Abstract
In this article we examine the theoretical and methodological possibilities offered by Expansive Learning theory to analyze learning resulting from a problem solving classroom activity. This activity involved the use of a school procedure, rule of three, and its subsequent unfolding when students' everyday situations were confronted with a school procedure. The field research, in two 8th-grade classes from a public school, revealed a range of learning instances not anticipated by the teacher related with the meaning expansion of a school procedure (rule of three) and with the different ways of solving a problem when everyday situations are introduced by means of a cultural artifact (water bill). It also showed how research in mathematics education may influence the subjects' learning.
Key-words:
School Mathematical Activity; Miniature Cycles; Expansive Learning; Activity Theory
