Upper Secondary Students’ Handling of Real-World Contexts

Abstract

Using a triangulation of methods by applying a three-step design ­consisting of observation, stimulated recall and interview, upper secondary students’ handling of real-world contexts was investigated. It was found that a real-world context given in a task is not only interpreted very individually but is also dynamic in a sense that the contextual ideas change and develop during the process of working on the task. Furthermore, data analysis led to four different ideal types of dealing with the real-word context: reality bound, integrating, mathematics bound, ambivalent. Based on the theoretical background of situated learning, these ideal types can be understood as effects of – often implicitly given – sociomathematical norms concerning the permissible amount of extramathematical reasoning when working on a mathematical problem.