Friday, June 01, 2007
Getting ready for a new revision
In reading the new chapters and articles I had on my desk and reviewing those I had read before, I found myself finding a missing link to Chapter two. One that will make it more coherent, giving it a tunnel vision (in Dr. Ferdig's words), completing the circle (in Vanessa Goodrum's words), even finding a way to add a new purpose to the dissertation, not only one as I had before (following up on a question by Dr. Telg). This means I need to rewrite chapter two from a different perspective, almost turn it around (as Dr. Dawson suggested at some point).
I finished reading about 'writing in mathematics' to add a new section to Chapter two. What I read made me have a more general view and understanding of my dissertation's topic. For example, according to Richards (1991) there are four discourse domains in mathematics: research math, inquiry math, journal math, and school math. Since I am researching an open discussion forum, where participation is voluntary, a question about the type of discourse domain can be asked: is it inquiry math or school math? Up to what point it approximates inquiry math?
In a conversation with one of my classmates, he stated the discussions are more like school math, but the ones I have selected for analysis do not consist of "initiation - reply - evaluation sequences" (Richards, 1991, p. 16) only, that is school math discourse. They also include asking questions, proposing conjectures, presenting different arguments, presenting different solutions, asking new questions about similar topics, that is inquiry math. So up to a certain point, I am studying inquiry math. Wow, I did not realized it until now!!
Today I am planning to organize my notes, write a schematic outline, and start rewriting Chapter two. By including the idea of discourses I am also tying in the research methodology presented in Chapter three. That means it will have a better flow between review of literature and research methodology, another question I had at my proposal presentation :) and that I can answer now.
References:
Richards, J. (1991). Mathematical discussion. In E. von Glasersfeld, E. (ed.), Radical Constructivism in Mathematics Education (pp. 13-51). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Press.
I finished reading about 'writing in mathematics' to add a new section to Chapter two. What I read made me have a more general view and understanding of my dissertation's topic. For example, according to Richards (1991) there are four discourse domains in mathematics: research math, inquiry math, journal math, and school math. Since I am researching an open discussion forum, where participation is voluntary, a question about the type of discourse domain can be asked: is it inquiry math or school math? Up to what point it approximates inquiry math?
In a conversation with one of my classmates, he stated the discussions are more like school math, but the ones I have selected for analysis do not consist of "initiation - reply - evaluation sequences" (Richards, 1991, p. 16) only, that is school math discourse. They also include asking questions, proposing conjectures, presenting different arguments, presenting different solutions, asking new questions about similar topics, that is inquiry math. So up to a certain point, I am studying inquiry math. Wow, I did not realized it until now!!
Today I am planning to organize my notes, write a schematic outline, and start rewriting Chapter two. By including the idea of discourses I am also tying in the research methodology presented in Chapter three. That means it will have a better flow between review of literature and research methodology, another question I had at my proposal presentation :) and that I can answer now.
References:
Richards, J. (1991). Mathematical discussion. In E. von Glasersfeld, E. (ed.), Radical Constructivism in Mathematics Education (pp. 13-51). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Press.
