ANALYSING STUDENTS’ MISTAKES WHEN SOLVING DIVISION AND POLYNOMIAL PROBLEMS FROM THE “DIDACTIC CONTRACT” APPROACH
Main Article Content
Abstract
In this article, we use the concept of “didactic contract” introduced by Guy Brousseau in 1980 as a tool to analyse students’ mistakes.
From the analysis of Math textbooks and exercises for Grade 8 volumes 1, this article proposes two rules of “didactic contract” related to solving division and polynomial division problems: design situations to verify “didactic contract” and conduct an experiment.
The research results show that many students commit mistake of solving these problems, which derived from the “didactic contract” approach:
“When students solve problems proving that A(n) (n is a natural number or an integer) is divisible by a natural number other than 0 and 1, students commit a mistake by not considering the condition of variable n depends on new variables” and “Students’ mistake in thinking that the quotient of a polynomial division of a variable with an integer coefficient is a polynomial with an integer coefficient”.
Keywords
division problems, polynomial division, didactic contract, student mistakes
Article Details
References
Tran, A. D. (2011). “Hop dong day hoc” – Mot cong cu de nghien cuu sai lam cua hoc sinh [“Didactic contract” – A a tool to study students’ mistakes]. Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Journal of Science, (25), 78-87.
Phan, D. C. (2004). Sach giao khoa Toan 8, tap 1 [Math textbook 8, volume 1]. Educational Publishing House.
Phan, D. C. (2004). Sach giao vien Toan 8, tap 1 [Math teacher book 8, volume 1]. Educational Publishing House.
Ton, T. (2004). Sach bai tap Toan 8, tap 1 [Math exercises 8 volume 1]. Educational Publishing House.