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Constructing mathematics in an interactive classroom context

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Abstract

This paper investigates the nature of the interaction between the teacher and students as they worked on different mathematics activities in a single classroom over a 10-month period. Sociocultural theories and the Vygotskian zone of proximal development provide the main framework for examining the teaching and learning processes and explaining the incorporation of a four-phase lesson plan as increasing participation of the teacher and students in the teaching and learning process. Drawing on the analyses of discourse from videotaped lessons and the interviews with the teacher and students, five different types of interactions that emphasized mathematical sense-making and justification of ideas and arguments were identified. Excerpts from transcriptions of such interactions are provided to illustrate the learning practices, either academic or non-academic, that students developed in response to these interactions.

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Correspondence to Paul Ngee-Kiong Lau.

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Lau, P.NK., Singh, P. & Hwa, TY. Constructing mathematics in an interactive classroom context. Educ Stud Math 72, 307–324 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9196-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9196-y

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