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From Arithmetic to Algebra: Novice Students' Strategies for Solving Equations |
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Editor(s): Philip Clarkson, Ann Downton, Donna Gronn, Marj Horne, Andrea McDonough, Robyn Pierce, Anne Roche |
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Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) |
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Students learning the art of solving equations using formal algebraic procedures are usually presented with examples that require the application of simple arithmetic knowledge. This paper suggests that such contexts do not always encourage students to use arithmetic procedures that are algebraically useful or to see the need for formal algebraic techniques. Excerpts from interviews with students reveal their thinking and some of the strategies they use. Some implications for teaching are suggested. "Translating the jostle and clamour around us into equations is half the art; solving them the other." (Kaplan, R., 1999. The Nothing That Is: a natural history of zero.) |
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Building Connections: Theory, Research and Practice. Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, v.1, p. 337-344 |
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