From Theory to Methodology: Guidance for Analyzing Students' Covariational Reasoning

The fields of quantitative and covariational reasoning boast a wide range of powerful theoretical tools, which are described carefully in the literature. Less frequent and explicit attention, however, has been paid to writing down detailed, practical guidance for operationalizing these theoretical constructs. Some guidance is provided by covariational reasoning frameworks, but much is left unsaid concerning the inherent complexities and ambiguities involved in analyzing students' moment-by-moment behaviors and what these behaviors convey about their covariational reasoning. In an effort to more clearly link theory to analytic methodology, we share three lessons about analyzing students' covariational reasoning to make research more accessible to newcomers and better address what is often left unsaid in the covariational reasoning literature. [For the complete proceedings, see ED630060.]