Fallacious argumentation in student reasoning: Are there benefits?
Journal Title: European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - Year 2014, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
This article reports on an analysis of episodes of invalid or controversial arguments that occurred while two different groups of students worked on similar fraction tasks and examine the role that these types of arguments played in the development of students' reasoning. One group consisted of suburban, middle-class, fourth graders who worked on these tasks during the regular school day. The other group was comprised of sixth-graders from an urban community working on similar tasks as part of an informal learning after-school project. The findings of this study indicate that allowing students to share and discuss incorrect arguments promoted rich mathematical discourse and argumentation. The invalid arguments triggered the use of varied reasoning by other students and cleared up previous [mis]understandings.
Authors and Affiliations
Mary Mueller| Educational Studies, Seton Hall University, South Orange , USA, For correspondence: muellermf@shu.edu, Dina Yankelewitz *| Childhood Education, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, USA
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP8031
- DOI -
- Views 423
- Downloads 27
The mathematics teacher’s profession: the perspective of future
We present partial results of the design and implementation of a study program for the Mathematics Teacher Training. The research is developed in the light of the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic. This paper we ana...
Pre-service physics teachers’ content knowledge of electric and magnetic field concepts: Conceptual facets and their balance
The concepts of electricity and magnetism in physics are complex and demanding to learn because their meaning builds through several different phenomenological areas. Each of these phenomenological areas adds a certain f...
How does grit impact college students’ academic achievement in science?
Research has suggested that achievement is not solely based on the cognitive abilities of the learner, but rather on the combination of cognitive ability and personality traits. This paper explores how grit affects stude...
Challenges in mathematics and statistics teaching underpinned by student – lecturer expectations
This study is motivated by the desire to address some of the enormous challenges faced by the students as well as the lecturer in fulfilling their respective expectations and duties demanded by the process of learning –...
The relation between mathematical object/mathematical name: Conceptual changes between designation, description, denomination and definition
The actions of designation, description, denotation, denomination and definition are crucial in the didactic activity in the classroom (D'Amore and Fandiño Pinilla, 2012) since they embody different interplays between ob...