The hypothetical learning trajectories: An example in a linear algebra course

Abstract

This article proposes and evaluates a hypothetical learning trajectory (HLT) for the concepts of span and spanning set. This HLT was designed following the approach of Simon (1995), the design heuristics of emergent models and the mechanism of reflection on activity-effect relationship. We carried out an experiment with university students to determine if this HLT contributed to the expected learning of these concepts. We contrast this HLT with the actual learning trajectory (ALT) of two students showing approximation to key phases of the designed HLT. The results show that the notion of set is useful for the construction of the concept of span. In addition, we found it is necessary to incorporate new questions in HLT that facilitate the reflection on the activity-effect relationship to better account for the learning progression. https://puv.uv.es.