Abstract
Number sense has been considered as one of the most important mathematical notions to be addressed in school mathematics in the 21st century. In this paper, we identify how students of a public middle school, located in a rural area in Mexico, develop several aspects of number sense by performing tasks involving arithmetic operations in a shopping context. Students invented mental and written calculation strategies that provide evidence of understanding regarding numbers and operations. Students used fantasy money as a representation system to decompose quantities in non-standard ways, or referred to strategies employed by unschooled people. Strategies that involve modifying the quantities before applying the written algorithm for subtraction, in order to perform a subtraction without regrouping, also appeared. That is, it was identified a transfer from mental calculation strategies to a paper and pencil scenario for facilitating calculations during problem solving, which is an indicator of student’ creativity and number sense. Additionally, the proposed tasks promoted the understanding of decimal numbers.
Highlights
One of the main objectives of mathematics education is to provide theoretical and methodological principles to guide the design and implementation of tasks that foster the development of students’ mathematical understanding
Taking the above into account, the research question that guides this work is: What strands of number sense show students of a middle school, located in a rural community of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, when they approach tasks that involve performing arithmetic operations framed in a context of shopping and a ludic classroom environment? This question is relevant, since number sense is the most important mathematical concept in the 21st Century for K-12 education (Devlin, 2017) and is a valuable way of thinking in daily life
We identify the strands of number sense that students showed, as means to determine the level of understanding regarding number sense developed by the students as a group
Summary
One of the main objectives of mathematics education is to provide theoretical and methodological principles to guide the design and implementation of tasks that foster the development of students’ mathematical understanding. Since characteristics and inherent pedagogies of tasks are key aspects that determine the nature and qualities of students’ learning (Sarama & Clements, 2009; Sullivan, Clarke, & Clarke, 2013) and, on the other hand, tasks constitute the main instrument that teachers have to help students understand mathematical ideas (Anthony & Walshaw, 2009) On this line of ideas, mathematics education research has obtained evidences that the greatest gains on mathematical understanding are related to tasks that require high levels of mathematical thinking and reasoning, and that engage students in “doing mathematics or using procedures with connection to meaning” We consider that understand an idea, means realizing how it is connected or related to the mathematical resources that one can bring to bear to approach a problem (Schoenfeld, 1985)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: lnternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
