Algebraic thinking in children can bridge the cognitive gap between arithmetic and algebra. This quantitative study aimed to develop and test a cognitive model that examines the cognitive factors influencing algebraic thinking among Year Five pupils. A total of 720 Year Five pupils from randomly selected national schools in Malaysia participated…

Prior work exploring preschool-aged children's reasoning with repeating patterns has shown that patterning ability is an important predictor of math achievement; however, there is limited research exploring older children's growing pattern task performance. The current study tested whether presentation format impacts performance on growing pattern…

The study was designed to probe students' thinking about which numerical values can be assigned to algebraic letters. The data from students in Year 7 (n = 533), Year 8 (n = 377) and Year 9 (n = 172) was analysed using response patterns. The data confirmed that each year contained students with two misconceptions; "Different Letter means…

Describes an activity in which students, grades 7-12, explore patterns and properties of repunits, an integer written as a string of ones. Includes extensions for exploring algebraic justifications. (MKR)

An algebraic development of the Fibonnaci sequence, appropriate for use in beginning algebra classes, is presented. (SD)

An algebra class asked: What is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by each integer less than or equal to ten? Students discovered factorials and a solution. Verifying the solution produced a series of numbers. Successive differences between entries, triangular arrays, and successive quotients finally led to Pascal's triangle. (KM)

Briefly presented are suggestions on using exercises in number patterns in second-year algebra and factoring quadratics in a 10th-grade enrichment class. (MNS)

Students examined patterns emerging when numbers placed at vertices in a braided pattern were summed. (SD)

Explores algebraic thinking as children search for patterns while collecting, organizing, and graphing data and as they derive equations describing relationships found in the data. (ASK)

Presents a brief definition and examples of residue designs while sharing some of the algebraic thought that a student used to form generalizations about the patterns discovered during the investigations of residue designs. (ASK)

This collection of activities resulted from a visit by the Polish author to the Teachers' Center Project at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1980. The set of 30 activity sheets involve blocks with various types of patterns depicted. Directions for using each sheet and questions to be answered are then given. Elementary school…

How to find and classify positive integral solutions to 1/a + 1/b = 1/c in beginning and advanced algebra classes is described. The computer finds the solutions, but students practice algebraic manipulation as they analyze the solutions for patterns. Extensions to challenge more capable students are included. (MNS)