2134/8611 Ian Jones Ian Jones Arithmetic equality statements: numerical balance and notational substitution Loughborough University 2011 untagged 2011-07-13 13:25:58 Conference contribution https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/conference_contribution/Arithmetic_equality_statements_numerical_balance_and_notational_substitution/9373658 Numerous studies have investigated the benefits of teaching young children that the equals sign means “is the same as” and presenting a variety of statement forms such as a+b=b+a and c=a+b. However, an important and overlooked aspect of equivalence relations is that of replacing one term with another, which implies a “can be substituted for” meaning of the equals sign. I report a trial with a pair of primary pupils working on a computer-based task that requires viewing equality statements in terms of both numerical balance and notational substitution. I present screenshots and transcript excerpts to illustrate how they articulated and coordinated balance and substitution in order to achieve the task goals.