When learning stumbles upon identity and affect: a loaded student–student collaboration in linear algebra

• Autores: Igor Kontorovich
• Localización: International journal of mathematical education in science and technology, ISSN 0020-739X, Vol. 54, Nº. 8, 2023, págs. 1526-1540
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In undergraduate mathematics education, students’ collaborations have gained a reputation as a ‘good’ learning practice. A more complex image emerges once collaborations are construed as an arena where cognitive, social, and affective matters intertwine in ways that can fuel and impede learning. In this study, I take a close look at a twenty-minute-long interaction between two first-year students who engaged in a sequence of routine problems about dot products presented in a computer-based learning-support system. The commognitive analysis of the interaction revealed an asymmetrical structure: one student led the mathematizing, while his partner followed and invested considerable efforts to avoid making a mathematical contribution. The leader’s attempts to switch positions and inquiry into the follower’s recurrent refusals to mathematize entailed loaded exchanges that took a toll on both students in terms of identity and affect. I compare these findings to previous studies with school students to discuss possible sources of ineffective communication in situations where students are expected to learn through collaborations.