Developing algebraic thinking of fifth graders: An interaction with units coordination

Date

2024-7

Author

Acar, Fatma

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This study examined how fifth-grade students’ progress in algebraic thinking interacted with their levels of units coordination. Four students from two different units coordination levels attended pre-assessment interviews, six teaching episodes,and post-assessment interviews. The findings demonstrated some patterns in students’ progressions depending on both inter- and intra-level differences in units coordination. For example, the students with higher level of units coordination learned to write symbolic representations with fewer prompts and more quickly, useddifferent forms of functional thinking interchangeably, and demonstrated structural thinking explicitly. The students with lower levels of units coordination relied on recursive thinking in every new context, and could not generalize the functional relationships in the form of y = ax + b without help. However, all students achieved most of the learning goals despite the differences in their learning path. This is promising for introducing algebraic thinking practices in the early middle school years. The prominent differences in their learning path showed the need to considerthe differences in the nature of problems and the level of units coordination.

Subject Keywords

Algebraic thinking, Units coordination, Functional thinking

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110880

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis