The Writing’s on the Board: The Global and the Local in Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics Through Chalk Talk

This article reports on an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries. Informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities of Practice, this study explores a pedagogical genre at play in university mathematics lecture classroom...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Written communication 2011-10, Vol.28 (4), p.345-379
Main Authors: Artemeva, Natasha, Fox, Janna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Canada
College Mathematics
Communities of Practice
Data Analysis
English (Second Language)
Foreign Countries
Israel
Lecture Method
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Instruction
Pedagogy
Rhetoric
Semi Structured Interviews
Spain
Sweden
Teaching
Teaching Experience
Teaching Methods
United Kingdom
United States
Universities
Video Technology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article reports on an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries. Informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities of Practice, this study explores a pedagogical genre at play in university mathematics lecture classrooms. The genre is mediational in that it is a tool employed in the activity of teaching. The data consist of audio/video-recorded lectures, observational notes, semistructured interviews, and written artifacts collected from 50 participants who differed in linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds; teaching experience; and languages of instruction. The study suggests that chalk talk, namely, writing out a mathematical narrative on the board while talking aloud, is the central pedagogical genre of the undergraduate mathematics lecture classroom. Pervasive pedagogical genres, like chalk talk, which develop within global disciplinary communities of practice, appear to override local differences across contexts of instruction. Better understanding these genres may lead to new insights regarding academic literacies and teaching.
ISSN:0741-0883
1552-8472
DOI:10.1177/0741088311419630