Approaches to Algebra: Perspectives for Research and Teaching

In the international research community, the teaching and learning of algebra have received a great deal of interest. The difficulties encountered by students in school algebra show the misunderstandings that arise in learning at different school levels and raise important questions concerning the functioning of algebraic reasoning, its characteristics, and the situations conducive to its favorable development. This book looks more closely at some options that aim at giving meaning to algebra, and which are considered in contemporary research: generalization, problem solving, modeling, and functions. Salient research on these four perspectives addressed the question of the emergence and development of algebraic thinking by a dual focus on epistemological (via the history of the development of algebra) and didactic concerns. Through the theoretical issues raised and discussed, and the indication of given situations which can promote the development of algebraic thinking, this work will be of interest and value to researchers and teachers in the field of mathematics education.