Performances of students trained in algebraic problem solving in a spreadsheet environment and their relation to their competence in the Cartesian method

Abstract

We present results of an investigation in which, among other objectives, we sought to determine how the teaching of algebraic problem solving in a spreadsheet environment influenced the competence in the Cartesian method. The comparison of the tests administered before and after the instruction showed an increase in the polysemy of the x when problems were solved with paper and pencil and a decrease in the use of the language of algebra in age problems. We show that these results may be attributed to the emergence of solving strategies in the spreadsheet environment in which the described situations in the statement were modelled by functional relations. In such cases, the operation with the unknown was avoided and several quantities were grouped under a single name.