An example of introduction of the relational paradigm in lower secondary school

Abstract

The symbolic representation of relations between numbers is often introduced in lower secondary school. Many authors claim that a relational paradigm and the use of graphical representations may support students in approaching algebra. However, examples of such teaching sequences are still not widespread in schools. We propose an example inspired by Castellini’s work (Castellini, 2016) and adopting a quasi-experimental design we evaluate its effectiveness. An ad hoc instrument for assessment has been develop considering the five components of mathematical learning by Fandiño Pinilla. Data show a specific effectiveness in relation to problem solving, and significant progress in communicational learning.