Powell Sarah R, Driver Melissa K, Julian Tyler E
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Kennesaw State University, GA, USA.
J Learn Disabil. 2015 Sep-Oct;48(5):523-34. doi: 10.1177/0022219413512613. Epub 2013 Nov 20.
Students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as operational instead of relational. Research indicates misinterpretation of the equal sign occurs because students receive relatively little exposure to equations that promote relational understanding of the equal sign. No study, however, has examined effects of nonstandard equations on the equation solving and equal-sign understanding of students with mathematics difficulty (MD). In the present study, second-grade students with MD (n = 51) were randomly assigned to standard equations tutoring, combined tutoring (standard and nonstandard equations), and no-tutoring control. Combined tutoring students demonstrated greater gains on equation-solving assessments and equal-sign tasks compared to the other two conditions. Standard tutoring students demonstrated improved skill on equation solving over control students, but combined tutoring students' performance gains were significantly larger. Results indicate that exposure to and practice with nonstandard equations positively influence student understanding of the equal sign.
学生们常常将等号（=）误解为运算符号而非关系符号。研究表明，对等号的误解之所以会出现，是因为学生接触到的促进对等号进行关系理解的方程式相对较少。然而，尚无研究考察非标准方程式对有数学困难（MD）的学生的方程求解和等号理解的影响。在本研究中，51名患有MD的二年级学生被随机分配到标准方程式辅导组、综合辅导组（标准和非标准方程式）和无辅导对照组。与其他两组相比，综合辅导组的学生在方程求解评估和等号任务上有更大的进步。标准辅导组的学生在方程求解方面比对照组学生技能有所提高，但综合辅导组学生的成绩进步明显更大。结果表明，接触非标准方程式并进行相关练习能积极影响学生对等号的理解。
