Teaching and Learning Algebraic Thinking with 5- to 12-Year-Olds

Abstract

This volume results from the activity of Topic Study Group 10 (TSG 10) on the Teaching and Learning of Early Algebra, which unfolded at the ICME-13 con- ference held in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2016. In preparation for that activity, a pre-conference monograph presenting a topical survey of Early Algebra research (Kieran et al. 2016) was published by Springer. As described in that monograph, The core of recent research in early algebra has been a focus on mathematical relations, patterns, and arithmetical structures, with detailed attention to the reasoning processes used by young students, aged from about 6 to 12 years, as they come to construct these relations, patterns, and structures—processes such as noticing, conjecturing, generalizing, representing, and justifying. Intertwined with the study of the ways in which these pro- cesses are engaged in are the two main mathematical content areas of generalized arithmetic (i.e., number/quantity, operations, properties) and functions. (p. 10) The monograph highlighted how the field of early algebra has gradually come to be more clearly delineated since the early 2000s, bringing with it more comprehensive views and theoretical framings of algebraic thinking. Thus, the contents of the monograph, which aimed to provide an accurate reflection of the evolution of the field, set the stage for TSG 10 contributors to link their newest work with the foundational and more recent advances in this area, as well as to signal its further evolution.