Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives and Discourse, Tools and Instructional Design

Journal of Literacy Research, Spring 2003 by Draper, Roni Jo

This book ultimately offers to literacy educators an insight into terms like symbolizing, modeling, mathematizing, and representation as used by mathematics educators. By understanding these terms and considering the implications for instructional design, literacy educators can begin building bridges between themselves and mathematics educators. The contributors of Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms make clear that literacy educators may be most helpful to mathematics teachers and their students if literacy educators and researchers would consider questions like:

How do symbols acquire meaning? How is meaning achieved? What do we mean by "meaning"? What role do symbols play in the (mathematician's) development of mathematical concepts? What role do symbols play in students' mathematical learning? (p. 1)

It is my belief that literacy educators are in a prime position to consider and seek answers to these questions.

References

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Roni Jo Draper

Brigham Young University