Designing symbol sense tasks: The case of quadratic equations
Al Jupri, Ririn Sispiyati
Departemen Pendidikan Matematika, FPMIPA, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No 229 Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia.
Abstract
Symbol sense refers to an ability to give meaning and to see important structures to symbols, expressions and formulas. Designing algebra tasks for assessing student symbol sense ability is therefore important. This study aims to design types of tasks based on the theory of symbol sense for the topic of quadratic and related equations. To do this, first, we conducted a literature study on the theory of symbol sense. Second, we designed tasks based on characteristics of symbol sense and provided possible strategies to solve the tasks. Third, we validated the designed tasks to seven mathematics and mathematics education experts. The results included: (1) Three types of symbol sense tasks and predictions of strategies to solve the tasks; (2) Experts comments and suggestions for improving the quality of the tasks. We conclude that the designed tasks meet the criteria of the symbol sense characteristics and can further be used for research after some minor revisions.
Keywords: Algebra education, symbol sense, quadratic equations, symbol sense strategy, procedural strategy
Topic: Mathematics Education