Mathematical argumentation is fundamental to doing mathematics and developing new knowledge. Working from the view that mathematical argumentation is also integral to teaching and learning mathematics, this study investigated teachers’ use of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) to support student participation in mathematical argumentation. Classroom observations were made of three case-study teachers’ implementation of a three-day curriculum unit on mathematical argumentation and supplemented with paper and pencil assessments of teachers’ MKT. Teaching moves, or teachers’ actions directed toward supporting argumentation, were identified as a unit of discourse in which MKT-in-action appeared. Teachers’ MKT showed up in three types of teaching moves including: Revoicing by Reformulation, Responding to Student Difficulties, and Pressing for Generalization in Defining. MKT that was evident in these moves included knowledge of core information in argument, heuristic methods, and vii formulation of mathematical definition through and in argumentation. Findings highlight that supporting mathematical argumentation requires teachers to have a sophisticated understanding of the subject matter as well as how concepts develop through argumentation. Findings have limitations in understanding complex teaching practices by considering MKT as a single factor. The study has implications on teacher learning and MKT assessments. / text

The purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence of student discourse in asynchronous computer-mediated communication and its relation to student learning. From in-depth investigation of teacher design, facilitation and direction for asynchronous discussion, implications for high school online instruction guidelines and the need for evaluation standards of online courses and teacher instructional practice are made. Examining student discourse provides information related to the social construction of knowledge. Teacher presence and its relation to higher levels of student discourse provides information for best practices in online teaching. This information can be used to determine specific standards and guidelines for evaluation of online instruction which can contribute to quality online high school courses. The context of this study was two high school online AP English courses. The multiple case study approach analyzed student discourse within asynchronous discussion forums and the relation to student learning outcomes. Observation of teacher facilitation and course documents were examined in relation to levels of student discourse and student learning outcomes. Triangulation of data sources included discourse analysis, interviews with teachers, and archival documents. Results from comparing and contrasting multiple cases are presented as basis for implications to guide course design, facilitation and evaluation. / Ph. D.

To prepare students for the complex, multidisciplinary problems they will face outside of the classroom, current reform initiatives advocate for the integration of content and practices from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the science classroom. One approach, integrated STEM, uses the engineering design process as a vehicle for learning. However, these lessons can be challenging for students, so it is essential that science educators employ various teaching practices to scaffold student learning. One way to achieve this is through the use of written and oral discourse that promotes meaning-making. The studies in this dissertation utilize Legitimation Code Theory as an analytical framework to create semantic profiles of an integrated STEM unit and middle school teachers’ implementation of integrated STEM lessons. Specifically, we analyze the semantic gravity, or the extent to which meaning is rooted within the context it is acquired in, to map and identify semantic patterns that may promote or constrain meaning-making. The results of these studies indicate that Legitimation Code Theory can be a useful tool for developing and examining integrated STEM curricular materials, evaluating teacher discourse during the implementation of integrated STEM lessons, ascertaining how teachers are integrating multiple disciplinary discourses, and identifying areas where teachers may benefit from additional support as they learn to implement integrated STEM. Keywords: integrated STEM, legitimation code theory, discourse.

Ce travail a pour objet l’étude des procédures linguistiques employées par les enseignants universitaires d’espagnol comme langue étrangère dans la gestion discursive de la relation interpersonnelle avec les élèves. En partant d’une perspective discursive nous postulons que la gestion discursive de la relation interpersonnelle peut être considérée comme la manière dont l´enseignant, en qualité de parlant/producteur (et agent social), gère un ensemble de procédures linguistiques pour établir la relation interpersonnelle avec les élèves dans la salle de classe, en fonction des limites et possibilités qui encadrent son travail dans un espace social et un espace discursif. À partir de cette proposition nous avons déterminé que le sens de la gestion discursive dans le domaine didactique et pédagogique réfère spécifiquement à l'aide que l'enseignant, en sa qualité de compétent et facilitateur de l'apprentissage, fournit aux étudiants. En outre, selon nous, cette aide résulte d’une logique croisée dans laquelle convergent deux principes antinomiques: une hétéronomie et une autonomie discursive. En nous basant sur l’analyse des transcriptions de classes filmées et des entretiens avec les élèves, on montre que les procédures linguistiques employées par les enseignants correspondent au phénomène de la modulation et opèrent à deux niveaux, un micro et un macro fonctionnement. On confirme également que ces procédures se situent dans la logique croisées qui est propre au sens de l’aide. Néanmoins, on constate que la gestion discursive des enseignants qui se situe dans cette logique croisée est problématique dû à la distribution des procédures linguistique et son éventuel contre-sens. / This work is about the the study of linguistic procedures used by university teachers of Spanish as a foreign language in the discursive management of interpersonal relationships with students. Starting from a discursive perspective we argue that the discursive management of interpersonal relationship can be considered as how the teacher as speaker / producer (and social agent) manages a set of linguistic procedures to establish the interpersonal relationship with students in the classroom, based on the limits and possibilities that surround his work in a social and discursive space. From this proposition we determined that the sense of the discoursive management in the didactic and pedagogical domain refers specifically to the help which the teacher, in his capacity as a competent being and as a facilitator of learning, provides to the students. In addition, we believe that this help results from a crossed logic in which converge two contradictory principles: discursive heteronomy and autonomy. Based on our analysis of transcripts of videotaped classes and interviews with students, we show that the procedures used by language teachers correspond to the phenomenon of modulation and operate at two levels, a micro and a macro functioning. We also confirm that these procedures are in a logic which is particular to the sense of help. However, we note that the discursive management of teachers, which is in this logic, is problematic due to the distribution of linguistic procedures and its eventual unproductiveness.

The present study aimed to explore the culture specificity of student self-regulation and its supporting motivational attitudes. Specifically, it enquired about similarities and differences between Chilean and English 8 to 9 year-old students in terms of their expression of self-regulatory behaviours, the psychological factors underlying these behaviours, and the functionality of these behaviours for task performance. It also compared student adoption of achievement motivational attitudes as well as the functionality of these attitudes for investment of effort and self-regulatory activity between cultures. Finally, the role of classroom cultures for self-regulation was studied. In particular, it examined the effects of classrooms and the quality of teacher talk (teacher-to-student communicative interactions/demands), such as teacher ‘regulatory talk’ and ‘socio-motivational talk’, on student self-regulation. A quantitative approach to the analysis of qualitative data (i.e. videos of student behaviour engaged in 11 to 13 experimental tasks, semi-structured interviews, videoed literacy lessons) was adopted. Eight classrooms situated in different schools from Chile and England were part of the study. In total, 8 teachers and 49 students – one teacher and six to seven students per classroom – took active part in the study. Qualitative data was primarily analysed using observational scales (for student behaviour), thematic analysis (for interview data), as well as socio-cultural discourse analysis (for videoed lessons). Statistical techniques, such as Mann Whitney U test, Factor Analysis, Multinomial logistic regressions, and Multilevel regressions were then applied on numerical transformations of the data. Overall, results suggest that self-regulation and achievement motivational attitudes vary to important extents according to culture. Most interestingly, these varied between cultures not so much in terms of the degree to which children used or adopted them, but rather in terms of their functionality. Some key findings supporting this conclusion were: i) Strong similarities between English and Chilean children’s levels of self-regulatory behaviours; ii) substantial differences across country samples in relation to the psychological factors underlying the expression of specific self-regulatory behaviours; iii) the finding of evaluative actions being self-regulatory in England but not in Chile; iv) a higher variety of self-regulatory behaviours being predictive of task performance in England than in Chile; v) the fact that learned self-regulatory behaviours accounted for effects of effective metacognitive control on task performance in England but not Chile; vi) some important differences in the achievement motivational attitudes expressed by Chilean and English students; and vii) culture-specific functionalities of various achievement motivational attitudes with respect to student effort and self-regulatory behaviours. Moreover, results suggest that some aspects of children’s self-regulation and motivational attitudes develop as tools to adapt to classroom cultures, specifically to the learning interactions/demands socially afforded by teacher talk. Among key findings supporting this conclusion were: i) effects of classrooms on children’s cognitive, social, and motivational self-regulation behavioural strategies, and ii) clear effects of teacher ‘regulatory talk’ (e.g., teacher ‘self-regulatory talk’ predicting more planning and asking for clarifications in students) and ‘socio-motivational talk’ (e.g., teacher ‘talk against self-efficacy’ predicting higher dependency-oriented help-seeking in students) on those behaviours with respect to which classrooms were found to matter. Thus a theory about the culturally adaptive functionality (CAF) of self-regulation and motivational attitudes supporting self-regulation is developed throughout the thesis.