An Analysis of the Use of Graphical Representation in Participants’ Solutions

InterMath participants spend time in workshops exploring technology-rich mathematical investigations and completing write-ups. These write-ups include a written explanation of their problem solving process, screen captures of files that they generated while completing the investigation and links to these files. This paper examines the use of graphical representations in write-ups that included incorrect mathematics and/or incorrect solutions. Our findings indicate that a large number of incorrect write-ups included a graphical representation for cosmetic purposes, meaning that it was not used to explain or justify participants’ solutions.