The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots
The present paper examines a patterning activity that was organised within a teaching experiment in order to analyse the different uses of variables by secondary school students. The activity presented in the paper can be categorised as a pictorial/geometric linear pattern. We adopted a student-orie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/article/view/309/279 |
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| author | Bożena Maj-Tatsis Konstantinos Tatsis |
| author_facet | Bożena Maj-Tatsis Konstantinos Tatsis |
| author_sort | Bożena Maj-Tatsis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present paper examines a patterning activity that was organised within a teaching experiment in order to analyse the different uses of variables by secondary school students. The activity presented in the paper can be categorised as a pictorial/geometric linear pattern. We adopted a student-oriented perspective for our analysis, in order to grasp how students
perceive their own generalising actions. The analysis of our data led us to two broad categories for variable use, according to whether the variable is viewed as a generalised number or not. Our results also show that students sometimes treat the variable as closely linked to a referred object, as a superfluous entity or as a constant. Finally, the notion of equivalence, which is an important step towards understanding variables, proved difficult
for our students to grasp. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-767e730a558b47dfa7981d42bbe4527b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1855-9719 2232-2647 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-767e730a558b47dfa7981d42bbe4527b2025-08-20T02:13:45ZengUniversity of LjubljanaCenter for Educational Policy Studies Journal1855-97192232-26472018-06-0182557010.26529/cepsj.309The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting DotsBożena Maj-TatsisKonstantinos TatsisThe present paper examines a patterning activity that was organised within a teaching experiment in order to analyse the different uses of variables by secondary school students. The activity presented in the paper can be categorised as a pictorial/geometric linear pattern. We adopted a student-oriented perspective for our analysis, in order to grasp how students perceive their own generalising actions. The analysis of our data led us to two broad categories for variable use, according to whether the variable is viewed as a generalised number or not. Our results also show that students sometimes treat the variable as closely linked to a referred object, as a superfluous entity or as a constant. Finally, the notion of equivalence, which is an important step towards understanding variables, proved difficult for our students to grasp.https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/article/view/309/279generalisationpatterning activityvariable |
| spellingShingle | Bożena Maj-Tatsis Konstantinos Tatsis The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal generalisation patterning activity variable |
| title | The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots |
| title_full | The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots |
| title_fullStr | The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots |
| title_short | The Use of Variables in a Patterning Activity: Counting Dots |
| title_sort | use of variables in a patterning activity counting dots |
| topic | generalisation patterning activity variable |
| url | https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/article/view/309/279 |
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