Task Design in a Paper and Pencil and Technological Environment to Promote Inclusive Learning: An Example with Polygonal Numbers

This paper discusses mathematical task design in a collaborative environment (the ACODESA teaching method), where activities with both paper and pencil and technology play a central role in learning mathematics. The use of problem situations under a sociocultural framework in the mathematics classroom requires careful mathematical task design to develop mathematical abilities in the classroom, promote diversified thinking, and achieve balance between pencil and paper and technological activities within an activity theory framework. While the task design approach examined in this paper is general, it is exemplified through mathematics teaching tasks appropriate for secondary school entry level.