for the learning of mathematics

an international journal of mathematics education

Josh Markle - Vol. 42 Num. 1 (2022)
 Tentativeness as strategy and affordance in spatial visualization

20-24
 ABSTRACT:

Tentativeness is often framed as a deficit, synonymous with timidity or a lack of confidence. In this article, I situate the notion of tentativeness in an enactivist framework and describe its role as both a strategy and affordance in a spatial visualization exercise. Drawing on insights from mathematics education and ecological psychology, I characterize tentativeness as an emergent, participatory quality of problem solving in mathematics.