Irma Saiz, Edith Gorostegui y Diego Vilotta
Abstract:In this article we intend to give account of the results of the exploration and characterization of teaching strategies related to the introduction to algebra in regular classes in high school. We refer to the professional attitudes of a teacher, related to the planning of a class and to classroom management. We point out a number of discrepancies between teacher’s expectations and the productions of students, the analysis of which allowed us to characterize the complexity of the teaching task. We conclude that the complexity of the task in the cases studied is the result of a combination of aspects. On the one hand, the mathematical and didactic knowledge of the teacher and his claim to make the class act as a community of mathematical production fully including validation as part of the students’ work and, on the other hand, the consideration of the essential reasons for the mathematical knowledge that is developed in the classroom.
Keywords: teaching strategies, arithmetic resolution, equations, introduction to algebra, integers, teacher training.