Analysis of Pre-service Teachers’ Generalization and Justification Strategies in Solutions to Figural Pattern-generalization Tasks

We analyzed 37 PSTs’ written solutions to four figural pattern generalization tasks, video recordings of class discussions, and audio-recordings of problem-based interviews during which the PSTs were asked to solve one pattern generalization task, to answer the following research questions: (1) What relationships and structural aspects of a figural pattern do PSTs build upon to formulate pattern generalization? (2) How do they utilize uncovered relationships and structural aspects of a figural pattern to justify their general rules? 

Sebranek, M., & Magiera, M.T. (2016). Analysis of Pre-service Teachers’ Generalization and Justification Strategies in Solutions to Figural Pattern-generalization Tasks. In Wood, M. B., Turner, E. E., Civil, M., & Eli, J. A (Eds.). Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. p. 962, Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona.