Contribuições do campo conceitual multiplicativo para a formação inicial de professores de Matemática com suporte das tecnologias digitais

Abstract

In the current study we utilize the potentialities of digital technologies to create favorable conditions in the initial education for teaching the conceptual field of multiplicative structures. This concept derives from the theory of conceptual fields, where Vergnaud (2009) suggests that an individual doesn’t learn an isolated concept but rather a field of concepts. This field involves various concepts, including multiplication, division, reasoning, proportion, function, and combination, among others. In this study our focus will be on the knowledge of the function concept. To assist in this comprehension we look to authors such as Ball, Thames, and Phelps (2008) to debate mathematic knowledge for teaching and common and specialized knowledge of content. We also incorporate the work of Mishra and Koehler (2006) for the discussion of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), which addresses the pedagogical knowledge of content and technology. We define as the central problem of this study the following question: how does the process of the construction of concepts of multiplicative structures and function on the part of future teachers of Mathematics take place in the conceptual and pedagogical domains through the of the use of digital technologies? Therefore, our general objective is to analyze the process of construction of concepts of multiplicative structures and structures of function on the part of future Mathematics teachers in the conceptual and pedagogical domains through the use of digital technologies. In relation to methodology, our object of study brought us to adopt a collaborative approach to our research, since we were not interested only in understanding the nature of the work developed by the future teachers, but equally in the formulation of alternatives in a collaborative formation. This method is divided in three stages, which are co-situation, co-operation, and co-production. The prefix co means joint action. The locus of the study was the Institute of Teacher Education (Instituto de Formação de Educadores – IFE) at the Federal University of Cariri (UFCA), more specifically the program of Interdisciplinary Teaching in the Natural Sciences and Math, where we worked as professors in the area of Math Education. The participants of the study were four students from the Interdisciplinary Teaching in Natural Sciences and Mathematics program, denominated as D2, I3, J4, and N5. In the stage of co-situation of the collaborative study we demonstrated the previous knowledge of the students about the multiplicative conceptual field for teaching, we proposed the development of problems involving the concept of functions, and we reflected on teaching practice. In these moments of debate, we found that the participants of the study were in the phase of common knowledge of the content. In the stage of co-operation of the collaborative study, we showed that the future teachers understood the importance of working with digital technologies in the teaching and learning of Mathematics. In other words, they demonstrated advances in the pedagogical knowledge of technology. This knowledge emerged when the future teachers perceived the importance of the technologies in experimentation and in the development of multiple representations. This demonstrates an appropriate relation between technology and specific knowledge. The co-production surpassed the other two stages and was characterized by the production of knowledge.