This study examines first graders' epistemic reasoning, in tacit "practical epistemologies" reflected in thinking about an investigation of their own design. I analyzed children's epistemic reasoning, following a design experiment scaffolding increasing regulation of scientific inquiry in a domain they studied in depth. Participants…

The interpretive framework for the study of learning introduced in this article and called "commognitive" is grounded in the assumption that thinking is a form of communication and that learning mathematics is tantamount to modifying and extending one's discourse. These basic tenets lead to the conclusion that substantial discursive change, rather…

Explores the growth of mathematical knowledge and the relationship between abstraction and context. Builds on work to construct a viable model of the micro-evolution of mathematical knowledge in context whose central feature is the visibility of its mechanisms. Illustrates a case study of 10-11-year-old children's construction of meanings for…

This article explores how differences in problem representations change both the performance and underlying cognitive processes of beginning algebra students engaged in quantitative reasoning. Contrary to beliefs held by practitioners and researchers in mathematics education, students were more successful solving simple algebra story problems than…