The Role of Interactive Features within a Mathematics Storybook in Interpreting a Conflict and Conflict Resolution: The Case of Three Fifth Graders

Abstract

Students often experience cognitive conflicts when trying to interpret negative numbers’ order and values because they do not correspond to their prior whole number knowledge. One way to trigger students’ cognitive conflicts and support their conflict resolution meaningfully is through stories. Thus, I used a temperature-related mathematics storybook—Temperature Turmoil—to highlight the cognitive conflict students often experience because of relying on the integers’ absolute value and introduce conflict resolution (i.e., integers have both absolute value and directed value). By incorporating interactive features, I used a multiple-case approach to describe three fifth graders’ cognitive conflict and conflict resolution experiences. Harry, Lola, and Claire were engaged in control, interactive language, and interactive visual version of the storybook, respectively. I analyzed their responses to integer order and value questions on the pretest, session tests, and posttest as well as retellings to characterize the extent of their conflict and conflict resolution. All three benefited from the storybook with Lola making the most growth and using the mathematical language in her retellings more often. Harry, more accurately than others, described the mathematical ideas of the storybook in his retellings. Claire did not make large progress because of misinterpreting the language used in the integer values questions. This paper provides implications for how to make use of students’ common conflicts to facilitate their learning, which adds to the current understanding of using cognitive conflict as a teaching strategy. Further, the findings contribute to underdeveloped research on the benefits and limitations of interactive mathematics storybooks.