The Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회지시리즈A:수학교육)

Korean Society of Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회)
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Case Study on the 6th Graders' Understanding of Concepts of Variable

초등학교 6학년 학생들의 변수 개념 이해에 관한 사례 연구

  • Ha, Su-Hyun (Hyorim Elementary School) ;
  • Lee, Gwang-Ho (Dept. of Elementary Education, Korea National University of Education)
  • Received : 2011.03.14
  • Accepted : 2011.05.15
  • Published : 2011.05.31
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the 6th graders' understanding of the concepts of variable on various aspects of school algebra. For this purpose, the test of concepts of variable targeting a sixth-grade class was conducted and then two students were selected for in-depth interview. The level of mathematics achievement of the two students was not significantly different but there were differences between them in terms of understanding about the concepts of variable. The results obtained in this study are as follows: First, the students had little basic understanding of the variables and they had many cognitive difficulties with respect to the variables. Second, the students were familiar with only the symbol '${\Box}$' not the other letters nor symbols. Third, students comprehended the variable as generalizers imperfectly. Fourth, the students' skill of operations between letters was below expectations and there was the student who omitted the mathematical sign in letter expressions including the mathematical sign such as x+3. Fifth, the students lacked the ability to reason the patterns inductively and symbolize them using variables. Sixth, in connection with the variables in functional relationships, the students were more familiar with the potential and discrete variation than practical and continuous variation. On the basis of the results, this study gives several implications related to the early algebra education, especially the teaching methods of variables.

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References

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