ACTIO: Docência em Ciências (Jun 2018)

Practice as a curricular component in an undergraduate course in mathematics: an analysis from the perspective of activity theory

  • Rafael Borini Martins Costa Borini,
  • Flávia Dias de Souza

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3895/actio.v3n2.7580
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 2
pp. 39 – 57

Abstract

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The article is based on a master's degree research and had the objective of investigating possibilities for the organization of practice as curricular component (APCC) that could favor the articulation between theory and practice in the initial formation. The study was realized in a Teaching Degree in Mathematics, based on the theoretical assumptions of activity theory, among which stand out the concepts of theoretical activity, practical activity and praxis. For the development of the research, the documentary research was adopted, using the class diaries and the detailed teaching plans of the subjects taught in the first semester of 2015 and that presented part of their workload destined to practice as curricular component of the course in study. As a theoretical reference, the study was based in Leontiev (1983, 1988) for the discussion of elements of activity theory and in Sánchez Vázquez (1980, 2011) for the deepening of the concepts of theoretical activity, practical activity and praxis. The analysis process took place under two aspects: i) the presence of the APCCs in the three training axes foreseen in the course and; ii) the nature of the APCC activities present in the course. In this first aspect the analysis focused on understanding the recurrences of activities understood as APCCS in the axes of specific training of mathematical content, general pedagogical training and training in mathematical education. In the second aspect of analysis five groups of activities were constituted, among which the group "Creation activities, didactic strategies, elaboration, planning of activities or materials for the classroom" revealed more clues of possible links between theory and practice. The research sought to discuss the activities developed as APCCs, to bring contributions to the teacher trainers in the organization of their teaching activities, choosing characteristics of activities that reveal evidence of link between theory and practice.

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