Building mathematical micro-identities through supporting productive struggle

ABSTRACT

We designed a series of lessons that adopted supporting productive struggle practices, and explored how mathematical micro-identities emerged in the moments of productive struggle and what connections exist across micro-identities and productive struggle. We found that the low-achieving students had moments of both mathematically capable and incapable micro-identities, when offered, which reciprocally created moments of productive struggle and no struggle; and that the positions a teacher takes, between supporting productive struggle or not, directly impact the formation of micro-identities. The results suggest that supporting productive struggle strategies could be an avenue to develop mathematically capable micro-identities.

KEYWORDS:

• Productive struggle
• mathematics identity
• mathematical micro-identities
• mathematically capable identities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yalcin Udun

Yalcin Udun is a PhD student at the University of Arizona in the Teaching and Teacher Education Program. His main research interest is community knowledge and classroom practices, and funds of knowledge for teaching in the Latino community.

Ozgul Kartal

Ozgul Kartal is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her research focuses on how students from underrepresented communities can maintain interest and persistence in mathematics through problem-solving and mathematical modeling, as well as the implementation of effective mathematics teaching practices including supporting productive struggle.

Emel Cevik

Emel Cevik earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on science and engineering education from Texas A&M University. She has served as a physics and engineering teacher and curriculum writer in public schools. Dr. Cevik has taught at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels, with research interests in equity and diversity in STEM education and productive struggle in pre-service teacher education.

Jason Aydar

Jason Aydar is a PhD student at SUNY University at Buffalo. His current research examines the relationship between student dispositions towards mathematics and international assessments, particularly the TIMSS exam. Additionally, he is exploring productive struggle in pre-service teacher education. Previously, Jason worked as a middle and high school mathematics teacher and held administrative roles in schools.

Ayse Sunbul

Ayse Sunbul is a high school mathematics teacher with a strong interest in educational research. Her primary research focus is on the implementation of productive struggle in teaching mathematics, aiming to enhance student engagement and understanding through challenging yet supportive learning experiences.