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Download fileArithmetic equality statements: numerical balance and notational substitution
conference contribution
posted on 2011-07-13, 13:25 authored by Ian JonesNumerous 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.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
JONES, I., 2009. Arithmetic equality statements: numerical balance and notational substitution. IN: Tzekaki, M., Kaldrimidou, M. and Sakonidis, H. (eds). Proceedings of 33th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 3. PME 33: In Search for Theories in Mathematics Education, Thessaloniki, Greece, 19th-24th July, pp. 267-264.Publisher
International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (© The author)Version
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publication date
2009Notes
This is a conference paper.Publisher version
Language
- en