The Interactional Work of Configuring a Mathematical Object in a Technology-Enabled Embodied Learning Environment

Abstract

We present a detailed account of interactional mechanisms that support participation in STEM disciplinary practices as an adult and a child explore a technology-enabled embodied learning environment for mathematics. Drawing on ethnomethodological studies of technology-rich workplaces, we trace the process of transforming a vague reference into a mutually available mathematical object: a covariant variable. Our analysis reveals that this mathematical object is an interactional achievement, configured via a reciprocal process of instructing one another’s attention. In particular, we demonstrate how participants’ explicit responsiveness to indexical and multimodal resources achieves this object.