Mata-Pereira, JoanaPonte, João Pedro da2020-01-152020-01-152019Mata-Pereira, J., & Ponte, J. P. (2019). Enhancing students’ generalizations: a case of abductive reasoning. CERME 11, 11th Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education, Utrecht, The Netherlands.http://hdl.handle.net/10451/40829The aim of this paper is to understand how a path of teacher’s actions leads to students’ generalization. Generalization, as a main process of mathematical reasoning, may be inductive, abductive, or deductive. In this paper, we focus on an abductive generalization made by a student. The study is carried out in the third cycle of design of a design-based research involving lessons about linear equations in a grade 7 class. Data is gathered by classroom observations, video and audio recorded, and by notes made in a researcher’s logbook. Data analysis focus on students’ generalizations and on teacher’s actions during whole-class mathematical discussions. The results show a path of teacher’s actions, with a central challenging action, that allowed an extending abductive generalization, and also a subsequent deductive generalization.engGeneralizationAbductive reasoningReasoningTeacher actionsconference object