Extractive and Inferential Discourses for Equation Solving

We investigate the algebraic discourse of secondary mathematics teachers with respect to the topic of equation solving by analyzing five teachers’ responses to open-ended items on a questionnaire that asks respondents to analyze hypothetical student work related to equation solving and explain related concepts. We use tools from commognitive analysis to describe features of teachers’ explanations, and we use these survey responses as examples to illustrate a distinction in discourses about equation solving that has implications for students’ learning of common procedures for finding solution sets of equations and systems.

Patterson, C. L., Wrightsman, E. M., Kirmizi, M., McGraw, R. (2021). Extractive and inferential discourses for equation solving. Paper presented at 42nd Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.