Transitions in Mathematics Education: The Panel Debate

Abstract

The Transitions in Mathematics Education panel during the ICME-13 conference consisted of two parts. In the first part, the panelists presented particular questions addressed and answered them according to their various perspectives (some of them cognitive, others more sociocultural). This first part was published as a survey before the conference (Gueudet et al. in Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Erlbaum: Mahwah, NJ, 2016). In the present text, we briefly review this first part but mainly focus on the second part of the panel. In the second part, the panelists answered questions about the survey concerning the arithmetic-algebra transition, the possible use of boundary objects to build links and bridges, the role of technical work in the continuity/discontinuity of the learning process, and the possible contributions of students in helping to ease transitions. These answers are developed and presented here.