Instances of Origami within Mathematics Content Texts for Preservice Elementary School Teachers

• Published in: Origami^{3} pp. 349 - 356
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: A K Peters/CRC Press 2002
• Subjects: Elementary School Teachers; Gluing; Parallel Lines; Current Reform Initiatives; Spatial Visualization; Polygons Properties; Frequent Number; NCTM; Elementary School; Linear Measurement; Mathematics Content Courses; Pythagorean Theorem; Elementary School Topics; Preservice Elementary School Teachers; Geometric Constructions; Panel’s Work; Panel Members; Prospective Elementary School Teachers; Mathematics Education; Informal Geometry; Prospective Teachers; Wheeler Total; Mathematics Textbooks; Mathematics Texts
• DOI: 10.1201/b15735-36

After the ten textbooks were collected, a panel of two graduate students and two Ph.D.s in mathematics education was used to classify the instances of paper-folding in the textbooks. To complete this classification task, the panel met on two separate days for approximately four hours per day. During each of these sessions, panel members reviewed the textbooks and noted any instances of origami and the nature of those instances. Also during each of the sessions, a consensus was reached about the paper-folding opportunities according to their type and nature. At the end of the two sessions, there were no unresolved differences among the panel members with respect to the extent and nature of the occurrences of origami in the textbooks. Early in the panel’s work, it became evident that the texts included activities that involved paper-cutting or tearing as well as paper-folding. Definitions of origami usually stipulate that cutting, gluing, or drawing on the paper is to be avoided, and only paper-folding is used to create the desired result (Gross, 1995). As a result, panel members only classified as origami those paper-folding opportunities that did not involve cutting, gluing, tearing or drawing on paper.