Nurturing the Generation and Exploration of Mathematical Conjectures with Preservice Teachers: An Example with a Perimeters Task

Abstract

Generating mathematical conjectures is an important mathematical habit of mind for preservice teachers to develop so that they can, in turn, help their students to develop this skill. In this paper we present a classroom episode in which preservice mathematics teachers experience conjecturing in the context of a rich, open-ended task. They also reflect, throughout the task, on how they might nurture the generation and exploration of mathematical conjectures with their own students.