The use of algebra in senior high school students' justifications
Tamsin Meaney · 2005
Students are documented as struggling in high school with using formal proofs In particular, students believe that algebra is expected by teachers but is a component of responses not easily understood by themselves This research documented the use of algebra by 35 students from a range of high schools throughout New Zealand when responding to two justification question in an externally set end-of-high-school examination Although the numbers of students are small, some differences according to gender and socioeconomic background and question format suggest that further research needs to be done Being able to justify one’s approach and response is an important part in doing mathematics Almeida (1995), for example, said that ‘[m]athematics is not just about identifying the truth but also about proving that this is the case ’ (p 171) Mathematical proofs have been described as ‘perhaps the ultimate in justifications ’ (Sowder & Harel, 1998, p 670) In a study of 182 high-attaining 14 and 15 year olds, it was found that proofs based on algebraic arguments were considered by students as the ones that would gain the most marks (Healey and Hoyles, 2000) However, arguments that they adopted for