Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems

The use of the algebraic method for solving word problems is a challenging topic for secondary school students. Students’ difficulties are usually associated with extracting the problem’s network of relationships between quantities and with formalizing these relationships into algebraic language in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Soneira Calvo, Carlos, Arnau Vera, David, González-Calero Somoza, José Antonio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/39028
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10578/39028
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Algebraic language
Problem model
Secondary school
Word problem
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spelling Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problemsSoneira Calvo, CarlosArnau Vera, DavidGonzález-Calero Somoza, José AntonioAlgebraic languageProblem modelSecondary schoolWord problemThe use of the algebraic method for solving word problems is a challenging topic for secondary school students. Students’ difficulties are usually associated with extracting the problem’s network of relationships between quantities and with formalizing these relationships into algebraic language in a problem model. Both sources can coexist and interact; thus, it is usually not possible to determine which source of difficulty is more relevant. In addition, there are specific errors, such as the error by multiple referents for the unknown, which are directly linked to the wording of the problem text, and in which the same two sources of error coexist. In this work, we present the results of an experiment conducted with 255 secondary school students assessing the effect of two common difficulties on the accuracy of problem models and on the rate of multiple referents for the unknown. The first difficulty is the use of algebraic language in the construction of the problem model; the second is the use of the same expression to designate different quantities within the problem text. We used a 2 × 2 between-between design, with one factor related to the symbolic language (algebraic or arithmetic) in which the problem model is constructed, and the other factor related to the actual language features of the text problem. Our results indicate that overall, the main source of difficulty for students is the use of algebraic language to formalize a problem model, representing a large effect size.Springer202420242023info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10578/39028reponame:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLMinstname:Universidad de Castilla-La ManchaInglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/390282026-05-27T07:36:41Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
title Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
spellingShingle Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
Soneira Calvo, Carlos
Algebraic language
Problem model
Secondary school
Word problem
title_short Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
title_full Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
title_fullStr Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
title_full_unstemmed Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
title_sort Effect of algebraic language and problem text wording on problem model accuracy when solving age word problems
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Soneira Calvo, Carlos
Arnau Vera, David
González-Calero Somoza, José Antonio
author Soneira Calvo, Carlos
author_facet Soneira Calvo, Carlos
Arnau Vera, David
González-Calero Somoza, José Antonio
author_role author
author2 Arnau Vera, David
González-Calero Somoza, José Antonio
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Algebraic language
Problem model
Secondary school
Word problem
topic Algebraic language
Problem model
Secondary school
Word problem
description The use of the algebraic method for solving word problems is a challenging topic for secondary school students. Students’ difficulties are usually associated with extracting the problem’s network of relationships between quantities and with formalizing these relationships into algebraic language in a problem model. Both sources can coexist and interact; thus, it is usually not possible to determine which source of difficulty is more relevant. In addition, there are specific errors, such as the error by multiple referents for the unknown, which are directly linked to the wording of the problem text, and in which the same two sources of error coexist. In this work, we present the results of an experiment conducted with 255 secondary school students assessing the effect of two common difficulties on the accuracy of problem models and on the rate of multiple referents for the unknown. The first difficulty is the use of algebraic language in the construction of the problem model; the second is the use of the same expression to designate different quantities within the problem text. We used a 2 × 2 between-between design, with one factor related to the symbolic language (algebraic or arithmetic) in which the problem model is constructed, and the other factor related to the actual language features of the text problem. Our results indicate that overall, the main source of difficulty for students is the use of algebraic language to formalize a problem model, representing a large effect size.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2024
2024
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10578/39028
url https://hdl.handle.net/10578/39028
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
instname:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
instname_str Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
reponame_str RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
collection RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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