Student Difficulties in Mathematizing Word Problems in Algebra
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Al Jupri 1 * , Paul Drijvers 2
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1 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, INDONESIA
2 Utrecht University, the NETHERLANDS
* Corresponding Author

Abstract

To investigate student difficulties in solving word problems in algebra, we carried out a teaching experiment involving 51 Indonesian students (12/13 year-old) who used a digital mathematics environment. The findings were backed up by an interview study, in which eighteen students (13/14 year-old) were involved. The perspective of mathematization, i.e., the activity to transform a problem into a symbolic mathematical problem, and to reorganize the mathematical system, was used to identify student difficulties on the topic of linear equations in one variable. The results show that formulating a mathematical model—evidenced by errors in formulating equations, schemas or diagrams—is the main difficulty. This highlights the importance of mathematization as a crucial process in the learning and teaching of algebra.

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Article Type: Research Article

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1299a

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2016 - Volume 12 Issue 9, pp. 2481-2502

Publication date: 17 Jul 2016

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