Production and Transformation of Computer Artifacts Toward Construction of Meaning in Mathematics

Abstract

Artifacts both mediate our interaction with the world and are objects in the world that we reflect on. As computer-based artifacts are generally intermingled with multiple praxes, studying their use in praxis uncovers processes in which individuals, the community, and tools are involved. In this article, we examine a now common computer-based artifact in mathematics classrooms, the representative. This artifact is often in continual transformation in the course of action during school activities. We document how several praxes with representatives mediate the construction of meaning. We show that the ambiguity of computer representatives regarding the examples and concepts they are meant to represent boost this construction. The construction of meaning of mathematical functions is described as a process that occurs through social interaction and the interweaving of the ambiguous computer-based artifacts. We show that this construction depends heavily on intentional design of activities by the teacher, leading to the creation of states of intersubjectivity.