Dialogues on Numbers: Script-Writing as Approximation of Practice

Abstract

Script-writing is a novel pedagogical approach and research tool in mathematics education. The goal of this chapter is to introduce the approach and exemplify its implementation. A script-writing task presents a prompt, which usually includes an incomplete argument or erroneous claim of a student. Prospective teachers address the prompt by creating a script for a dialogue-presenting an imaginary interaction between a teacher and her students, or among different students. In this chapter I exemplify several results of implementing script-writing tasks and discuss advantages of this approach. In particular, I focus on the concepts related to elementary number theory, prime numbers and factors of a number, and demonstrate how the understanding of these concepts can be explored and refined, as script-writers create characters who discuss particular claims. I suggest that engaging prospective teachers in script-writing is one possible way to support and improve preparation of mathematics teachers.