What counts as a “good” argument in school?—how teachers grade students’ mathematical arguments

Abstract

AbstractAs argumentation is an activity at the heart of mathematics, (not only) German school curricula request students to construct mathematical arguments, which get evaluated by teachers. However, it remains unclear which criteria teachers use to decide on a specific grade in a summative assessment setting. In this paper, we draw on two sources for these criteria: First, we present theoretically derived dimensions along which arguments can be assessed. Second, a qualitative interview study with 16 teachers from German secondary schools provides insights in their criteria developed in practice. Based on the detailed presentation of the case of one teacher, the paper then illustrates how criteria developed in practice take a variety of different aspects into account and also correspond with the theoretically identified dimensions. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for the teaching and learning about mathematical argumentation in school and university: An emphasis on more pedagogical criteria in high school offers one explanation to the perceived gap between school and university level mathematics.