Advancing Mathematical Activity: A Practice-Oriented View of Advanced Mathematical Thinking

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the dialogue about the notion of advanced mathematical thinking by offering an alternative characterization for this idea, namely advancing mathematical activity. We use the term advancing (versus advanced) because we emphasize the progression and evolution of students' reasoning in relation to their previous activity. We also use the term activity, rather than thinking. This shift in language reflects our characterization of progression in mathematical thinking as acts of participation in a variety of different socially or culturally situated mathematical practices. We emphasize for these practices the changing nature of student' mathematical activity and frame the process of progression in terms of multiple layers of horizontal and vertical mathematizing.