Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property

Alexander Meyer

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

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Alexander Meyer ¹ ^*

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¹ TU Dortmund University^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background:
Flexibility in transforming algebraic expressions is recognized as fundamental for a rich procedural knowledge. Here, flexibility in-depth is proposed as the ability to apply one strategy to a wide range of unfamiliar expressions.

Material and methods:
In this study, design experiments with four groups of students were conducted to support students’ flexibility in-depth in regard to the application of the distributive law with the help of worked examples. The data from these experiments was analyzed qualitatively with the method of content analysis.

Results:
Students’ flexibility in-depth translates into their abilities to reconstruct the distributive property within an expression via its perceived relevant structural features. The students’ use individual cornerstones for this reconstruction, for example worked examples or certain focal points in an expression like the multiplication sign.

Conclusions:
Transforming expressions and especially applying formulas to algebraic expressions is thus an interpretative and reconstructive process.

Keywords

algebra
procedural knowledge
distributive property
flexibility
algebraic symbols

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 12, Issue 10, October 2016, 2719-2732

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

Publication date: 25 Jul 2016

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Article Downloads: 2010

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How to cite this article

APA

Meyer, A. (2016). Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(10), 2719-2732. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

Vancouver

Meyer A. Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(10):2719-32. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

AMA

Meyer A. Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(10), 2719-2732. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

Chicago

Meyer, Alexander. "Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2016 12 no. 10 (2016): 2719-2732. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

Harvard

Meyer, A. (2016). Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(10), pp. 2719-2732. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a

MLA

Meyer, Alexander "Flexibly Applying the Distributive Law – Students’ Individual Ways of Perceiving the Distributive Property". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 12, no. 10, 2016, pp. 2719-2732. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1307a