Abstract:
In this paper we describe the behaviours, mathematical and affective, of a small group of grade 7 students assigned a common task: determining the feasibility of a new tuckshop. The activity set spanned eight 45 minute lessons. Data gathering involved videotaping each lesson, keeping field notes, monitoring students' reactions to the work done each day and their contribution to it. Measures of students' attitudes to themselves and to mathematics were also obtained. Different methods for reporting student engagement, generally and in mathematics, are compared.