MPPM 1363

Thinking Skills in Mathematics Education

Assignment 3 (Mini Scale Research – Algebraic Thinking)

Prepared by:
KAMARUL ARIFFIN BIN KHAMIS (MPP181122)
CHAN LI YING (MPP171122)
SITI AISYAH BINTI ABU BAKAR (MPP181114)
LIM KAR TECK (MPP181130)

Prepared for:
DR. NAJUA SYUHADA AHMAD ALHASSORA
1.0 Introduction

Algebraic thinking is a type of mathematical thinking which includes generational

activities, transformational activities, and super-global level activities. Algebraic thinking
includes generational activities, transformational activities and super-global level activities
(Kaiser, 2017). These activities involve students' generalization, mathematical modelling,
mathematical representation, problem solving and proof which are used to solve complex
problems composed of all mathematical lines. Reitman (1965) mentioned that problem is
about something that describe the situation where there is nothing that can fulfill the criteria
of the scenario. On the other hand, according to Henderson & Pingry (1953), problem solving
is related to setting a goal and there were many obstacles along the journey of achieving the
target. These activities based on the understanding of the concept computational fluency and
numbers, and the use of geometry and measurement and statistical processes for reasoning.

Besides that, algebraic thinking includes manipulation of symbols and processes,

exploring relationships, generalization and formalization, using algebra as a tool, reasoning
and connecting to representations (Chow, 2011). Algebraic thinking should start from an
earlier grade which implemented in primary level and should include analysing and exploring
this relationship, proving, solving problems, predicting, and generalizing. In this way, when
students use models and situations in the early stages of learning to face practical problems,
they can get specific algebraic thinking in middle school. The success of students in algebra
and algebraic thinking will surely be influenced by the learning practices carried out by
teachers. Teachers play an important roles in controlling students’ algebraic thinking ability
which teachers can give ideas and procedures in thinking processes. Students' algebraic
thinking ability is the basis of problem-solving ability, which is a must developed in the
current mathematics education.

Algebraic problem-solving is a way of thinking and reasoning that allows students to

create models, study relationships, and solve problems (Kieran, 1992a). However, students
have only little understanding in formulating and solving algebraic problems (Christou,
2017). Students' prior experiences with solving problems in arithmetic gives them a
compulsion to calculate, which is proved in the meaning they give to “the unknown” and how
they use letters, their interpretation of what an equation is, and the methods they choose to

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solve equations (Brodesky et al., 2002). In each process of solving algebraic problems,
students

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diverted from the algebraic path by reverting to thinking grounded in arithmetic problem-
solving methods (Christou, 2017). Solving algebraic problems requires reasoning across
sentence boundaries to find a system of equations that concisely models the described
semantic relationships. Many mathematicians take into account that algebraic skills and
knowledge that are important for primary students success and to develop a well-trained
workers for science and technology careers. In reallife, students need to be proficient in a
variety of characterizations, including symbols, equations and graphics, and the power of
logical reasoning, in order to understand algebra, which along with logical thinking, play a
vital role in advanced mathematics.

However, according to previous studies, students faced problems include

understanding the problem, planning the problem, completing the problem as planned, and
checking according to Polya stage (1973). Mathematical modelling helps to simplify the
problem and make it easier to understand, so it can give the best solution (Chow, 2011; Syekh
et al., 2017). Besides that, majority of students faced disability in conceptual processing
which one of the tasks is to understand the letter symbolic form of the algebraic equations
presented to them. In order to improve students' mathematics learning, it is necessary to
understand the development model of their thinking and reasoning.

For example, in the research of Appah, Brown, & Baidoo (2020), researchers realised
that the students’ performance were weak but the intervention of Active Learning connected
towards Cognitive Reasoning. In the study, researchers seek to look at the result of promoting
algebraic thinking among primary school students and increase their interest in Mathematics.
Researchers requested guidance from teachers and parents and motivate students to improve
their participation in mathematics by promote their algebraic thinking. According to Booker
& Windsor (2010), they suggested successfully learn algebra through traditional methods
because this method prevents them from developing the ability to think about algebra
problems. Students need to proficient in a variety of characterizations, including symbols,
equations and graphics, and the power of logical reasoning, in order to understand algebra,
which along with logical thinking, play a vital role in advanced mathematics. In order to
improve students' mathematics learning, it is necessary to understand the development model
of their thinking and reasoning. The purpose of this research is to investigate how to
implement solutions and ways in generate algerbaic thinking in themselves.

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 Acording to researchers, the ability to consider problems from this perspective can
enable students to acquire an adaptive way of thinking, express their generalizations, and
provide an entry point for the meaningful use of algebraic semiotics. Throughout problem-
solving context is that it can expand and develop students' mathematical thinking, and make
them go beyond the habit of acquiring isolated technology in order to develop more abstract
methods and representations. According to Apsari (2020), students need to think more about
the relationship between numbers in the pre-generation class to find out why some numbers
are described as odd and others are even. This skill is called algebraic thinking ability. In the
upper grades, arithmetic thinking alone is not enough, because they also need to see
generalizations. The main purpose of learning algebra is to develop students' algebraic
thinking. This is considered to be the ability to focus on the relationship between digital
algebra. It leads to many difficulties and enables students to really understand what students
do when learning algebra.

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2.0 Summary

The main purpose of the study of Appah et al., (2020) is to improve students
participation and interest towards algebraic thinking in mathematics. Besides that, this
research also used to develop active learning of Mathematics which related to algebraic
thinking abilities. This research used to foster the development of algebraic thinking among
Basic five pupils in a Public Basic School in the Central Region of Ghana. Fifty-five Basic
Five students were involved in the study which fifteen pupils from a public school and forty
pupils from a private school. This research used qualitative method in analysing data.
Questionnaire and tests were the man instruments used for this study.

The researchers used pre-intervention and post-intervention tests to investigate

student performance. The questionnaire is used to collect information. As data collection
devices, tests are one of the most useful tools in educational research because they provide
data for most experimental and descriptive research in education. The pre-intervention test
provides students with practical knowledge before the researcher intervenes, and the post-
intervention test is the consequence of the researcher's intervention. As in result, researchers
found that students minority of students in this school are not likely enjoy Mathematics and
they not liking Mathmatics. However, researchers used questionnaires to test effcetiveness of
Active Learning in Students’ Mathematics Learning. Researchers found that by comparing
their performance before and after the test, it can be found that their performance after the
intervention is much better than that before the intervention. It can therefore be said that their
performance has improved due to intervention. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that
algebraic thinking through active learning has a positive effect on improving students' math
performance. Despite the low level of developmental thinking of students in solving algebra
problems and the fear of school because of mathematics, it turned out to be worth raising
their level of algebraic thinking.

According to research paper from Booker & Windsor (2010), the purpose of this
study is to identify and implement mathematical problem structures that promote and advance
the generalized form of algebraic thinking, which will make the foundation for further
mathematical development. This kind of algebraic thinking aims to promote specific
mathematical explanations and encourage students to interact and interact with the generality

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and relationships in mathematics. Because they can solve algebra problems, elementary
school students have new motivation. This study shows that practical active learning based on
cognitive reasoning should be used to cultivate pupils' algebraic thinking. Qualitative
research method used in this research study which observations and registration of
mathematical activity by participantobserver are the main sources of data. A group of Year 7
primary classroom presented and analysed to highlight how a deeper investigation of
mathematical problems can instigate student discourse that encourages general ways of
thinking underpinning algebraic reasoning rather than simply using particular strategies or
procedures for classes of problems.

Booker & Windsor (2010) mentioned that constitutes the student's reaction during the
project and indicates the type of thinking displayed at the end of the project, they found and
form solutions, and the way they research, discuss, and present the results all show that
people have more and more powerful thinking skills to generalize. Using charts, graphs, and
balances as a way to develop a more general ability to reason about unknowns and cause
problems involving multiple unknowns, a strategy can be established that uses equivalence to
eliminate one of the multiple unknowns. Cultivating students' algebraic thinking skills can
provide students with more meaningful algebra concepts, not only the mechanisms and
procedures but usually involved in high school algebra.

Researhcers mentioned that using problem-solving methods to develop algebraic

thinking and provide mathematical algebraic perspectives from the early stages of learning
should improve the long-term learning ability of most students. For instance, according to
Apsari (2020), this study purpose is to understand how students move towards algebraic
thinking from arithmetic thinking in a pre-algebraic lesson. In this research, three steps of
Design Research which is Preliminary Study, Teaching Experiment and Retrospective
Analysis were conducted. 32 students in fifth grade students were involved in this study.
Researcher mainly focuses on the students’ abilities to shift their thinking from arithmetic to
algebraic thinking with geometrical representation’s support.

The researchers stated that students in primary school are trained extensively in
arithmetic thinking however, they are not able to generalize or identify relationship between
different numbers. Students do not understand the underlying principles and relationship of

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numbers or operations they see, as there was no emphasis put on the aspect of deeper
thinking by the teachers. Besides that, the geometric representations of arithmetic problems
that support students' transition from arithmetic thinking to algebraic thinking can be viewed
as both context and mathematical models. Visualization helps them identify the structure of
the series. If they start directly with a number, the skill is often regarded as an abstract
concept for them. Students will learn important aspects of the structure. Therefore, students'
transition from arithmetic thinking to algebraic thinking depends on how they view the
structure of the model.

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3.0 Article Review

A Review on

Developing Algebraic Thinking: using problem-solving to build from number and

geometry in the primary school to the ideas that underpin
algebra in high school and beyond

George Bookera & Will Windsorb (2010)

This research was conducted by George Bookera & Will Windorb (2010) with the
topic of Developing Algebraic Thinking: using problem-solving to build from number and
geometry in the primary school to the ideas that underpin algebra in high school and beyond.
The research methodology implemented in the study is the one of the qualitative methods,
which is observation from a mathematical activity. Further, the respondent of the study are
year 7 students from a State Primary School in Australia. All the students were selected based
on their lower socio-economic background and they were eager to develop better
mathematical thinking competency. The objectives of the study are about associating problem
solving with the development of algebraic thinking and determining the level of algebraic
thinking of the students thus understanding the effects of algebraic thinking on students’
ability to move from arithmetic to algebra. This article reviews only about midway result of
this ongoing project. Accordingly, the critique review of the article is based on the
application of mathematical word problem to the effect of the algebraic thinking among
primary school students.

As for the research respondents, all of them are dedicated learners with lower socio-
economic backgrounds. The researcher assumed that there is significant relationship between
lower socio-economic background and eagerness to learn and perform better in mathematics.
In my opinion, the research does not explain about the fundamental reason and factor on how
to select the sample of the study for the generalisation of the study. The criteria of the
respondents could be determined by only the academic performance in the subject of
mathematics. Further, the number of respondents were not stated in the research study as

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well. Even though this article is based on the midway of the long-term project, it is still vital
to

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state the quantity of the students to give a comprehensive overview of the research method of
the study.

George and Will (2010) concluded that the students develop algebraic thinking skills
by using the aid of tool namely diagram, table, graph, and counters in solving mathematical
problem. Based on the finding of the study, various students applied different strategies in
coping the problem. For instance, one of the students draw out the diagram to identify the
pattern developed in the issue; another one actually uses the letter ‘w’ as the symbol of width
to generalise hence solve the equation even though he had never learnt about the topic of
algebra in the primary school setting. Based on my understanding, I agreed that along this
project, some of the students showed that the competency of algebraic thinking is developed
when they handled more word problem in the project.

However, there were only 7 figures of the students’ work were shown in the section of
finding as the output of the qualitative method – observation. The quantity of the figures and
the interpretation of the limited figures does not sound too convincing to me. It does not
answer properly on the second research objectives which is ‘to what extent the students apply
algebraic thinking in solving mathematical problem?’. I thought the finding and discussion is
not comprehensive enough due to the limitations of early results of this project. Thus, it is not
significant reliable to predict the generalisation of performance of the students in upcoming
high school setting. In my opinion, more findings of the students shall be discussed and even
be collected and examined again after the students got into high school for the validity and
reliability of the study. Likewise, the way the researcher presented the data and finding is
rather unstructured and unclear. The comparison of the working steps of the specific students
shall be presented side by side in a table to better present the changes and development along
the project. Moreover, some spelling mistakes and grammar error were detected in this
article. All these avoidable mistakes shall be taken more seriously for better showcase of an
article.

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 A Review on

Algebraic Thinking among Primary Pupils: A Boost for Interest in Mathematics

Martin Kwesi Appah, Isabella Gifty Brown, Stephen Roland Baidoo (2020)

In our opinion, Appah, Brown, & Baidoo (2020) introduced the topic well because
they narrated from a broader scope of content of primary Mathematics and narrowed down
the scope of pupil’s attitude towards Mathematics. The objective of this study is to improve
pupil’s interest in Mathematics using Algebraic Thinking and use of active learning to
develop pupil’s Algebraic Thinking abilities. The researcher started the literature review
with describing the Mathematics curriculum in Ghana that has four topics; number, algebra,
geometry & measurement and data. Algebra is an essential part of Mathematics in the
primary school from standard four to standard six. Secondly, researcher defined Algebraic
Thinking as generalising arithmetic operation or operating on unknown quantities and
generalising about patterns based on analysing patterns. Thirdly, researcher expressed teachers
can promote active learning using Algebraic Thinking for deeper understanding, but it could
increase student’s motivation and enthusiasm. Lastly, researcher expressed student’s
negative attitude toward Mathematics because of poor performance in the subject.

The researcher presented the methodology of study in three stages that are design,
selection and intervention clearly. The type of research in this study is action research and
the respondents are year five pupils in a public basic school in the Central Region of Ghana.
The samples are fifty-five year five pupils were engaged in the study, fifteen pupils from a
public school and forty pupils from a private school. Questionnaire and tests are the main
instruments used for the study. Pre-intervention test and post-intervention tests used to find
out whether Algebraic Thinking through active learning gives effect of improving pupil’s
performance while questionnaire used to collect information of pupil’s opinions.

Based on questionnaire, majority of pupils agreed that they do not like Mathematics
and this correlates to the items of pupils not enjoying Mathematics. Pupils also agreed they
did not like to come to school and were not happy to learn Mathematics event though the
teachers did not use cane during learning process. So that, the traditional teaching approach

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used by teachers might be affected pupil’s interest towards learning Mathematics and poor
performance. The pre and post-test shows pupil’s performances after intervention were far
better than their performances before the intervention. Active learning conducted has
increased pupil’s level of Algebraic Thinking and developed interest towards learning
Mathematics.

Reader will enjoy reading the article because each sentence flows smoothly into the
next without obvious shifts or jumps. A coherent paragraph highlights the ties between old
and new information to make the structure of ideas or arguments clear to the reader.
Furthermore, the researcher's language and writing in this study are easy to understand. It
does not take us to understand the purpose and content of the study longer. Besides, this
study considered as good research because it provides many recent references to support
researcher’s ideas. The process of conducting intervention with sample of questions have
shown from first day to forth day will help readers to understand the flow process of
intervention.

However, the researcher need to put definition for certain terms because all readers
come from difference background and countries. This is related to terms that are difficult to
understand such as “cognitive”, “intervention” and “basic”. Besides, readers should read
carefully to find information about the number of populations because there was redundant
information of it, cause to miss understanding. In addition, the findings of questionnaire are
better displayed in graph form to make comparison and correlation between items. Lastly,
the researcher also can use inferential statistics to make inferences and predictions about a
population. The inferential statistics helps researcher to draw conclusions from a sample and
generalize them to the population.

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 A Review on
Understanding Students’ Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Thinking in the Pre-
Algebraic Lesson

R A Apsari, S Sariyasa, R I P Putri, G Gunawan, S Prayitno (2020)

A research was conducted by R A Apsari, S Sariyasa, R I P Putri, G Gunawan, S

Prayitno (2020). This study aims to understand how students move towards algebraic
thinking from arithmetic thinking in a pre-algebraic lesson. The researchers found out that the
shifting in students’ thinking is affected by their ability to observe the structure of given
geometric pattern. They also found out that geometrical representation helps students in
context visualization and formation of mathematical model. However, this article is only part
of a larger study that aims to design Local instructional Theory in Pre-Algebraic lesson.
Therefore, the review will focus on how students’ thinking can be shifted from arithmetic to
algebraic thinking at a lower grade.

In this study, the researchers mainly focus on the students’ abilities to shift their
thinking from arithmetic to algebraic thinking with geometrical representation’s support. The
researchers stated that students in primary school are trained extensively in arithmetic
thinking however, they are not able to generalize or identify relationship between different
numbers. Students do not understand the underlying principles and relationship of numbers or
operations they see, as there was no emphasis put on the aspect of deeper thinking by the
teachers. This created a big gap that cause difficulties to students when they are required to
solve algebraic problems. Students fail to realize that algebra is actually arithmetic
generalization annotated with symbols and letters. The researchers also sate stated that
students’ ability to work with structures can be enhanced with early algebra intervention and
this idea is supported by different studies.

This article is not the complete study as it is only part of a study where the researchers
aim to design Local Instructional Theory in Pre Algebraic lesson. The study design comprises
of three main parts, which are the preliminary study, teaching experiment and followed by the
retrospective analysis. This is a qualitative study where the data is collected through video,
collections of written works and field observation notes and analysed using the constant

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comparative method. Thirty-two Grade 5 students were selected from an elementary school
in Palembang. The activities were designed based on the Realistic Mathematics Education
approach, which emphasized on rich learning environment rather than only focusing on
knowledge transfer. There were 5 types of arithmetic sequence in the complete study,
however, the researchers have only presented the third activity in this article where they used
the arithmetic sequence observed in a dance formation.

The activity chosen focused on square number pattern where students were given with
a square number pattern in order to guide them to relate it with the dance formation shown.
Students were given the first three pattern and asked to find the next pattern using three main
strategies namely addition, grouping addition and multiplication strategy. Later students were
asked to find the answers for pattern 10th, 15th and 100th. Through interview, researchers
found out that student struggles to push their thinking from basic addition strategy to the
multiplication strategy as it is more advance and abstract. Students needed extra prompts and
guide from the teacher in order to make the shift in their thinking. They also found out that
student struggles when asked to formulate a general algebraic equation. However, when they
are given numbers and geometrical pattern visuals, they were able to generalize the problems
given. Therefore, the researchers believe that geometrical visualization help students in term
of building series from given context and in creating a mathematical model for
generalization.

In my opinion, this paper is not enough to represent all the Grade 5 students’ way in
thinking algebraically. First, the researchers did not mention explicitly how was the students
chosen and what are the criterion they exhibit. They have never mentioned what was the
students’ prior performance in mathematics, as this will significantly affect the students’ way
of thinking. Higher and lower performing students think differently, and visualization will
posed different degree of impact on them. Algebraic thinking is a higher cognitive ability
thus there will be significant different thinking level between higher achieving students and
lower achieving students. Therefore, knowing their prior achievement in mathematics is very
crucial in this study.

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 Next, the researchers did not mention whether the three strategies were introduced
explicitly or generated by the students on their own. If it was introduced by the researchers,
what was the process involved and how was the strategies introduced. An overview of the

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students’ knowledge before and after intervention is crucial in explaining the significant of
the intervention. If a student was able to apply the multiplication strategy directly without any
guide, then this would show that, the student has appropriate level of algebraic thinking and
vice versa.

When one of the researchers interviewed a group of students, was there any criterion
that is being considered and were the activity done in group or individual based. It was not
mentioned in the article, if the researcher chose the students they interviewed, or these
students were already in a pre-assigned group. If they were in either of those situations, what
was the criterion that researcher used to choose these students. The work sample shown was
also very limited, as there were only one sample shown for each strategy and it cannot be
used to make generalization in the study. There should be a few more sample for each
category in order to allow the readers to better compare and evaluate how different students
think arithmetically or algebraically.

The article managed to show how some students think and how they were able to shift
their thinking from arithmetic to algebraic mode. From the partial interview shown, we can
also see the importance of teacher’s role as facilitator in pushing the students towards a more
complex thinking mode. The researcher was also able to support the ideas that the lack of
algebraic thinking in elementary is one of the factors that affects students’ ability to think
algebraically when they move to higher grades. However, due to the limited data presented,
the proposed idea is still far from being able to be used to make any generalization. It is
understandable that this article is only part of a study, but more data is needed. This study is a
good start to push the institutions involved in looking at revamping the curriculum to better
prepare students for the 21st century challenges.

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4.0 Conclusions

In our observations and readings of articles 1, 2 and 3, we found that each article has
its own advantages and disadvantages. Analysis of the critiques between the three articles
found that researchers were completing studies on Algebraic Thinking well. Overall, we
conclude that in a study, the objectives of Algebraic Thinking have been defined clearly to
achieve the goals of the study. In addition, a description of the method was used to show at
the beginning of the report so that the readers will get ideas of the methodology used since
the research is based on Algebraic Thinking skills.

All articles here were examining the influence of algebraic thinking to the primary
school students in different contexts. Two of the critique reviews here indicate that the
criteria of selecting the respondents as the sample of the populations are questionable. The
researchers did not state the standards in determining the decision on sample collection. On
the contrary, in terms of content and structure delivery, each article review has different
stands of standards. For instance, two of the article reviews argued that the presentation of the
findings could be delivered in a clear and meaningful way with the aid of table and graph for
better visualisation of comparisons. All the reviews claimed that there is a limit and
restrictions in terms of data collection and interpretations. This is due to both articles are
based on certain part of a long-term project and the data are limited in a way for
generalisation. Another review of the article also suggested inferential statistics could be
leveraged for further reference of the study. Further, some of terms used as well as jargons
shall be redefined and reviewed for better understanding of articles for the learners. Likewise,
careless mistakes namely grammatical error and spelling faults shall be avoided at all costs.

All articles shared the similar ideas in investigating the development of algebraic
thinking among primary school students. Article 1 suggested that the algebraic thinking could
be developed through solving more mathematical problem. Yet, article 2 claimed that
algebraic thinking ought to be built via active learning. Finally, article 3 investigate the
development phases from arithmetic thinking to algebraic thinking of the primary school
students. All articles examined the growth of algebraic thinking due to its importance and
relevance of problem-solving skill. Ultimately, by mastering algebraic thinking, general

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problem solving shall be developed to meet the challenges of 21 st Century. Thus, there ought
to be more researches to be conducted to investigates about this case.

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5.0 References

Appah, Martin & Brown, Isabella & Baidoo, Stephen. (2020). Algebraic Thinking among
Primary Pupils: A Boost for Interest in Mathematics. Pedagogical Research. 5.
10.29333/pr/7878.

Apsari, Ratih Ayu & Sariyasa, S & Putri, R & Gunawan, G & Prayitno, S. (2020).
Understanding Students’ Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Thinking in the Pre-
Algebraic Lesson. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1471. 012056.
10.1088/1742-6596/1471/1/012056.

Booker, George & Windsor, Will. (2010). Developing Algebraic Thinking: using problem-
solving to build from number and geometry in the primary school to the ideas that
underpin algebra in high school and beyond. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences. 8. 411-419. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.057.

Chow, T.-C. F. (2011). Students ’ Difficulties , Conceptions and Attitudes Towards Learning
Algebra : An Intervention Study to Improve Teaching and Learning Tuck-Choy
Francis Chow, (October).

Henderson, K.B. & Pingry, R.E. (1953). Problem solving in Mathematics. In H.F. Fehr (Ed.),
The learning of Mathematics: Its theory and practice (21st Yearbook of the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics) (pp. 228-270). Washington, DC: National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Kaiser, G. (2017). Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical

Education

Kieran, C. (2016). Early Algebra.

Pitta-Pantazi, D., Chimoni, M. & Christou, C. Different Types of Algebraic Thinking: an

Empirical Study Focusing on Middle School Students. Int J of Sci and Math Educ
(2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10003-6

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Polya, G. (1973) How to solve it. Princeton NJ: Princeton University.

Reitman, W. R. (1965). Cognition and thought. New York: Wiley.

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