What to do in the End-of-Course Paper? Analyzing Mathematics Graduates’Choices

Abstract

This article focuses on initial teacher education, in the development of teaching study tasks, especially related to the end-of-course work. The research question is: Which reasons support the mathematics undergraduates’ choices for the theme and development of the end-of-course work? In connection with the problem, this research analyzes the reasons that justify undergraduates’ choices in the production of that work. The text is based on historical-cultural theory, with emphasis on the psychological and didactic principles of activity theory, on the development of students’ reasons and meanings when faced with the social meanings of initial education. The methodology is developed through a formative pedagogical intervention carried out with two mathematics undergraduate students. The data production has an empirical reference in the transcripts of interviews and moments of collective advice for the development of academic work materialized in article format. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of historical-dialectical materialism, which demonstrates results through the reasons that lead students to create meanings of their experiences in the development of initial training, especially during the training processes throughout graduation. In addition to these cases, the persuasion of peers was also observed, demonstrating relationships on the theoretical-methodological/ideological orientations in their perceptions about the pedagogical activity in the interventions carried out.