Probing prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ understanding of visual representations of function transformations: a multiple scripting task approach

Abstract

In this paper, we use multiple scripting tasks as a research tool to investigate prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs’) mathematical knowledge of function transformations and their inclination to connect multiple representations of functions. Mathematically similar scripting tasks focused on visual representations of function transformations were given at three intervals during a 15-week semester in an undergraduate mathematics course on functions for PSMTs in the United States. Participant responses to these scripting tasks were analysed, and four prevalent themes were identified that reveal initial tendencies to disregard visual observations posed by students in the scripting tasks and limited use of their mathematical knowledge to connect multiple representations of functions.