Prevalent characteristics of effective mathematical discourse in the literature include student autonomy, a positive social environment, and a degree of perceived mathematical competence. These characteristics are also found in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which posits that actions are self-regulated when students' autonomy, competence, and…

This mixed methods study describes the effects of a "minute contextual experience" on students' ability to solve a realistic assessment problem involving scale drawings and proportional reasoning. Minute contextual experience (MCE) is defined to be a brief encounter with a context in which aspects of the context are explored openly. The…