Orchestrating multiple groups in a mathematics classroom through semiotic mediation

In the present case-study, we describe a novel type of adaptive instruction in mathematics – the orchestration of parallel groups through their participation to semiotic games. The framework of the case-study is a lesson in which Grade 9 students are arranged in small groups. The setting includes a digitally rich environment, in which technologies simulate the fall of a ball on an inclined plane, and indicate measures of time and distance. The teacher has developed the professional habit of capitalizing on different semiotic resources (gestures, diagrams, pictures), in her teaching. We use the Scheme for Educational Dialog Analysis (SEDA) (Hennessy et al., 2016) to suggest that the dialog is productive in terms of the advancement of instrumental covariation. To show the how of this productivity, we analyze patterns of interaction to show that the teacher succeeds in adapting her moves to the needs of the students through multimodal communication (oral, gestural, pictorial [referring to pictures/diagrams in an oral or gestural mode]). We show that the teacher facilitates meaning making among several groups working in parallel, and by such, we provide a proof-of-existence of adaptive instruction as a type of orchestration through the participation to semiotic games.