ERIC Number: EJ1060641
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Apr-16
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1473-0111
EISSN: EISSN-1473-0111
Validating Affordances as an Instrument for Design and a Priori Analysis of Didactical Situations in Mathematics
Sollervall, Håkan; Stadler, Erika
International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Apr 2015
The aim of the presented case study is to investigate how coherent analytical instruments may guide the a priori and a posteriori analyses of a didactical situation. In the a priori analysis we draw on the notion of affordances, as artefact-mediated opportunities for action, to construct hypothetical trajectories of goal-oriented actions that have not yet been initiated by an actor. These hypothetical action trajectories guide the design of a didactical situation, involving trigonometry in triangles and on the unit circle, for the specific purpose of illuminating how students in Swedish upper secondary school handle conceptually challenging tasks without making use of calculators. The a posteriori analysis puts corresponding focus on the actions that students have actually engaged in with respect to the available artefacts. We conclude that affordances, when embedded in the presented methodological framework, may be considered as a scientifically valid instrument for designing and evaluating didactical situations in mathematics.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Case Studies, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Teachers, Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Mathematical Concepts, Curriculum Design, Trigonometry, Mathematics Activities, Task Analysis, Validity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A