Development of Epistemic Meta Didactic–Mathematical Knowledge in Mathematics Teachers When Teaching Functions: A Scoping Review

Abstract

In this study, a PRISMA-guided scoping review of research papers on teachers’ epis-temic meta didactic–mathematical knowledge with regard to functions is carried out. The objective is to identify the factors that characterize the epistemic meta didactic–mathematical knowledge of teachers who lead epistemically suitable instructional processes for functions. The Web of Science and Scopus databases were used to select 15 papers published between 2019 and 2024 that examine mathematics teachers’ epis-temic meta didactic–mathematical knowledge when teaching functions. Two qualita-tive analyses of the chosen texts were performed. With the support of the R interface for multidimensional analysis of texts and questionnaires, five categories were ob-tained from the first analysis. Those categories guided the second analysis, which con-sists of a manual study of the documents. The result is the following characterization of the meta didactic–mathematical knowledge a teacher should have when teaching functions: (1) complexity of functions in the history of mathematics and in the curric-ulum, (2) personal practice of multiple processes using functions in different contexts, and (3) analysis of the tasks designed in instructional processes and reflection on teaching practice. The main conclusion of this research is that the presence of these contents in teacher preparation programs can contribute to improving the teaching of functions.