Module Overview

The Common Core State Standards are divided into two parts: Content Standards for each grade level K-12, and Standards for Mathematical Practice. The Practices were included with the goal that teachers would engage students in practices that reflect the practices of mathematicians.

Numerous activities have been developed to engage students in practices such as argumentation and proving, generalizing, and modeling with mathematics. One practice that is relatively less well developed is defining especially in algebra. Defining plays a critical role in the generation of mathematical knowledge (Stephan, McManus, Dickey, & Arb, 2012; Zandieh & Rasmussen, 2010). But how can teacher educators engage their students, prospective students, in the process of creating and testing the viability of a definition?

This module takes prospective teachers into a classroom where a teacher is defining zero, negative, and rational exponents. The module invites imagination, and allows teacher educator to see student thinking in action.