Logical Reasoning Ability and Teacher Verbal Behavior within the Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the frequency of seventh-grade mathematics teachers' use of the language of conditional logic and their students' growth in conditional reasoning ability. Children of twenty classrooms were tested in September and again at the end of January using the Cornell Conditional Reasoning Test-Form X. Frequency of teacher use of conditional logic language was determined by analyzing the transcriptions of five 42-minute lessons for each teacher. Adjusted posttest performance on the conditional reasoning test was correlated significantly with these frequencies exhibited by the teachers.