SUPPORTING INNOVATION - THE IMPACT OF A TEACHERS CONCEPTIONS OF FUNCTIONS ON HIS IMPLEMENTATION OF A REFORM CURRICULUM

In this study we investigate the content conceptions of an experienced high school mathematics teacher and link those conceptions to their r ole in the teacher's first implementation of reform-oriented curricula r materials during a 6-week unit on functions. The teacher communicate d deep and integrated conceptions of functions, dominated by graphical representations and covariation notions. These themes played crucial roles in the teacher's practice when he emphasized the use of multiple representations to understand dependence patterns in data. The teache r's well-articulated ideas about features of a variety of relationship s in different representations supported meaningful discussions with s tudents during the implementation of an unfamiliar classroom approach to functions.