Exploring the role of cognitive style and APOS-based scaffolding in developing students’ advanced mathematical thinking on function limits

Abstract

This qualitative case study explored how field dependence-independence shaped students’ access to Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS)-based scaffolding and how stage-specific support contributed to the qualitative development of advanced mathematical thinking (AMT) on function limits. In this study, developing denotes the observable emergence or reorganization of mathematical constructions during scaffolded activity, not a statistically measured learning gain. The bounded classroom case involved 24 mathematics education students at an Islamic university in Sumatra, Indonesia. The Group Embedded Figures Test classified 6 students as field-independent (FI) and 18 as field-dependent (FD); four information-rich cases, comprising 2 FI and 2 FD students, were selected for cross-case analysis. APOS-based scaffolding was implemented in four 135-minute Calculus I sessions and examined further through stimulated-recall interviews. Initial written solutions provided the primary evidence, post-prompt explanations and revisions documented students’ responses to Action-, Process-, Object-, and Schema-oriented support, and classroom observation records verified the enactment and gradual fading of the planned scaffolds. FI-1 constructed a complete Schema and required only fading prompts. FI-2 moved from correct but disconnected Objects toward an integrated Schema after a Schema-oriented prompt. FD-1 corrected an invalid limit value after Process-oriented prompts stabilized the transformation sequence. FD-2 moved from direct substitution and 0/0 toward guided algebraic Actions and an emerging Process after explicit Action-oriented cues. The findings indicate that cognitive style influenced task entry and the amount of external structure used, whereas APOS identified the construction that support needed to target. The observed shifts support a diagnostic account of AMT development while avoiding causal or long-term claims.