A Learning Environment for Promoting Structured Algebraic Thinking in Children

Although the notion of generality is central in mathematics and science, being able to identify and express general patterns and/or articulating structures is one of the main difficulties for children when they learn mathematics. This paper presents a step towards a set of tools that addresses this problem problem by encouraging students to connect between actual activities within the task and expressions of generality. The paper describes a novel tool — ShapeBuilder — and how it can be used in the context of a well-known generalisation activity: tiling a pond. Insights gained from various small-scale studies with children are discussed followed by a description of how we expect this tool to develop in future work.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: ICALT
• Authors: Sergio Gutiérrez Santos, Manolis Mavrikis, Darren Pearce
• Keywords: General Patterns, ICALT 2008, Machine Learning, Various Small-scale Studies, Well-known Generalisation Activity