Articulation of the mathematical complexity of the arithmetic mean

Abstract

Reflections on the complexity of the mathematical objects and the necessary articula¬tion of the components of such complexity are common in many of the theoretical approaches used in the area of Mathematics Education. In this paper we present a theoretical reflection, inside the framework of the Onto-Semiotic Approach of the Cognition and Mathematical Instruction, that explores the mechanisms of articulation of the complexity associated to the mathematical object. We present an integrated view of different types of articulation covered in previous research works that have been using this approach as a theoretical framework (layers of generality, metaphoric projection and sequence of semiotic functions. With this purpose, we use the mathematical object «arithmetic mean» as a context of reflection.