Ratios and Proportional Reasoning Representations in Open Educational Resources

This study analyzed Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks to determine similarities and differences between the resources in relation to the content addressing ratio and proportional reasoning standards. This study also analyzed whether the selected resources provided opportunities for students to engage with the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Data were collected from tasks within the 6th and 7th-grade textbooks from Engage NY, Open Up Resources and Utah Middle School Math Project. Each task was analyzed according to frameworks from Van de Walle (2007), Lamon (2012), Lesh et al. (1988) Tall and Vinner (1981), and Hunsader et al. (2014). The tasks were examined for their general presence within the textbook, features of the task, capacity to support students in developing their concept image for proportionality concepts and implementing the Standards for Mathematical Practice. The data were analyzed using a comparative analysis of the frequencies and percentages of the various characteristics evident in the textbooks. The study found that OERs have the potential to provide access and opportunity for students from various backgrounds to engage in research supporting mathematics. The textbooks presented in this study provided varied tasks and contexts for students to investigate proportionality. Generally, the OERs did not differ significantly from traditional textbooks. The implication of the study suggests the resources selected by teachers can provide a buffer from the impact of variations in the state standards, content sequencing, and transient students. Each of these OERs relied on the teacher to provide instruction on the concepts in the textbooks, hence teacher preparation for using the textbooks selected will be critical for students