Abstract
This case study deals with a solitary learner’s process of mathematical justification during her investigation of bifurcation points in dynamic systems. Her motivation to justify the bifurcation points drove the learning process. Methodologically, our analysis used the nested epistemic actions model for abstraction in context. In previous work, we have shown that the learner’s attempts at justification gave rise to several processes of knowledge construction, which develop in parallel and interact. In this paper, we analyze the interaction pattern of combining constructions and show that combining constructions indicate an enlightenment of the learner. This adds an analytic dimension to the nested epistemic actions model of abstraction in context.
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Notes
A comment on terminology: we usually speak of constructing actions in order to stress their nature as epistemic actions; however, for linguistic reasons, we occasionally replace “constructing action” by the lighter (but more ambiguous) term “construction”; for example, we have done so in the title of the paper. In these cases, “construction” is used as a synonym for “constructing action”.
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This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant number 843/09).
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Kidron, I., Dreyfus, T. Justification enlightenment and combining constructions of knowledge. Educ Stud Math 74, 75–93 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9228-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9228-7