An investigation of sociomathematical norms perceived by students regarding the legitimacy of solutions

Abstract

With the study reported on here we aimed to determine what learners perceived as normative in the mathematics classroom. For this reason, we focused on negotiation of the problem solutions and we attempted to determine the sociomathematical norms perceived by learners (SNPS). Audio recordings of dialogues among learners, individual reports, and interviews were used as data collection instruments. The research participants were learners in the seventh grade. The study was conducted over a period of 10 weeks covering the second semester of the academic year. Three SNPS (functionality, inclusiveness, connectivity) regarding the legitimacy of the solutions were determined. The determined norms contributed to the understanding of learners’ mathematical preferences, thus bringing more inclusive and complementary understanding about the norms perceived by the learners to the literature. It has been observed that learning opportunities emerging through the negotiation of norms contribute to collective mathematics learning by shaping the interaction among class members. In this context, it was deemed necessary to continue research on norms perceived by learners to create general ideas of mathematics learning and teaching.