Textbook explanations: Modes of reasoning in 7 th grade Israeli mathematics textbooks

Boaz Silverman (1) , Ruhama Even (1)

1 Weizmann Institute of Science [Rehovot, Israël]

The goal of this study is to characterize the justifications and explanations offered in 7th grade Israeli textbooks for mathematical statements. The justifications and explanations offered in eight 7th grade Israeli textbooks for ten selected mathematical statements were analysed, using the modes of reasoning framework (Stacey & Vincent, 2009). The analysis revealed that the textbooks commonly used several modes of reasoning in explanations for each statement. Nearly every justification was deductive or empirical, yet different modes of reasoning were used for geometric and for algebraic statements. It was also found that empirical justifications were more prevalent in textbooks of limited scope, whereas deductive justifications were typically offered in textbooks of regular/ extended scope.

Mots clés: Modes of reasoning; textbook analysis; justifications; explanations; empirical and deductive justifications

Domaines: Education; Histoire et perspectives sur les mathématiques [math.HO]

Boaz Silverman, Ruhama Even. Textbook explanations: Modes of reasoning in 7 th grade Israeli mathematics textbooks. CERME 9 - Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education; ERME, Feb 2015, Prague, Czech Republic. pp.205-212. ⟨hal-01281094⟩