ERIC Number: EJ1050102
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-739X
EISSN: N/A
"Negative of My Money, Positive of Her Money": Secondary Students' Ways of Relating Equations to a Debt Context
Whitacre, Ian; Pierson Bishop, Jessica; Lamb, Lisa L.; Philipp, Randolph A.; Bagley, Spencer; Schappelle, Bonnie P.
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, v46 n2 p234-249 2015
We interviewed 40 students each in grades 7 and 11 to investigate their integer-related reasoning. In one task, the students were asked to write and interpret equations related to a story problem about borrowing money from a friend. All the students solved the story problem correctly. However, they reasoned about the problem in different ways. Many students represented the situation numerically without invoking negative numbers, whereas others wrote equations involving negative numbers. When asked to interpret equations involving negative numbers in relation to the story, students did so in two ways. Their responses reflect distinct perspectives concerning the relationship between arithmetic equations and borrowing/owing. We discuss these findings and their implications regarding the role of contexts in integer instruction.
Descriptors: Grade 7, Grade 11, Interviews, Mathematical Logic, Mathematics Skills, Word Problems (Mathematics), Equations (Mathematics), Debt (Financial), Numbers, Arithmetic, Middle School Students, High School Students, Urban Areas, Responses
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Elementary Education; Grade 11; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: DRL-0918780