the variation in student success on questions about rate of change functions (derivatives) associated with variation in success on fraction, measure, rate, and covariation items.
The third paper investigates the implications of two students’ fraction schemes for their understanding of rate of change functions. Students’ weak measurement schemes obstructed their ability to construct a rate of change function given the graph of an original function. The two students did not coordinate three levels of units, and struggled to relate partitioning and iterating in a way that would help them reason about fractions, rate of change, and rate of change functions.
Taken as a whole the studies show that the majority of secondary teachers and calculus students studied have weak meanings for foundational ideas and that these weaknesses cause them problems in making sense of more applications of rate of change.
ContributorsByerley, Cameron (Author) / Thompson, Patrick W (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Committee member) / Middleton, James A. (Committee member) / Saldanha, Luis (Committee member) / Mcnamara, Allen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Researchers have documented the importance of seeing a graph as an emergent trace of how two quantities’ values vary simultaneously in order to reason about the graph in terms of quantitative relationships. If a student does not see a graph as a representation of how quantities change together then the student is limited to reasoning about perceptual features of the shape of the graph.
This dissertation reports results of an investigation into the ways of thinking that support and inhibit students from constructing and reasoning about graphs in terms of covarying quantities. I collected data by engaging three university precalculus students in asynchronous teaching experiments. I designed the instructional sequence to support students in making three constructions: first imagine representing quantities’ magnitudes along the axes, then simultaneously represent these magnitudes with a correspondence point in the plane, and finally anticipate tracking the correspondence point to track how the two quantities’ attributes change simultaneously.
Findings from this investigation provide insights into how students come to engage in covariational reasoning and re-present their imagery in their graphing actions. The data presented here suggests that it is nontrivial for students to coordinate their images of two varying quantities. This is significant because without a way to coordinate two quantities’ variation the student is limited to engaging in static shape thinking.
I describe three types of imagery: a correspondence point, Tinker Bell and her pixie dust, and an actor taking baby steps, that supported students in developing ways to coordinate quantities’ variation. I discuss the figurative aspects of the students’ coordination in order to account for the difficulties students had (1) constructing a multiplicative object that persisted under variation, (2) reconstructing their acts of covariation in other graphing tasks, and (3) generalizing these acts of covariation to reason about formulas in terms of covarying quantities.
This dissertation reports results of an investigation into the ways of thinking that support and inhibit students from constructing and reasoning about graphs in terms of covarying quantities. I collected data by engaging three university precalculus students in asynchronous teaching experiments. I designed the instructional sequence to support students in making three constructions: first imagine representing quantities’ magnitudes along the axes, then simultaneously represent these magnitudes with a correspondence point in the plane, and finally anticipate tracking the correspondence point to track how the two quantities’ attributes change simultaneously.
Findings from this investigation provide insights into how students come to engage in covariational reasoning and re-present their imagery in their graphing actions. The data presented here suggests that it is nontrivial for students to coordinate their images of two varying quantities. This is significant because without a way to coordinate two quantities’ variation the student is limited to engaging in static shape thinking.
I describe three types of imagery: a correspondence point, Tinker Bell and her pixie dust, and an actor taking baby steps, that supported students in developing ways to coordinate quantities’ variation. I discuss the figurative aspects of the students’ coordination in order to account for the difficulties students had (1) constructing a multiplicative object that persisted under variation, (2) reconstructing their acts of covariation in other graphing tasks, and (3) generalizing these acts of covariation to reason about formulas in terms of covarying quantities.
ContributorsFrank, Kristin Marianna (Author) / Thompson, Patrick W (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Thesis advisor) / Milner, Fabio (Committee member) / Roh, Kyeong Hah (Committee member) / Zandieh, Michelle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The ideas of measurement and measurement comparisons (e.g., fractions, ratios, quotients) are introduced to students in elementary school. However, studies report that students of all ages have difficulty comparing two quantities in terms of their relative size. Students often understand fractions such as 3/7 as part-whole relationships or “three out of seven.” These limited conceptions have been documented to have implications for understanding the quotient as a measure of relative size and when learning other foundational ideas in mathematics (e.g., rate of change). Many scholars have identified students’ ability to conceptualize the relative size of two quantities values as important for learning specific ideas such as constant rate of change, exponential growth, and derivative. However, few researchers have focused on students’ ways of thinking about multiplicatively comparing two quantities’ values as they vary together across select topics in precalculus. Relative size reasoning is a way of thinking one has developed when conceptualizing the comparison of two quantities’ values multiplicatively, as their values vary in tandem. This document reviews literature related to relative size reasoning and presents a conceptual analysis that leverages this research in describing what I mean by a relative size comparison and what it means to engage in relative size reasoning. I further illustrate the role of relative size reasoning in understanding rate of change, multiplicative growth, rational functions, and what a graph’s concavity conveys about how two quantities’ values vary together.
This study reports on three beginning calculus students’ ways of thinking as they completed tasks designed to elicit students’ relative size reasoning. The data revealed 4 ways of conceptualizing the idea of quotient and highlights the affordances of conceptualizing a quotient as a measure of the relative size of two quantities’ values. The study also reports data from investigating the validity of a collection of multiple-choice items designed to assess students’ relative size reasoning (RSR) abilities. Analysis of this data provided insights for refining the questions and answer choices for these assessment items.
ContributorsLock, Kayla Ashley (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn (Thesis advisor) / Apkarian, Naneh (Thesis advisor) / Strom, April (Committee member) / Byerley, Cameron (Committee member) / Roh, Kyeong-Hah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Over the past thirty years, research on teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) has developed and grown in popularity as an area of focus for improving mathematics teaching and students’ learning. Many scholars have investigated types of knowledge teachers use when teaching and the relationship between teacher knowledge and student performance. However, few researchers have studied the sources of teachers’ pedagogical decisions and actions and some studies have reported that advances in teachers’ mathematical meanings does not necessarily lead to a teacher conveying strong meanings to students. It has also been reported that a teacher’s ways of thinking about teaching an idea and actions to decenter can influence the teacher’s interactions with students.This document presents three papers detailing a multiple-case study that constitutes my dissertation. The first paper reviews the constructs researchers have used to investigate teachers’ knowledge base. This paper also provides a characterization of the first case’s mathematical meaning for teaching angle measure and the impact of her meaning on her interactions with students while teaching her angle measure lessons. The second paper examines another instructor’s meaning for an angle and its measure and illustrates the symbiotic relationship between the teacher’s mathematical meanings for teaching and decentering actions. This paper also characterizes how an instructor’s commitment to quantitative reasoning influences the teacher’s instructional orientation and instructional actions. Finally, the third paper includes a cross-case analysis of the two instructors’ mathematical meanings for teaching sine function and their enacted teaching practices, including their choice of tasks, interactions with students, and explanations while teaching their sine function lessons.
ContributorsRocha, Abby (Author) / Carlson, Marilyn P (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Patrick (Committee member) / Tallman, Michael (Committee member) / O'Bryan, Alan (Committee member) / Strom, April (Committee member) / Apkarian, Naneh (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023