Conceptions of Function in Textbooks from Eighteen Countries: An Empirical Analysis of Middle School Textbooks from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study
By Vilma Mesa.
Description
The concept of function has dramatically changed the landscape of mathematics. Its introduction into school mathematics, however, has proved to be challenging. What might students learn about functions if they were to answer all the functions tasks in their seventh- and eighth-grade textbooks? In 35 textbooks from 18 countries collected by the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), there were five distinct conceptions of function: symbolic-rule, ordered-pair, social-data, physical-phenomena, and controlling-image. Symbolic-rule and ordered-pair were the most frequent. Th...
ISBN(s)
3639131479, 9783639131475
