A Discourse Analysis of the Online Mathematics Classroom

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-248
Author(s):  
Kathleen H. Offenholley
Author(s):  
Emma Bullock ◽  
Amy Ray ◽  
Beth Cory ◽  
Julie Herron

This chapter describes how the authors structured effective online mathematics content courses for pre-service teachers (PSTs) using the promoting higher student mathematics achievement in online settings (PHiSMAOS) conceptual framework. This framework focuses on the mathematics teacher educator (MTE) view from which they are using their technological content knowledge (TCK) to develop their PSTs' own technological knowledge (TK), content knowledge (CK), and TCK when in an online mathematics classroom setting. The PHiSMAOS conceptual framework then wraps this reality in the concepts of growth mindset and productive struggle, providing a pragmatic way for MTEs to productively promote growth mindset in PSTs' mathematics content classrooms in online settings. This framework was developed using grounded theory research techniques from data consisting of exit cards, video-recorded discussions, assignments, and test scores across seven semesters of the authors' courses. Implications for MTEs, use in K-12 settings, and further research are also discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 651-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Janelle McFeetors

Communication within the mathematics classroom has captured the interest of mathematics educators over several decades. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards publications (1989, 1991, 2000) highlight communication as one of the fundamental strands in mathematical processes. Although research has investigated students' written mathematics work (e.g., Masingila & Prus-Wisniowska, 1996; Mason & McFeetors, 2002; Pugalee, 2004), considerable focus has also been given to understanding effective spoken discourse patterns within the mathematics classroom (e.g., Hufferd-Ackles, Fuson, & Sherin, 2004; Lampert & Blunk, 1998; Nathan & Knuth, 2003). Pimm (1994) argues that focusing on “the form and structure of spoken interactions between mathematics teachers and pupils” (p. 134) can inform the way in which classroom discourse is shaped. He encourages the use of discourse analysis as one way of making sense of questions that address the what, how, and why of teachers' forms of language in teaching mathematics. Increasingly, studies using discourse analysis are being used to describe effective classroom communicative practices (e.g., Bills, 2000; Gresalfi, Martin, Hand, & Greeno, 2009; Truxaw & DeFranco, 2008; Zolkower & Shreyar, 2007).


1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catriona Macleod

Perspectives dealing with the study of gender and mathematics have failed generally to move beyond the individual/society divide. The contradictory nature of subjectivity and the operation and interpenetration of power and knowledge have not been taken into account. This article is based on the post-structuralist framework. The work of Walkerdine, which highlights the processes within the classroom which allow girls to succeed in mathematics but never actually be successful, is of interest. The methodology used is that of discourse analysis which makes clear both the positionings available to the participants as well as the power relations formed. The sample was drawn from a top-achieving Std 8 Higher Grade class in an affluent Model C school. This represents a theoretically salient sample as the literature points to ‘gender differences’ being most pronounced in the upper levels of mathematics education. The analysis clearly highlights the double-bind within which girls find themselves in the mathematics classroom. The apparent equality of opportunity and non-sexism is counteracted by the positioning of girls as hard working but without natural flair in mathematics. The characteristics that make it possible to achieve in mathematics are ascribed to males. The resistance to this powerful ‘disciplinary technology’ is the invoking of the feminist discourse.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Pierson Bishop

The moment-to-moment dynamics of student discourse plays a large role in students' enacted mathematics identities. Discourse analysis was used to describe meaningful discursive patterns in the interactions of 2 students in a 7th-grade, technology-based, curricular unit (SimCalc MathWorlds®) and to show how mathematics identities are enacted at the microlevel. Frameworks were theoretically and empirically connected to identity to characterize the participants' relative positioning and the structural patterns in their discourse (e.g., who talks, who initiates sequences, whose ideas are taken up and publicly recognized). Data indicated that students' peer-to-peer discourse patterns explained the enactment of differing mathematics identities within the same local context. Thus, the ways people talk and interact are powerful influences on who they are, and can become, with respect to mathematics.


in education ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-138
Author(s):  
Evan Throop Robinson

The focus in this paper is on the analysis of student-centered discourse through applying a discourse analysis tool that I developed to analyze data from an elementary mathematics classroom. The purpose of the analysis tool is to understand the impact of the complex learning system on the emerging classroom discourse. The minimum conditions for complexity created an invitational space for students that allowed interactions and meaningful exchanges to flourish through exploration of mathematical concepts and collective participation in classroom discourse. The analytic lens provides the teacher with a tool to understand more clearly the dynamics of meaningful exchanges identified as sharing, building, exploring and blocking. Keywords: Classroom discourse; mathematics education; complexity


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