Abstract:
Previous studies of pupils' learning of algebra have been inclined to study errors in given
ansv/ers. The present study attempts to investigate pupils' thinking processes in the early
stages of learning algebra by examining and comparing responses made by English and
Thai pupils to the researcher's algebra test.
The research was conducted among pupils during their "normal" lessons in secondary
school algebra. Pupil participants were in the first two years of secondary education. Data
collection included lesson observations, interviews, and the researcher's algebra test. The
thinking processes were first categorised from the interview data to provide a framework
for analysing pupils' written responses to the researcher's test. Later, a codebook was
kept in which pupils' responses to the researcher's test were coded. The study goes on to
analyse the outcomes from this coding procedure.
The research indicates that the differences in the way pupils think appear to be closely
related to the teaching and curriculum provided. In both countries, success in algebra is
dependent on having good arithmetic skills. Also the reluctance of pupils to use algebra
to solve easy problems results in algebraic skills being inadequately developed to solve
more difficult problems.
An implication for practice is that the Thai school should consider the bearing which the
understanding of simplification of like terms has upon a pupil's ability to solve linear
equations. Both schools could consider ways of making effective use of patterns and
sequences to develop algebraic thinking. The codebook developed in this research could
serve as a tool for mathematics teachers in helping them to understand the complexity of
their pupils' thinking processes in solving algebraic problems. An investigation involving
more schools in other settings could follow this.
Description:
Ph.D Mathematics Education, School of Education, University of Durham, 2004
