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Positive experiences with negative numbers: Building on students in and out of school experiences
Citation
Beswick, K, Positive experiences with negative numbers: Building on students in and out of school experiences, Australian Mathematics Teacher, 67, (2) pp. 31-40. ISSN 0045-0685 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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Abstract
The introduction of negative numbers should mean that mathematics
can be twice as much fun, but unfortunately they are a source of confusion
for many students. As one teacher observed, "All of a sudden there are
these concepts in maths where half the numbers are negatives and they’ve
got no idea what it’s all about…"
Despite the confusion that working with negative numbers can cause for
middle school students, there is evidence that the concept of numbers less
than zero is not difficult. In fact the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM) (2000) recommended that "in grades 3–5 all students
should explore numbers less than 0 by extending the number line and
through familiar applications". Simple games that involve losing as well as
gaining points or experiences with debt can facilitate quite young children
believing that it is possible to have less than nothing and that such
amounts are less than zero. In the Australian curriculum (Australian
Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2011) although
the continuation of number patterns is mentioned from Year 1 and could
lead to the discovery of negative numbers they are not specifically
mentioned until Year 6. In the middle years, particularly Years 7 and 8,
students need to build on their intuitive understandings in order to use
negative and positive integers to represent and compare quantities and
extend number properties developed with positive integers to negative integers
as well.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Education |
Research Group: | Curriculum and pedagogy |
Research Field: | Mathematics and numeracy curriculum and pedagogy |
Objective Division: | Education and Training |
Objective Group: | Teaching and curriculum |
Objective Field: | Pedagogy |
UTAS Author: | Beswick, K (Professor Kim Beswick) |
ID Code: | 72757 |
Year Published: | 2011 |
Deposited By: | Education |
Deposited On: | 2011-08-31 |
Last Modified: | 2015-03-02 |
Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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