Reliability and validity of a tool for analyzing resource potential for mathematical activity

Reliability and validity of a tool for analyzing resource potential for mathematical activity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Reliability and validity of a tool for analyzing resource potential for mathematical activity Mickael Da Ronch, Marie-Line Gardes, Ismaïl Mili This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9538667/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper presents a tool for effectively assessing the potential of resources to promote mathematical activity in problem-solving within textbooks. This tool is based on a theoretical framework grounded in the concepts of didactic variables and research variables derived from the Theory of Didactical Situations (TDS). The tool was tested through the analysis, using triple-blind coding, of a large corpus of 312 problems from Cycle 2 (pupils aged 8 to 12), taken from the official textbook used in French-speaking Switzerland (MER). The calculation of Fleiss’s kappa coefficient combined with a Z-test showed that the criteria used to evaluate the resources in this corpus are reliable (κ ≈ 0.69, z ≈ 23.09, p-value < 0.001). Furthermore, the validity of our tool was confirmed by functional a priori analyses carried out on prototypical problems belonging to each of the four problem classes identified in this corpus. These results therefore show that our tool is reliable and valid and can therefore be reused for other international research into problem-solving in textbooks. Reliability of tool Validity of tool Problem solving Didactic and research variable Resource analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files ESMDaRonchetal2026.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9538667","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":630210982,"identity":"8610735a-9f54-45fa-971f-fea35d40b95c","order_by":0,"name":"Mickael Da Ronch","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiBkYLBgYDgA5h6QM4BKJBDQIgHXYkxYCwOalsQNhLTotjM/NvhRIcHAd/zsw8cFNXfSt7P3HpP8wWCXh0uL2WE248SeMxIMkmfSjY1nHHuWu7PnXJo0D0NyMW4tPMwHeNskGAwOpLFJ8zYczt1wI8fYGOTCBjxaDv79B9Ry/hlYS7rB/TfGhj8IaEnmbQBquQGxJcHgBo/hAx68WtiMjWWOSfBI3njGbMxz7LDhhjN5iY95DJJxazl/+LHkmxobOb7zaYyPeWoOyxscP3vg4I8KO5xaYIAHjW2ASyFh7aNgFIyCUTAKGBgAUQFX6u5vOccAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Teacher Education Valais","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mickael","middleName":"Da","lastName":"Ronch","suffix":""},{"id":630210983,"identity":"97d6ed70-7c21-4344-8193-02ba77331338","order_by":1,"name":"Marie-Line Gardes","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Teacher Education Vaud","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marie-Line","middleName":"","lastName":"Gardes","suffix":""},{"id":630210988,"identity":"c551cebf-0839-47e5-a476-6c575d2704e5","order_by":2,"name":"Ismaïl Mili","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Fribourg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ismaïl","middleName":"","lastName":"Mili","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-27 08:26:53","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9538667/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9538667/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107975510,"identity":"7b73870c-b486-4a8c-a43b-c293fb9fdc3d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-28 07:33:55","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3130996,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9538667/v1_covered_54e38a57-b4a5-44db-b7fc-d195958a0119.pdf"},{"id":107975508,"identity":"2f92bdde-afa1-4f90-85b6-f3ea14b55aad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-28 07:33:49","extension":"zip","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5640668,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ESMDaRonchetal2026.zip","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9538667/v1/59727e4de723b28aa9e5c794.zip"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Reliability and validity of a tool for analyzing resource potential for mathematical activity","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Reliability of tool, Validity of tool, Problem solving, Didactic and research variable, Resource analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9538667/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9538667/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This paper presents a tool for effectively assessing the potential of resources to promote mathematical activity in problem-solving within textbooks. 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