The emergence of algebraic thinking in the activities of deaf learners

Abstract

This paper focusses on the emergence of algebraic thinking. It seeks to identify, in the discourse of deaf learners, the articulation of the meditational means available in carefully crafted mathematical activities in the process of transforming conceptual cultural objects into objects of consciousness. It explores how the learners, actively involved in interactive practices (tasks and dialogues), engaged in algebraic thinking without necessarily making use of alphanumeric signs. These interactions occurred as the learners worked through a set of activities, in which they analyzed visual representations of numerical sequences then modeled them using the tools of the Mathsticks Microworld (a digital environment). The examples presented in this article evince the presence of the three characteristics of algebraic thinking, described by Radford, indeterminacy, denotation and analyticity. The analyses also indicate that the creation of a shared sign to represent the idea of variable was decisive in the emergence of the students' algebraic thinking.

Keywords:
Mathematics education; Deaf learners; Inclusion; Algebraic thinking; Digital learning environment.