Abstract
In Indonesia, as in many other countries, mathematics teachers, educators and researchers are confronted with student difficulties in initial algebra. To investigate and understand these difficulties, we carried out a pilot study involving 51 Indonesian grade seven students who use a digital mathematics environment for algebra. The notions of operational and structural conceptions offer a framework for explaining student difficulties in solving equations. These include difficulties with arithmetical skills, the use of the equal sign, understanding algebraic expressions, and understanding the concept of variable. The operational and structural perspectives provide guidelines for future task design and research.
Highlights
Over the last decade Indonesian students had very low performances in mathematics and in algebra, as revealed in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
Columns 1-5 subsequently present: tasks, number of students who solved the tasks correctly (#C), type of equation solving strategy used by students, type of student difficulties revealed in each task, and the operational and structural aspects which might explain student difficulties
The research question addressed in this paper concerns the identification of student difficulties in solving equations which emerge in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-rich approach, and the understanding of these difficulties from operational and structural views
Summary
Over the last decade Indonesian students had very low performances in mathematics and in algebra, as revealed in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In TIMSS 2007, on the topic of algebra, Indonesian students were in 36th position out of 48 participating countries (Mullis et al, 2008). In order to acquire a better understanding of these student difficulties, we have conducted a pilot study in which student work on equations in one variable using two applets, one of which invites an operational view on algebraic expressions and the other a more structural view. In this paper we present the findings of this pilot study, whose main results concern the identification of student difficulties and the understanding of these difficulties from both an operational and a structural view on equations and expressions
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