MATHEMATICAL PROCESSES IN THE PRACTICES OF STUDENT TEACHERS IN MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS

Abstract

Mathematical processes are analyzed and characterized within practices carried out by students from the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Training Program at the National University of Chaco Austral, located in Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Chaco, Argentina. The theoretical framework adopted is the “Theory of Didactic Configurations,” which belongs to the Ontosemiotic Approach to Mathematical Knowledge and Instruction. A quasi-experimental research program was developed with a descriptive cross-sectional design, involving a case study and focusing on mathematical processes during the resolution of algebraic problems involving first-degree equations with one unknown, as well as systems of two linear equations with two unknowns. The main steps of design-based research were followed. An inquiry instrument was developed, consisting of five problem-solving situations, and a priori analysis was conducted using the “ontosemiotic configuration of practices, objects, and processes” as an analytical tool. Furthermore, the students’ practices—after being given the instrument—were also analyzed using the same tool.