What is the meaning of “meaning”? A case study from graphing

Bodily experience and mathematical conceptions: from classical views to a phenomenological reconceptualization

“…Gesture and gesture/speech studies in particular provide empirical support for the embodied nature of mathematical knowing generally and categorization in particular (Lakoff & Núñez 2000). Based on careful analyses of graphing competencies among scientists, our own research shows that the meaning of concepts exists in the metonymic relationship that words, graphs, and experiences-i.e., the parts of a conception-have with respect to the conception as a whole (Roth 2004).…”

“Then you can take half … almost” — Elementary students learning bar graphs and pie charts in a computer-based context

“…Familiarity with the depicted content has previously been pointed out to be of great importance in graph learning situations (e.g., Roth, 2004;Winn, 1993) and was intentionally built into the design of the study. It may be assumed that this familiarity contributed to the students' successful learning of many fundamental features of graphing.…”

On the relation of abstract and concrete in scientists’ graph interpretations: A case study

“…"Making meaning" is an incorrect expression in the sense that meaning already exists (e.g., Roth, 2004): in talking about perceptually available climatic differences as one moves from lower to higher elevationsclearly noticeable when one scales one of the mountains in the area where Eddie lives -Eddie articulates traces his prior experience has left in him. This description is already part of a familiar, meaningful world, which Eddie knows through his practical experience.…”