Prospective K-8 Teachers\u27 Problem Posing: Interpretations of Tasks That Promote Mathematical Argumentation

This study examines pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) views of tasks that engage students in mathematical argumentation. Data were collected in two different mathematics courses for elementary school education majors (n = 51 total PSTs). Analyzed were (a) written journals in which PSTs defined tasks that promote student engagement in argumentation, (b) tasks PSTs posed to engage students in mathematical argumentation, and (c) accompanying explanations in which PSTs motivated tasks they posed. The analysis revealed that PSTs interpret tasks that foster argumentation in terms of activities of argumentation that a task elicits and space for argumentation that the task provides. Several features that PSTs associated with each of the two major task characteristics were identified. While posing tasks to engage students in argumentation, PSTs did not place equal emphasis on all of the identified features