Meanings of the equal sign and aspects of its teaching. A study carried out with students of the first form of Secondary School and their teachers

Abstract

In this paper we are presenting some results of a study that inquires about the meanings assigned to the equal sign by students of the first form of Secondary School in Montevideo (12-13 years old) and some aspects of its teaching. The results show that a significant number of the students interpret the equal sign as the indicator of the result of an operation and not as an indicator of an equivalence relation that is essential for addressing algebra at the secondary level. In addition, it was detected that mathematics teachers do not give special attention to this issue