Pre-service Teachers’ Use of Technology as Reorganizer to Promote Differing Levels of Conceptual Understanding

Abstract

Research suggests that tasks that use technology as a reorganizer (technology is used to produce dynamic representations) are linked with the development of students’ conceptual knowledge, yet many secondary mathematics textbooks in the USA predominantly include tasks that use technology as an amplifier (technology is used to produce static images). Thus, if teachers wish to incorporate tasks that use technology as a reorganizer, they must locate these resources elsewhere or construct them themselves. This study took place in a technology, pedagogy, content course where each prospective teacher (PT) engaged in at least one component of an ideation, rehearsal/refinement, enactment, and reflection intervention, where they were asked to adapt traditional textbook lessons to promote students’ rich conceptual understandings of function transformations via technology as reorganizer tasks. A total of 15 PTs agreed to participate, 8 seeking a grade K-8 certification and 7 seeking a grade 6–12 certification. On the initial lesson plan involving linear function transformations, the majority of PTs (13 out of 15) used technology as an amplifier, but on the final lesson plan involving absolute value function transformations, 13 PTs used technology as a reorganizer. There were also increases in the incidence of lesson elements that promoted moderate or rich forms of conceptual knowledge between the initial and final lesson plans. We discuss the implications of these results and introduce readers to dynamic conceptual components as manipulable bridges between different mathematical representations that hold the potential to develop students’ richer forms of conceptual knowledge.