Collective discussions in mathematics classes: a space for conceptualizations. Reflections from a didactic investigation
Keywords:
Mathematics education, whole-class discussions, direct proportionality, practitioner inquiryAbstract
This article presents results of a practitioner inquiry initiated in 2023 at ateliescola acaia, which focuses on the role of whole-class discussions in the process of mathematical conceptualization. The inquiry analyzed the procedures employed by students in solving mathematical problems in the context of two didactic sequences, developed with 7th- and 8th-grade classes of Ensino Fundamental II (equivalent to the final years of Brazilian lower secondary education, students aged 12-14), with direct proportionality as a central axis.
The present study seeks to understand the transformations that occur in students’ initial ideas when they are invited to share their procedures with classmates, to analyze strategies produced in small working groups, and to compare different resolutions to the same problem situation. Data sources included audiovisual records of lessons, transcriptions of teacher and student speech, students’ written work, and reflective teaching journals.
The results indicate that whole-class discussions, when intentionally planned and mediated by the teacher, serve as a privileged space for making procedures explicit, confronting ideas, and reorganizing students’ understanding. Under these conditions, such discussions contribute to more sophisticated mathematical knowledge and to the development of meaningful learning.
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