Locally integrating theories to investigate students’ transfer of mathematical reasoning

To theorize the study of students’ transfer of mathematical reasoning, we integrate Lobato’s theory of actor-oriented transfer, Thompson’s theory of quantitative reasoning, and Marton’s variation theory. Linking theory and method, we argue for an expansion of design possibilities for researchers’ investigations of students’ transfer of reasoning. To bolster our argument, we provide empirical data of a secondary student’s transfer of a particular form of reasoning—covariational reasoning. Our research has implications for researchers’ development of new theoretical and methodological approaches to investigate complex phenomena, such as students’ mathematical reasoning.