Being in a mathematical place: Brief immersions in pure mathematics investigation

In this study, two Alberta Pure Mathematics 10 classes engaged in investigative pure mathematics projects for the first time. The disorientation demonstrated by both the teachers and the students is compared with the experience of unfamiliarity characteristic of sudden immersion in foreign places. Interpretation is informed by studies of the more formalized and regularly used mathematical investigations in Britain.; Selections of transcripted dialogues and students' written work are used to identify the participants' tensions in the exploration environment. As the teachers aimed to initiate helpful interventions they struggled with how to position themselves with regard to guiding their students.; The students were captivated by the problems in these mathematical landscapes and were not satisfied with simplistic responses to the complexities they found. Instead, many of them were propelled into zones of creativity opened up by the rejection of simplicity. Their writing, with its variety, demonstrates different interpretations of implicit values.