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Parameters and Infinite Solutions of Linear Equation Systems

Abstract

In the present work, we investigate the didactic usefulness of using parameters as variables of dual nature (active or inactive variables), as well as the actualization of five Mexican teachers in this knowledge. In this actualization we analyzed systems of linear equations (SLE) with two equations and three unknowns that had infinite solutions. For this purpose, we proposed, via the Internet, five semiotic artifacts: 1. A definition, 2. The inclusion of the parameter in the SLE, 3. The calculation of solutions, 4. Graphical representations, and 5. The application to a problem in context. The results revealed the relevance of introducing the parameter through this process and, in addition, the teachers achieved control over the valid solutions among the infinite ones of the system posed. For some teachers, the strategy and the role of the parameter was just one more method to be added to those already known; however, for others, it allowed an explanation of the relationship between the variable and the parameter, as well as the possibility of the controlled use of the infinite solutions.

Parameters; Infinite solutions; Systems of linear equations; Semiotic artifacts; Teacher Update

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