Identifying Student Responsibilities While Watching Mathematics Instructional Videos

Abstract

This study investigated the ways in which college algebra students watch mathematics instructional videos about completing the square with the goal of identifying student responsibilities within a particular video and across different videos. Guided by the theory of didactic situations that has defined implicit teacher and student responsibilities within the context of the face-to-face mathematics classroom, participants watched three different videos about completing the square and answered interview questions. Using categories previously identified by the didactic contract for the face-to-face classroom, this study expanded the types of student responsibilities identified specifically for video watching and found that participants, regardless of overall prior knowledge but who had prior knowledge of completing the square, held a responsibility to use the specific set of steps they were taught by their teacher to solve problems. Findings may be useful to both mathematics teachers and video creators.