A SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING MATHEMATICS WITH DIGITAL AND ANALOGUE MATERIAL: PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN ACTING ON STATISTICAL DIAGRAMS

Abstract

This paper focuses on two third-grade students’ work on the same statistical question whereby one acts with analogue material and the other with TinkerPlotsTM. The aim of the research was to find out whether different material influences the actions and, thus, possibly the mathematical interpretations of the learners. To investigate this research interest, a semiotic perspective on mathematical learning according to Peirce was adopted. Based on this perspective, a modification of Mayring’s context analysis was made, which allowed the analysis of actions to reconstruct the learners’ diagram interpretations. From the analyses, there is evidence that some materials can shorten actions and can automatically establish mathematical relationships and, thus, affect the mathematical interpretations of the learners. At times, however, other actions on different materials can also lead to the reconstruction of the same diagram interpretations. Using these insights, implications for mathematics teaching practice were formulated to assist teachers in selecting materials for designing learning environments to support early statistical thinking.