Bridging Situational and Graphical Reasoning to Support Emergent Graphical Shape Thinking

Emergent graphical shape thinking (EGST) entails conceiving a graph as being dynamically generated via the trace of a moving point constrained by two changing quantities. As such, Paoletti et al. (2023) argue that meanings for quantities within a situation and meanings for graphical representations must be connected, or bridged, to engage in EGST. In this report, we explore this bridging process through a case study investigating how two students made connections that bridge their situational and graphical meanings during their work on a mathematical task. We found that the pair's connections between situational and graphical meanings emerged most prominently only after recursive engagement with reasoning in both contexts. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners seeking to support students as they develop EGST. [For the complete proceedings, see ED657822.]