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The Emergence of Symbolic Algebraic Thinking in Primary School

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Teaching and Learning Algebraic Thinking with 5- to 12-Year-Olds

Part of the book series: ICME-13 Monographs ((ICME13Mo))

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of a longitudinal investigation on the emergence of symbolic algebraic thinking in young students in the context of sequence generalization. The investigation rests on a characterization of algebraic thinking based on its analytic nature and a careful attention to the semiotic systems through which students express the mathematical variables involved. Attention to the semiotic systems and their interplay led us to identify non-symbolic and symbolic (alphanumeric) early algebraic generalizations and the students’ evolving intelligibility of the variables and their relationships, and mathematical sequence structure. The results shed some light on the transition from non-symbolic to symbolic algebraic thinking in primary school.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter is a result of a research program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada/Le conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (SSHRC/CRSH).

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  1. École des sciences de l’éducation, Université Laurentienne, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Luis Radford

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  1. Luis Radford
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Correspondence to Luis Radford .

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  1. Département de Mathématiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Carolyn Kieran

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Radford, L. (2018). The Emergence of Symbolic Algebraic Thinking in Primary School. In: Kieran, C. (eds) Teaching and Learning Algebraic Thinking with 5- to 12-Year-Olds. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68351-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68351-5_1

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