Conceptions of Primary School Teachers about the Introduction of Early Algebra: Teaching Implications

Luis A. Alegría Salas, G. José R. González, Fernando Mesa

Abstract

Thinking about the introduction of algebra in the first years of school implies, among other aspects, a transformation of the school mathematics curriculum and a change in the limited and traditional conceptions that are held about its teaching. This article characterizes the conceptions of a group of primary school teachers from public institutions of the Buenaventura District about the introduction of algebra from an early age based on the perspective of curricular change called early algebra. The research was of a qualitative nature through the hermeneutic phenomenological approach with which the teachers’ conceptions were described from their classroom and personal experiences in teaching algebra. The analysis of the teachers’ conceptions provided fundamental didactic elements about the advantages of reflecting on the importance of transforming the traditional practices of algebra teaching at school. It was found that the conception that one has regarding the teaching of mathematics and the disciplinary training that teachers have play an essential role in the design and implementation of tasks that promote the development of algebraic thinking in students from the first years of school.

 

Keywords: conceptions, teachers, primary education, early algebra.

 

https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.50.7.25


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References


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